Mobile phone screening for anemia in young children in western Kenya
Official title: Mobile phone-based screening for anemia in young children in western Kenya
Funded at Rhode Island Hospital · NIH-11401276 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses a mobile-phone tool to find anemia in young children in western Kenya so they can get follow-up testing and care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rhode Island Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | September 21, 2023 |
| Project end | August 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $88,867 |
| NIH project number | 3R33HD110154-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11401276 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are young children (especially under 5 years) who live in western Kenya and attend participating clinics, including children with chronic illnesses like HIV who are at higher risk of anemia.
✕Less likely to help
Children who live outside the project area, cannot travel to participating clinics, or who require immediate hospital-level care are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
If you bring your child to a participating clinic, a health worker will use a mobile phone tool to check for signs of anemia. The tool is meant to flag children who may have low blood counts and point to likely causes such as iron deficiency, malaria, or sickle cell disease so they can get confirmatory tests or treatment. The project focuses on young children in western Kenya where lab testing is hard to access, aiming to make screening low-cost and easy to deliver. Researchers will follow how the phone-based approach works in real clinics and whether it helps get children the care they need.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help find anemia earlier in children and speed access to simple, effective treatments that reduce illness and improve growth and development.
How similar studies have gone: Small pilot studies and early reports suggest phone-based and camera-based anemia screening methods can work, but larger real-world trials in low-resource settings remain limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcgann, Patrick Thomas — Rhode Island Hospital
- Study coordinator: Mcgann, Patrick Thomas
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.