Skip to main content

Data for Health in Africa Meeting
&
5th DS-I Africa Consortium Meeting
23 - 29 August 2025
CEDI Centre, University of Ghana, Accra


  • Dr Lionel Landry Sop Deffo - Travel Awardee

    Artificial Intelligence assisted echocardiography to facilitate optimal image extraction for congenital heart defects diagnosis in Sub-Saharan Africa (Post Doctoral fellow)

    I am a young researcher working as an engineering team lead at the Health Research Foundation, where I specialize in data science and machine learning for health applications. I am also an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Buea, Cameroon. My research focuses on image processing, particularly in shape recognition for detecting and identifying persons in video scenes or sequences of images. This involves image segmentation-partitioning digital images into meaningful regions so that each pixel is labeled according to shared characteristics, making analysis easier and more precise. I also work with machine learning techniques, especially deep learning, which uses neural networks to enhance outcomes from earlier methods. These approaches support advanced tasks like image classification, people counting, face detection, face recognition, and signature authentication. I have a strong academic background in Mathematics and Computer Science, with specific training in computer vision and machine learning. I am fluent in both English and French and have supervised numerous student projects in sectors including health, education, and economic development. I have also contributed to implementing a revised engineering curriculum that emphasizes practical skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning. As an educator, I bring a strong understanding of educational psychology, which I studied during my teacher training. I hold additional certifications, including a diploma in General Psychology from Alison and a certificate in Global Mental Health from the University of Washington. This background allows me to connect technical innovation with educational and healthcare.