Elaine Nsoesie
Profiles

Elaine O. Nsoesie, PhD, MS

Associate Professor, Global Health - Boston University School of Public Health

617-358-3120
onelaine@bu.edu
Crosstown Center
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Biography

Elaine O. Nsoesie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is an internationally recognized data scientist and a leading voice on the use of data and technology to advance health equity. She is a Data Science Faculty Fellow and was a Founding Faculty of the Boston University Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences. She co-edited and contributed to the book, Urban Health in Africa – a collection of essays by thirty eight scholars focused on addressing critical issues related to urbanization in Africa.

She served as a program lead and senior advisor to the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) Program at the National Institutes of Health through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program. She also led the Racial Data Tracker project at the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.

She has expertise in the application of data science methods (including, machine learning and artificial intelligence) and data from non-traditional public health sources (such as, mobile phones, satellites, and social media) to address major global health challenges. Her work approaches health equity from multiple angles, including increasing representation of communities typically underrepresented in data science through programs like Data Science Africa and AIM-AHEAD; addressing bias in health data and algorithms; and using data and policy to advance racial equity. She has collaborated with local departments of health in the U.S. to improve disease surveillance systems, international organizations like UNICEF and UNDP, and served as a Data & Innovation Fellow in the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI), The President’s Office, Sierra Leone.

She has published extensively in peer-reviewed literature. She is also known for her ability to effectively communicate complex information with diverse audiences. She has given invited talks including keynotes and distinguished lectures at conferences, workshops and institutions across five continents. Nsoesie has received international, regional and institutional awards for her research and service, including an NIH Director's Award given to the AIM-AHEAD Development and Launch Team, Mozilla Rise25 Award, the Boston University School of Public Health Excellence in Public Health Practice Award and the Boston Congress of Public Health’s Health Innovators to Watch Award.

Nsoesie was born and raised in Cameroon.

Nsoesie completed her PhD in Computational Epidemiology from the Genetics, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program at Virginia Tech, and her PhD dissertation, Sensitivity Analysis and Forecasting in Network Epidemiology Models, at the Network Dynamics and Simulations Science Lab at Virginia Tech BioComplexity Institute. After postdoctoral associate positions at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, she joined the faculty of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Other Positions

  • Founding Assistant Professor, Computing & Data Sciences Administration - Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research - Boston University

Education

  • Virginia Tech, PhD Field of Study: Genetics/Bioinformatics
  • Virginia Tech, MS Field of Study: Statistics
  • University of Maryland, BS Field of Study: Mathematics

Websites

Publications

  • Published on 4/10/2025

    Lim A, Shearer FM, Sewalk K, Pigott DM, Clarke J, Ghouse A, Judge C, Kang H, Messina JP, Kraemer MUG, Gaythorpe KAM, de Souza WM, Nsoesie EO, Celone M, Faria N, Ryan SJ, Rabe IB, Rojas DP, Hay SI, Brownstein JS, Golding N, Brady OJ. The overlapping global distribution of dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 10; 16(1):3418. PMID: 40210848.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/26/2024

    Ghassemi M, Hightower M, and Nsoesie EO. Settling the Score on Algorithmic Discrimination in Healthcare. NEJM AI. 2024; 1(10).

     Read At: Custom
  • Published on 10/18/2024

    Gaye B, Isiozor NM, Singh G, Gaye ND, Ka MM, Seck D, Gueye K, Kitara DL, Lassale C, Malick A, Diaw M, Seck SM, Sow A, Gaye M, Fall AS, Diongue A, Seck I, Belkhadir J, Wone I, Gueye SM, Sow PS, Kohen JE, Vogelsang D, Mbaye MN, Liyong EA, Kengne AP, Lamptey R, Sougou NM, Sobngwi E, Ba A, Tukakira J, Lorenz T, Kabore EG, Muzumala MG, Olanrewaju A, Jaiteh LE, Delicat-Loembet LM, Alson AOR, Niang K, Maina CW, Mwebaze E, Nabende J, Machuve D, Adie P, Hanne F, Tine R, Sougou M, Koffi KG, Luwanda L, Sattler ELP, Mekonnen D, Ebeid F, Enama JP, Zeba M, Guedou F, Mbelesso P, Carter J, Coulibaly B, Drame ML, Mouanga A, Preux PM, Lacroix P, Diagana M, Ekouevi DK, Houinato D, Faye A, Wambugu V, Kamaté J, Lalika M, Nsoesie E, Ale BM, Fall IS, Samb A, Tshilolo L, Jobe M. Barriers to global engagement for African researchers: A position paper from the Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA). J Glob Health. 2024 Oct 18; 14:03042. PMID: 39421942.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/1/2024

    Nsoesie EO, Ghassemi M. Using labels to limit AI misuse in health. Nat Comput Sci. 2024 Sep; 4(9):638-640. PMID: 39317757.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 6/18/2024

    Ferryman K, Cesare N, Creary M, Nsoesie EO. Racism is an ethical issue for healthcare artificial intelligence. Cell Rep Med. 2024 Jun 18; 5(6):101617. PMID: 38897175.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/24/2024

    Mendez SR, Nsoesie EO, Abdul Rahman E, Biggs O, Weinman M. From Theory to Practice: Mitigating the Harm of Online Harassment in Public Health. J Health Commun. 2024 Jun 02; 29(6):403-406. PMID: 38785105.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 2/21/2024

    Momo, LNW, Moorosi N, Nsoesie EO, Rademakers F, DeMoor B. . Length of Stay prediction for Hospital Management using Domain Adaptation. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. 2024; 133:108088.

     Read At: Custom
  • Published on 9/8/2023

    Akinseinde SA, Kosemani S, Osuolale E, Cesare N, Pellicane S, Nsoesie EO. Association between wealth, insurance coverage, urban residence, median age and COVID-19 deaths across states in Nigeria. PLoS One. 2023; 18(9):e0291118. PMID: 37682911.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/25/2023

    Babbs G, Weber SE, Abdalla SM, Cesare N, Nsoesie EO. Use of machine learning methods to understand discussions of female genital mutilation/cutting on social media. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023; 3(7):e0000878. PMID: 37490461.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/1/2023

    Lundberg DJ, Wrigley-Field E, Cho A, Raquib R, Nsoesie EO, Paglino E, Chen R, Kiang MV, Riley AR, Chen YH, Charpignon ML, Hempstead K, Preston SH, Elo IT, Glymour MM, Stokes AC. COVID-19 Mortality by Race and Ethnicity in US Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas, March 2020 to February 2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 May 01; 6(5):e2311098. PMID: 37129894.

     Read At: PubMed

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