Precision Public Health

Our group aims to integrate the use of voice as biomarker of health in clinical care by generating a substantial multi-institutional, ethically sourced, and diverse voice database linked to multimodal health biomarkers to fuel voice AI research and build predictive models to assist in screening, diagnosis, and treatment of a broad range of diseases. Data collection will be made possible by software through a smartphone application linked to electronic health records (EHR) and other health biomarkers such as radiomics, and genomics, and supported by federated learning technology to protect data privacy. Based on the existing literature and ongoing research in different fields of voice research, our group has identified 5 disease categories for which voice changes have been associated to specific diseases and around which we aim to center the data acquisition efforts:

1. Vocal Pathologies (Laryngeal cancers, Vocal fold paralysis, Benign laryngeal lesions)
2. Neurological and Neurodegenerative Disorders (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Stroke, ALS)
3. Mood and Psychiatric Disorders (Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorders)
4. Respiratory disorders (Pneumonia, COPD, Heart Failure, OSA)
5. Pediatric diseases (Autism, Speech Delay)