Dr. Mounya Elhilali of Johns Hopkins University

Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) particularly pneumonia is the leading cause of children mortality, causing over 2 million deaths and over 150 million cases each year. Proper diagnosis of complex pulmonary phenomena such as pneumonia normally employs a gamut of procedures (clinical exam, biomarkers, chest imaging). However, access to a wide range of tools can be scarce, especially in low-resource settings. Alternatively, lung sounds provide a valuable diagnosis tool for respiratory infections that is noninvasive and low-cost. However, chest auscultations are generally unreliable due to lack of trained personnel, interpretation subjectivity, noise effects and inconclusive clinical diagnosis. Our team is working on novel sensing technologies to improve diagnosis capability using body sounds. We have developed a smart stethoscope that focus on a dual goal: (i) improve usability in the field under challenging environments where ambient conditions are non-ideal, (ii) enhance screening capability by equipping the device with data analytics to automate processing and interpretation of sound auscultations. By improving diagnosis capability using a low-cost device, this technology will enhance resource and case management of ALRI, especially in impoverished settings that lack alternative diagnosis tools such as X-rays.

Biography:

Mounya Elhilali is the Charles Renn Faculty Scholar and founder of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s Laboratory for Computational Audio Perception (LCAP) at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She is recognized for advancing understanding of how the human brain and machines process the complexities of sound. Her research bridges the gap between neuroscience and audio technologies by examining the computational and neural bases of sound and speech perception and behavior in complex acoustic environments. Her multidisciplinary research is creating a number of insights into brain sciences, adaptive signal processing, audio technologies, and medical systems, including devising new diagnosis technologies that leverage body sounds to tackle public health problems, such as pneumonia, that affect millions worldwide.

The recipient of Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award (2017) and Kenan Award for Innovative Projects in Undergraduate Education (2015), she has also won the prestigious Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and an NSF CAREER Award. Elhilali received her PhD (2004) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Address:Baltimore, Maryland, United States