At age 15 – a time when most teenagers are enjoying after-school activities and hanging out with their friends – Jude Kong was selling peanuts on the street in Cameroon.
He grew up in a village called Shiy, about a 10-hour drive north of the capital, Yaoundé. The nearest hospital was a four-hour trek away, and since only a few locals owned cars, it wasn’t uncommon for residents to carry the sick there on their backs.
That’s exactly what Kong and his mother did when his aunt fell seriously ill.
“My mom and I, struggling to carry her – I was very young – we were carrying my aunt to the hospital and she passed away,” says Kong, now an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health who is cross-appointed to the department of mathematics in the Faculty of Arts & Science.
He says his aunt’s death – likely due to malaria, one of the most pressing health challenges in his community – was a pivotal moment that ultimately shaped his career. Drawing on his education in applied mathematics and engineering, which he earned in Cameroon, Italy, Germany and Canada, Kong is now using artificial intelligence and other digital technologies to help solve public health challenges in Cameroon and across the Global South.
This includes combatting the spread of health misinformation – whether online, by word of mouth or through social media – and doing so in ways that respect local and cultural perspectives.
In early 2020, Kong brought together a group of like-minded researchers to form the Africa Canada-Artificial Intelligence & Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC). The team sought to mobilize AI to boost preparedness for pandemics and climate disasters in a way that is both equitable and resilient. That included designing AI models to counter malaria-related myths and misinformation by educating community members about the life-threatening illness.
Read more in the U of T News.