ENabling Girls in AI and Growing Expertise (ENGAGE) in Data Science creates a health-focused machine learning training program at the University of Nairobi (UoN) in partnership with the University of San Francisco California (UCSF) for girls and young women to reduce the biases created by men in data science. This foundational work helps strengthen the pipeline and impact of women to improve health in their communities.

ENGAGE aim is to develop a machine-learning training program focusing on public health and infectious diseases at the University of Nairobi. The project specifically targets girls and young women and includes outreach training programs in 6 regions in Kenya.

Impact on Health Systems:

Machine learning using health data improves care and efficient use of resources. Predictive analytics, for example, helps identify patients likely to fall out of care or have poor outcomes and trigger intensive interventions. The COVID pandemic has taught us the value of machine learning in disease forecasting to iterate and optimize public health policy rapidly. ENGAGE Project is ensuring that there is a pipeline for a well-equipped and diverse data science workforce is essential.