BMLSIA was built on one conviction: biomedical laboratory scientists are more than testers — they are innovators. Our first cohort of 30 fellows, selected from 140+ applicants across Africa, is collaborating across 11 roles to build MPDetect from the ground up.
ML models trained on blood smear images to identify malaria parasites — built by biomedical scientists who understand the biology.
Designed to work with phone cameras and low-cost hardware, reaching community health workers far from centralized labs.
Unlike generic tech products, MPDetect is built by BLS professionals who understand smear preparation, staining, and parasite morphology.
Every diagnosis is a data point. Results feed into real-time dashboards to support outbreak detection and program monitoring at scale.
To make early malaria diagnosis faster, smarter, and more accessible to every community — using innovative technology to enable timely treatment and significantly reduce preventable deaths.
This isn't a treatment problem alone. It's a detection problem. Getting accurate, timely diagnosis to communities that need it most is the gap we are building to close.
A four-stage pipeline — from blood smear capture to national surveillance — built for settings where traditional lab infrastructure doesn't exist.
A health worker or lab scientist captures a prepared blood smear image using the MPDetect app on a standard smartphone.
An ML model processes the image to identify and count malaria parasites, detect species, and estimate parasite density.
Results are displayed on-screen within seconds, logged with timestamp, GPS location, and patient ID to a surveillance dashboard.
Anonymized data flows into a central system, building real-time outbreak maps and population-level insights at scale.
There are multiple ways to contribute — whether you have expertise, infrastructure, or simply believe that African scientists can solve African health problems.
Guide the next generation of biomedical innovators. Share your expertise across science, tech, and product.
Become a MentorCollaborate to pilot the MPDetect system in clinics and communities. We're actively seeking lab partners for early evaluation.
Start a PartnershipFund the development and rollout of life-saving diagnostic tools to communities that need them most.
DonateSelected from 140+ applicants across Nigeria and Africa, Cohort One brings together biomedical scientists, engineers, writers, and designers — all committed to proving that lab scientists can be builders too.