Digital Health Equity: Local Empowerment, Global Alignment

YSPH has launched an ambitious strategic plan, which includes a revitalized mission statement: linking science and society, making public health foundational to communities everywhere. One of the key strategic priorities focuses on shaping the future of public health data science and AI. The newly launched Public Health Data Science and Data Equity initiative aspires to make data science knowledge, tools, and resources available to communities near and far, promoting equitable scientific discoveries, policy decisions, public health practice, and healthcare.

This conference, generously supported by the Yale MacMillan Center, and co-organized with the Yale Institute of Foundation of Data Science (FDS) is a continuation of this vision.

The conference will bring together a diverse group of leaders from academia, government, healthcare, and industry. Over the course of this two-day event, we will focus on four thematic areas:

• Data equity and digital health solutions
• Privacy approaches for digital health equity and representation
• The future of digital health and artificial intelligence in India
• Health equity in action: the role of scalable data products and services

We hope to advance critical thinking and research in these thematic areas and explore collaboration opportunities for both research and practice with global leaders.

The conference will be held in person at Kline Tower.

Kline 14
219 Prospect Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511
United States

Session 1: Data Equity and Digital Health Solutions

Jessica Jackson, MA, PhD

Vice President of Alliance Development, Mental Health America

Dr. Jessica Jackson is the Vice President of Alliance Development at Mental Health America. With over a decade of experience across startups, hospitals, nonprofits and the United Nations., Dr. Jackson has consistently driven initiatives that democratize access to quality mental healthcare. A former assistant professor of psychiatry, Dr. Jackson now applies her academic rigor to real-world challenges. Her research focuses on dismantling barriers to treatment for underserved populations, while her leadership roles span from product design to go-to-market strategy for digital health platform. She currently serves as an appointed chair of the American Psychological Association Mental Health Technology Advisory Committee. She is also an appointed member of the FDA's inaugural Digital Health Advisory committee.

Mark Abraham, MPH

Executive Director, DataHaven

Mark Abraham is the Executive Director of DataHaven, a non-profit organization that partners with local and state government agencies, academic and health care institutions, and community organizations to collect and share public information about well-being and quality of life in Connecticut.Mark established the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, a program that has created a unique source of statewide- and neighborhood-level information about public health, economic security, local infrastructure, and other topics through live, in-depth interviews with over 50,000 randomly-selected adults in Connecticut since 2015.Mark is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Community Indicators Consortium, and the de Beaumont Foundation, and was elected to the Executive Committee of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership in Washington, DC. Mark received his MPH in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health, and his BA in Architecture from Yale College. He lives with his family in the Westville neighborhood of New Haven.

Karen Wang, MD, MHS

Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine), Yale School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics (Health Informatics), Yale School of Public Health

Dr. Wang is an assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine (Internal Medicine) and Public Health (Health Informatics), core faculty at the Equity Research and Innovation Center, and SEICHE Center for Health and Justice, and Medical Information Officer at Yale New Haven Health. Her work is at the intersection of health equity, informatics, and data justice with a focus in optimizing health and health-related information, data, and technology for communities that have been marginalized. She leverages a participatory approach to center communities in the design, collection, (re-) use of their health data; understand communities' information and technology needs, improve information resources, and accelerate the dissemination of useful data back to communities, from clinical to research data.

Viknesh Sounderajah, PhD

Clinical Scientist, Google Health

Viknesh is a clinician scientist at Google Health, where he works closely with the Health AI research team and serves as the product lead at YouTube Health. Prior to joining Google in 2022, he worked as a vascular surgeon in the UK NHS and a researcher at Imperial College London, where he focused upon developing evidence standards and reporting guidelines for AI technologies in healthcare as well as investigating the theme of health information quality.

Session 2: Privacy Approaches for Digital Health Equity and Representation

Lance A. Waller, PhD

Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

Lance A. Waller, Ph.D. is a Professor and former Chair in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, a co-chair of National Academies’ Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, and a member of the U.S. Census Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Waller is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His research involves the development of statistical methods for geographic data including applications in environmental justice, epidemiology, disease surveillance, and disease ecology. His research appears in biostatistical, statistical, environmental health, and ecology journals and in the textbook Applied Spatial Statistics for Public Health Data (2004, Wiley).

Joshua Snoke, PhD

Statistician, RAND

Joshua Snoke is a statistician at RAND in Pittsburgh, where he researches statistical data privacy topics such as evaluating and generating synthetic data, the use of differentially private algorithms, and equity in privacy. Recent projects include developing a validation server for accessing administrative tax data from the Internal Revenue Service, and creating and evaluating synthetic data versions of the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates and the Longitudinal Study of Aging in India. He serves on the RAND Human Subject’s Protection Committee (IRB) and on the American Statistical Association’s Privacy Interest Group Committee.

Hoon Cho, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Hyunghoon (Hoon) Cho, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science at Yale School of Medicine with a secondary appointment in Computer Science. His research focuses on creating algorithmic tools to tackle a variety of computational challenges introduced by the large-scale, heterogeneous, and private aspects of modern genomic and health-related data. Previously, he was a Schmidt Fellow and Principal Investigator at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT in 2019 and obtained both M.S. and B.S. with Honors in Computer Science from Stanford University. He is a recipient of the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award.

Session 3: The Future of Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence in India

Milind Tambe, PhD

Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for Research on Computation and Society, Harvard University

Milind Tambe is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science and Director of Center for Research on Computation and Society at Harvard University; concurrently, he is also Principal Scientist and Director for “AI for Social Good” at Google Deepmind. Prof. Tambe and his team have developed pioneering AI systems that deliver real-world impact in public health (e.g., maternal and child health), public safety, and wildlife conservation. He is recipient of the AAAI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity, AAAI Feigenbaum Prize, IJCAI John McCarthy Award, AAAI Robert S. Engelmore Memorial Lecture Award, AAMAS ACM Autonomous Agents Research Award, INFORMS Wagner prize for excellence in Operations Research practice, Military Operations Research Society Rist Prize, Columbus Fellowship Foundation Homeland security award and commendations and certificates of appreciation from the US Coast Guard, the Federal Air Marshals Service and airport police at the city of Los Angeles. He is a fellow of AAAI and ACM.

Ruchit Nagar, MD, MPH

Resident Physician – Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale New Haven Health; CEO, Khushi Baby

Ruchit Nagar, MD, MPH is the CEO and co-founder of Khushi Baby, a digital health non-profit working as a technical support partner to multiple state departments of health in India. Khushi Baby has developed solutions to track the health of over 45M people and empower over 70,000 community health workers. He is also a resident physician at Yale, in internal medicine and pediatrics and incoming pediatric critical care fellow.

Mayank Garg, PhD

Early Career Fellow and Faculty Fellow, Koita Center for Digital Health-Ashoka, Ashoka University

Mayank is a physician-scientist who completed his medical graduation and clinical training from IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India. He gained brief experience in intensive care before switching to experimental research at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), Delhi, India. He is now affiliated with the Simons Ashoka fellowship program and the Koita Centre for Digital Health- Ashoka (KCDH-A) at Ashoka University, India. Mayank is currently pursuing quantitative health research to derive mechanisms to leverage the power of digital health in a contextually relevant manner and validate them with suitable experimental models. He believes the true potential of digital transformation of health lies with a combined top-down and bottom-approach and requires personal empowerment along with strengthening systems. He strongly advocates for collaborative growth and strict ethical standards as the foundation for advancing science.

Padmini (Mini) Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, FAMWA

Professor, New York Medical College / Global Health Lead, American Medical Women’s Association

Padmini (Mini) Murthy MD, MPH, MS, FAMWA is a globally recognized health professional in her roles as a physician and public health expert. Her research interests focus on women’ s health, human rights, and global health diplomacy and AI in femtech. She is currently Professor and Global Health Director at NYMCSHSP. Murthy also serves an advisor to two start-up companies focusing on AI and health care. She is immediate past chair of Inter Sectional Council of APHA and serves as the Global Health lead for the American Medical Women’s Association and the NGO rep to United Nations. Murthy has been appointed as co focal point for United Nations Academic Impact SDG 3 Hub at NYMC SHSP. She has partnered with UN ambassadors, first ladies and UN missions to promote women’s health globally with local efforts in Bahamas, Grenada, India, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal and Republic of Suriname.Murthy has made over 300 presentations nationally and internationally. She is widely published and is the author and editor of Women's Global Health and Human Rights, Technology and Global Public Health. Her other books include Mini’s Musings and Glorious Global Ganesh. She is currently working on her 5th book on Women Achievers. She has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including being the 1st Indian born American in over 77 years to receive the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal for her work in promoting women’s health globally. In March 2022, Murthy was a member of the official United States delegation to the 66th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Session 4: The Role of Scalable Data Products and Services in Health Innovation

Sema Sgaier, PhD

Co-Founder & CEO, Surgo Health

Sema Sgaier, Ph.D., is the CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, a behavioral AI company dedicated to improving health outcomes by deeply understanding human behavior. By integrating behavioral science and AI, Surgos’s proprietary real-world data (RWD) platforms, BehavioralPulse™ and Mosaic™, reveal individual beliefs, desires, and barriers to health engagement. Dr. Sgaier has close to 20 years of experience in healthcare. Prior to Surgo Health, she co-founded and led Surgo Foundation and Surgo Ventures, developing analytic products solving health problems with precision. Dr. Sgaier held several roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing innovations in data, consumer insights, and product introduction into large-scale health programs globally. She has over 60 publications and is a frequent OpEd contributor to the New York Times and prestigious media outlets. She was an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an Affiliate Assistant Professor, Global Health at the University of Washington. Sema completed her fellowship in Genomics at Harvard University, Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University, and M.A. in Neuroscience from Brown University. She is a Board Member of the United States of Care and a Women's Forum for Economy and Society Rising Talent.

Perfecto Sanchez

Co-Founder, Equity Quotient

Perfecto is on a mission to shape the future of inclusive AI as the co-founder and Chief Growth Officer for Equity Quotient. Equity Quotient is a population health data and analytics platform that improves outcomes, elevates quality, and helps lower the cost of care. Perfecto was recently inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement for his work in award-winning leading social impact campaigns. He serves on the Board of Tech Target (TTGT) and Lifeway Foods (LWAY), both publicly traded companies, as well as the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the Georgetown School of Nursing. Ask him how he became the first American to row across the North Sea, an initiative to raise awareness for ocean sustainability.

Neis Lewis Jr., PhD

Associate Professor of Communication, Medicine, and Public Policy Co-Director, Cornell University & Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr. (he/him) is a behavioral scientist who studies the motivational, behavioral, and equity implications of social interventions and policies. He is a Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine, where he is an associate professor of communication, medicine, and public policy. He is also founding co-director of the Cornell Action Research Collaborative and associate director of the Cornell Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures. Lewis’s research examines how people’s social contexts and identities influence how they make sense of the world around them, and the implications of those meaning-making processes for their motivation to pursue a variety of goals in life. He is interested in the consequences of those processes not only for individuals, but also for the communities, organizations, and societies in which those individuals are embedded. He is particularly interested in using the insights from research findings to improve educational, health, and environmental outcomes for individuals and societies. Lewis’s awards include: the SAGE Young Scholar Early Career Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, and the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communication from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Ines Vigil, MD, MPH, MBA, FACPM

Physician Executive & Author

Humanizing Technology & Data to Improve Lives Population Health & VBC Leader & Author & Speaker. Passionate about creating a more effective and sustainable healthcare system, Dr. Vigil is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and consumers with data and insights that facilitate informed decisions and improved outcomes. Her commitment to advancing healthcare technology, population health, and data science with a health equity mindset further exemplifies her dedication to shaping a more progressive and inclusive healthcare landscape. As a physician of the American College of Preventative Medicine, co-author of the first of its kind textbook, "Population Health Analytics," published in 2021, and contributor to published works like “Both/And: Medicine & Public Health Together”, Dr. Vigil has significantly contributed to shaping the landscape of healthcare. With over 19 years of leadership experience, Dr. Vigil has held pivotal roles across healthcare sectors. She successfully led the application of Clarify Health’s technology and data-driven solutions, improving health outcomes and reducing cost across payer, provider, and life sciences customers in her role as Senior Vice President of Transformation. In the role of Senior Vice President and General Manager, Provider, she made their provider business vertical their most profitable to-date. As Vice President of Advanced Analytics at Priority Health, Dr. Vigil led provider organizations into successful full-risk VBC arrangements within an integrated delivery system. Additionally, as Vice President of PatientCentered Medical Home (PCMH) at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, she spearheaded primary care practice and workflow transformation. Educationally, Dr. Vigil holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Sarah Lawrence College.

Learn More About Our Sponsors:

Yale MacMillan Center

Yale Institute for Foundations of Science