FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETuesday, October 25, 2016
Contact: Sasha WalekMount Sinai Press Office(646) 605-5945[email protected]
Mount Sinai’s Arnhold Institute for Global Health Partners With DigitalGlobe to Better Map World’s Most Underserved Populations
Partnership Aims to Advance New Frontier in Risk Assessment for Global Health and Security
Newswise — (NEW YORK — October 25, 2016) The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today announced it is partnering with leading satellite imaging and data analytics company DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI) to create the Health Equity Atlas Initiative, known as ATLAS , a platform that standardizes and maps population data in order to generate insights that address health inequities.
ATLAS highlights blind spots in demographic and health information by analyzing inputs from frontline health workers and high-accuracy, high-resolution satellite images from DigitalGlobe. While the data engine can house existing demographic health surveys and infrastructure assessments, it is optimized for communities where information sources are out of date or absent. The platform is now being tested in active Arnhold Institute projects in Ghana, Guatemala, and New York City.
“Whether we’re talking about the Zika virus epidemic in the Americas and Caribbean, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in a rural West African community, or chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes in East Harlem, information gaps exacerbate vulnerabilities to health crises, potentially transforming blind spots to hot spots,” said Prabhjot Singh, MD, PhD, Director, The Arnhold Institute for Global Health, and Chair, Department of Health System Design and Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We are honored to call DigitalGlobe a partner in our work to address structural inequities affecting health care delivery and response to vulnerable populations.”
DigitalGlobe owns and operates the world’s most sophisticated constellation of commercial earth imaging satellites, which collects more than 3 million square kilometers of Earth imagery daily (about the size of India). DigitalGlobe unlocks powerful insights from this high-resolution imagery in its cutting-edge Geospatial Big Data platform, GBDX. Leveraging cloud computing and machine learning algorithms, GBDX streamlines data processing and analytics to extract useful information from the imagery-at scale, so partners like the Arnhold Institute can understand where the most vulnerable communities are, how to reach them, and what interventions are working. The Arnhold Institute has recruited leading data scientists to support ATLAS, including James Faghmous, PhD, The Arnhold Institute’s Chief Technology Officer, who manages ATLAS and has deep experience with global data imagery.
“DigitalGlobe and The Arnhold Institute are transforming the way decisions are made regarding the health of the world’s most marginalized populations,” said Rhiannan Price, Senior Manager of the Global Development Program at DigitalGlobe. “The convergence of technologies at play in ATLAS, from satellite imagery to big data algorithms, to machine learning to mobile data, is creating rich streams of information feeding targeted, action-oriented solutions.”
Other technology companies working with The Arnhold Institute in developing the Health Equity Atlas include software company Dimagi, and Medic Mobile, a mobile health company that provides software for frontline health workers.
About the Mount Sinai Health SystemThe Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the “Honor Roll” of best hospitals in America, ranked No. 15 nationally in the 2016-2017 “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital is also ranked as one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Geriatrics, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Ear, Nose & Throat, and is in the top 50 in four other specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 10 nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report in "Best Children's Hospitals."
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About the Arnhold Institute for Global Health The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, seeks to improve the health of people and the communities they live in, both in the U.S. and abroad. The Arnhold Institute serves as a global arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, leading research on the design of more equitable and effective care models that are disseminated through digital products, training systems and input on policy design.
About DigitalGlobeDigitalGlobe is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution Earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions that help decision makers better understand our changing planet in order to save lives, resources and time. Sourced from the world's leading constellation, our imagery solutions deliver unmatched coverage and capacity to meet our customers' most demanding mission requirements. Each day customers in defense and intelligence, public safety, civil agencies, map making and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, navigation technology, and providers of location-based services depend on DigitalGlobe data, information, technology and expertise to gain actionable insight.
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