Our Programs

Schistosomiasis — often called snail fever — is caused by a tiny parasitic worm that lives in fresh water and burrows into the skin of anyone who wades, washes, or swims in it. It infects tens of millions of people across rural sub-Saharan Africa, and it hits school-aged children hardest. Left untreated for years, a curable infection can quietly turn into bladder cancer, lasting reproductive harm, and a higher risk of catching HIV.

We built a complete diagnostic toolkit that costs less than a cup of coffee. It pairs the Foldscope — a sturdy paper microscope that costs about $2 and needs no electricity — with the SchistoFilter, a reusable water filter we designed ourselves. Then we train Community Health Extension Workers — the trusted local health workers villages already rely on, known as CHEWs — to run the test and diagnose their neighbors right where they live. No city hospital, no specialist, no power required.

It's a One Health approach: we diagnose people on the ground, teach communities how the parasite spreads, and study the water and snails that carry it — all at once.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers there is: a simple screening can catch it early, when it's almost always treatable. Yet it still kills women who can't get that screening — and the danger is far greater for women living with HIV, who face a dramatically higher risk. Most cervical cancer is caused by HPV, a very common virus that a basic test can detect.

We're building low-cost screening that works without a full hospital lab, starting with a program for women living with HIV in Eswatini. Two tools are in development: an AI system that can flag high-risk samples without a specialist on site, and a simple molecular test for HPV — the virus behind most cervical cancer — that doesn't need sophisticated equipment.

Not every seizure looks like a seizure. Some of the most dangerous ones often happen with no outward convulsions at all — invisible unless someone runs an EEG, a painless test that reads the brain's electrical activity. In a busy, under-resourced emergency room with no brain specialist on call, these hidden seizures get missed — and missing them can cost a life.

We're working on two fronts. First, we're piloting a portable, easy-to-use EEG device (Ceribell) in the LBJ Hospital emergency room, so any clinician — not just a specialist — can catch a hidden seizure fast. Second, through NeuroBridge Colombia, we've partnered with Texas A&M's EnMed program to put Spanish-language seizure-recognition training directly in the hands of rural Colombian primary-care doctors.