Innovations


We have developed and tested technologies that show promise for delivering fast and affordable patient care wherever it's needed.



HIV-ASSIST



With nearly 50 approved antiretrovirals (ARV) or ARV combination options for HIV patients, clinicians face a complicated decisions about the best treatment regimens for their patients. Developed by Dr. Maunank Shah, HIV-ASSIST is an online resource to help HIV care providers determine the most effective antiretroviral therapy for their adult HIV patients.

 

HIV-ASSIST uses specific patient attributes—including drug resistance, comorbidities, comedications, treatment history, viral load, CD4, tropism, HLA status—and ranks preferred ART regimens according to likelihood of viral suppression (e.g., drug activity) and tolerability (e.g., minimize drug interactions, impact on comorbidities, pill burden). The recommended regimens are based on the most up-to-date HIV clinical guidelines.



HIV-ASSIST additionally provides tailored educational content on each recommended ART regimen, including a review of clinical trials, dosing information, drug interactions, and summary of how comorbidities or drug resistance mutations may influence choice of ART.  All HIV-ASSIST algorithms are annotated and transparent to allow clinicians to learn about individualized ART decision-making. 

 

Visit HIV-ASSIST Website

Please note that HIV-ASSIST is an educational site and is not a substitute for clinical judgement. 

 



miLAB: Clinical Lab on a Chip



CCGHE Director Bob Bollinger is leading a multidisciplinary team of JHU experts in an international collaboration with Belgium silicon chip engineering company imec, and miDIAGNOSTICS to develop a clinical lab on a chip designed to provide diagnostic testing at the point of need. The effort is through international public-private collaboration, and the technology has the potential to radically transform healthcare. 



  • Designed for mobile platforms: highly portable, no temperature control required, able to reach people in remote areas and people who are not ambulatory


  • Requires only a few drops of blood, rather than vials, to process cell, protein, nucleic acid, and small molecule samples


  • Provides results within minutes, without the need for a laboratory. Has potential to get patients into care quicker, and provide enormous costs savings 


  • Potential to contribute greatly to medical resources conservation in regions where they are scarce


  • Potential for reporting real-time data about disease clusters and outbreaks, which can inform better and more efficient decision making about international aid and resource allocation



 



emocha Mobile Health Platform



In 2007, Bob Bollinger, Larry Chang, Jane-McKenzie-White, and programmer Miquel Sitjar invented the emocha® mobile health platform. The platform was designed to efficiently and securely share health data, as well as multi-media communication and education for both providers and patients, even in remote communities with limited connectivity. In addition to being one of the first mHealth platforms to support telemedicine visits between providers and patients in remote, rural communities in Africa, emocha® also deployed multi-media “smart-forms” which efficiently supported adherence of both patients and providers to best practice algorithms that improved care and health outcomes. In 2008 emocha® was recognized as a Finalist for the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Award.



Initially developed to help improve the care of HIV patients in remote areas of rural Uganda, many other programs began to use emocha® to improve the care of a wide range of patients around the world. Some of the initial emocha® projects included:



  • A project that improved linkage-to-care and treatment initiation for patients in South Africa with multidrug-resistant TB patients to within than 72 hours of a confirmed diagnosis


  • A program to support remote community-based screening and care referral for patients in Southeast India with oral cancer.


  • A program to support the work of visiting care workers to screen pregnant women in urban and rural US for risk for domestic abuse, and to deliver interventions intended to reduce intimate partner violence


  • A program in Baltimore to improve retention in care for HIV-positive intravenous drug users


  • Programs to support virtual directly observed therapy (vDOT) of patients with TB in the US and India


  • Vector-control projects designed to reduce the transmission of dengue virus in Colombia and Chaga’s Disease in Bolivia.



Click here to see a video about the origin of emocha® in Uganda. Since Johns Hopkins University licensed the platform to emocha Mobile Health, Inc in 2013, emocha® has become a leader in medication adherence support for patients with TB, asthma, HIV, HCV, organ transplant, diabetes and other diseases. In addition, since February 2002 multiple schools, businesses, health care facilities and public health departments have leveraged emocha Mobile Health Inc solutions for COVID-19 symptom screening, contact tracing and vaccination programs to support return-to-learn and return-to-work.



Disclosure. The Johns Hopkins University has a financial interest in emocha, a technology that was invented at the Johns Hopkins University. This financial interest includes equity in the company and entitlement to royalties. CCGHE staff (Dr. Bollinger, Dr. Chang, Ms. McKenzie-White, Dr. Page and Dr. Shah) are inventors of the technology and have a royalty interest in emocha. Dr. Bollinger, Dr. Chang and Ms. McKenzie-White have an equity interest in emocha. Dr. Bollinger is a member of the emocha Board of Directors and is a consultant to the company. These conflicts of interest are being managed by the University in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policies.