Speaker: Rediet Abebe
Affiliation: Cornell University

Title: Using Search Queries to Understand Health Information Needs in Africa

Abstract:
Access to healthcare and health information is of major global
concern. The stark inequality in the availability of health data by
country, demographic groups, and socioeconomic status impedes the
identification of major public health concerns and implementation of
effective interventions. This data gap ranges from basic disease
statistics, such as disease prevalence rates, to more nuanced
information, such as public attitudes. A key challenge is
understanding health information needs of under-served and
marginalized communities. Without understanding people’s everyday
needs, concerns, and misconceptions, health organizations lack the
ability to effectively target education and programming efforts.

In this presentation, we focus on the lack of comprehensive,
high-quality data about information needs of individuals in developing
nations. We propose an approach that uses search data to uncover
health information needs of individuals in all 54 nations in Africa.
We analyze Bing searches related to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis; these searches reveal diverse health information needs
that vary by demographic groups and geographic regions. We also shed
light on discrepancies in the quality of content returned by search
engines.

We conclude with a discussion on computationally-informed
interventions both on- and off-line in health and related domains and
the Mechanism Design for Social Good research initiative.

Bio:
Rediet Abebe is a computer scientist with a strong interest in the
promotion of equality and justice. Her research focuses on algorithms,
AI, and their applications to social good. As part of this research
agenda, she co-founded and co-organizes Mechanism Design for Social
Good (MD4SG), an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research
initiative with over 300 individuals. She is also a co-founder and
co-organizer of Black in AI, an international network of over 1000
individuals focused on increasing the presence and inclusion of Black
and African researchers in AI. Her research is deeply influenced by
her upbringing in her hometown of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she
lived until moving to the U.S. in 2009. Her work has been generously
supported by fellowships and scholarships through Facebook, Google,
the Cornell Graduate School, and the Harvard-Cambridge Fellowship.