{"id":242721,"date":"2024-07-02T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=242721"},"modified":"2024-07-03T10:10:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:10:03","slug":"professor-named-change-agent-for-cultivating-inclusive-ai","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/professor-named-change-agent-for-cultivating-inclusive-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Named Change Agent for Cultivating Inclusive AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-right-bottom has-text-position-x-right has-text-position-y-top has-dark-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"2056\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Global network connection. World map point and line composition concept of global business. Vector Illustration\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-636x511.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-1024x822.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-768x617.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-1536x1233.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-2048x1645.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-755x606.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-1245x1000.jpg 1245w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-900x723.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-1920x1542.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1405728317-1-1200x964.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Awards<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProfessor Named Change Agent for Cultivating Inclusive AI\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Elaine Nsoesie is one of 25 honorees worldwide who will be recognized by Mozilla during The 2nd Annual Rise25 Awards, which celebrate individuals for their leadership in ensuring a trustworthy future for AI.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">July 2, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/megan-jones\/\">Megan Jones<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-899x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Headshot of Elaine Nsoesie\" class=\"wp-image-242722\" width=\"323\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-899x1024.jpeg 899w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-558x636.jpeg 558w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-768x875.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-1349x1536.jpeg 1349w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-1798x2048.jpeg 1798w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-755x860.jpeg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-878x1000.jpeg 878w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-790x900.jpeg 790w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-1920x2187.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/07\/Elaine-Nsoesie-headshot_color-1200x1367.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/><figcaption>Elaine Nsoesie. Photo by Olubusola Oladeji<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Elaine Nsoesie, associate professor of global health, has been named one of 25 honorees and artificial intelligence (AI) innovators worldwide to be celebrated at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/en-US\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mozilla&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/mozilla-announces-finalists-for-the-2nd-annual-rise25-awards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Rise25 Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second annual Rise25 Awards celebrate individuals for their valuable leadership in ushering in a future for AI that is \u201cresponsible, trustworthy, inclusive, and centered around human dignity.\u201d Finalists were selected from hundreds of nominees and have used \u201cphilanthropy, collective power, and the principles of open source\u201d to ensure the next wave of AI both serves and represents everyone. Mozilla will celebrate the cohort of honorees\u201425 individuals split across five categories: advocates, artists, builders, change agents, and entrepreneurs\u2014at a special ceremony in Dublin, Ireland on August 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By naming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/elaine-nsoesie\/\">Nsoesie<\/a> a Change Agent, Mozilla aims to recognize her for leading the way in diversifying AI and to celebrate her ongoing work focused on ensuring that the technology is inclusive of those historically excluded from the tech narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent blog post announcing this year&#8217;s awards, Mark Surman, president of Mozilla, said, \u201cAt Mozilla, we believe the most groundbreaking innovations arise when people of all kinds of backgrounds come together to collaborate and openly trade ideas. This approach to innovation \u2014 grounded in strong pillars of experimentation and community \u2014 has defined our work over the past 25 years, fueling global movements around open-source innovation, online privacy and trustworthy AI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nsoesie, who was born and raised in Cameroon, has dedicated her career to the advancement of global health equity through data science and technology. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in mathematics from the University of Maryland College Park and a master\u2019s in statistics and a doctorate in computational epidemiology from Virginia Tech. In 2018, she joined SPH\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/about\/departments\/global-health\/\">Department of Global Health<\/a> where her work recently earned her the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/faculty-staff-and-students-to-be-honored-with-2024-sph-awards\/\">2024 Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-list alignright sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>research<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/faculty-staff-and-students-to-be-honored-with-2024-sph-awards\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Faculty, Staff, and Students to Be Honored with 2024 SPH Awards<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">May 3, 2024<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p>She has served as a program lead and a senior advisor to the <a href=\"https:\/\/datascience.nih.gov\/artificial-intelligence\/aim-ahead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Artificial Intelligence\/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nih.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>, and she led the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/antiracism-center\/antiracism-research\/racial-data-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Racial Data Tracker<\/a> project at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/antiracism-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Boston University\u2019s Center for Antiracist Research<\/a>, which aimed to collect, analyze, and disseminate publicly available data that points to the structural nature of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am honored to receive this award from Mozilla. I have been reading the bios of the other honorees and I am in awe of the inspiring work they are doing around the world to make AI work for the benefit of all. I am encouraged and inspired to continue the work that I am already doing,\u201d says Nsoesie. She highlights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.datascienceafrica.org\/dsa2024nyeri\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data Science Africa 2024<\/a>, a conference she recently co-chaired in Nyeri, Kenya that attracted participants from more than 20 African counties, as an example of the work she is referring to. She points out that of the four keynote speakers, three were African women working on applications of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We have not always had such rich and diverse representation of research from countries across Africa,\u201d says Nsoesie. &#8220;When I started in academia, I used to attend meetings and conferences where I would look across the room and realize I was the only woman or the only person of African descent. In those rooms, I often felt like I was not just expected to voice my opinions but the opinions of an entire group. This is one reason I am committed to increasing representation in data science and scientific research broadly. I do not want to be the only one in any room.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To this end, Nsoesie found Rethe, an initiative launched in Tanzania in 2019 intended to increase representation of Africans in scientific research publications. The program, which organizes and facilitates scientific writing workshops for students in Africa, proved immensely popular and Nsoesie is now eager to leverage a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/faculty-staff\/faculty-handbook\/resources-for-faculty-development-and-advancement\/pilot-award-program\/\">Practice Innovation Award<\/a> from SPH\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/give\/idea-hub\/\">idea hub<\/a>&nbsp;to develop Rethe 2.0 this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/SPHTY23-Theme-Department-Chairs-Hibberd.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Black and white headshot of Patricia Hibberd with a yellow and white background\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Global Health<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/whats-next-for-global-health\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">What&#8217;s Next for Global Health?<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">January 12, 2024<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/06\/Huimin-Cheng600x362.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Headshot of Huimin Cheng\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>data science<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/professor-awarded-data-science-fellowship\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Professor Awarded Data Science Fellowship<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">June 12, 2024<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elaine Nsoesie, associate professor of global health, has been named one of 25 honorees and artificial intelligence (AI) innovators worldwide to be celebrated at Mozilla&#8217;s 2024 Rise25 Awards. The second annual Rise25 Awards celebrate individuals for their valuable leadership in ushering in a future for AI that is \u201cresponsible, trustworthy, inclusive, and centered around human [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22210,"featured_media":242735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[3767,2094,3797,4671,2049,2728,3257,4910,1986,2265,4749,2577,3214],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3531,3532,3538,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3073],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/242721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242721"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/242721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242840,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/242721\/revisions\/242840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=242721"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=242721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}