Medical Machine Learning for Preventing Blindness in Indigenous Communities

Congratulations to Dr Johan Verjans, Deputy Director of Medical Machine Learning at AIML, who has been named a Chief Investigator for the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant project looking at preventing Diabetic Retinopathy among Aboriginal Australians.

Diabetic Retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness among Aboriginal Australians, but with early detection and treatment it can be reliably prevented. Medical Machine Learning methods will be explored to see how detection rates can be improved.

The $1.4 million project bings together leaders in Aboriginal ophthalmic disease, AI and health policy. Dr Johan Verjans will be working with researchers from Flinders University and the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) as well as practitioners from Alice Springs Hospital and members of SA Health to ensure the outcomes are culturally appropriate and can be successfully delivered.

See the joint press release from The Hon Greg Hunt MP and The Hon. Ken Wyatt AM MP here.