By: Ascend
“Age is just a number” couldn’t be more pertinent for Gabrielle Wong, a high school student tackling interdisciplinary research to provide a data collection resource for vector-borne diseases. Continue reading to learn more.
Did you know that warmer temperatures can increase the geographic spread of where mosquitoes survive and breed? The combination of increased rainfall and warmer temperatures – which we’re predominantly seeing in Africa – is creating more breeding areas for these vectors. And it’s only getting worse as climate change worsens.
Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases and cause 700 000 deaths annually. But the policies surrounding these diseases don’t provide adequate data for certain rural communities to detect malaria hotspots, putting entire populations at risk. And the reality is, children face the biggest threat, as those under 5 years of age accounted for roughly 80% of all malaria deaths in the African Region.
That’s where 17-year-old student Gabrielle Wong comes in. An innovator intersecting anthropology and computer science, Gabrielle is using her genius to help countries combat the malaria situation. All while remaining a studious high school student.
With a focus on vector-borne disease transmission, specifically mosquitoes, the first project she undertook was developing a software called GeoMosquito.
“GeoMosquito monitors mosquito density malaria rates in SubSaharan Africa using satellite climate and agricultural data, most notably rice field data,” Gabrielle explains.
Her innovation led to winning first place in the Maxar Climate Mapping Challenge in the 2022 NFTE World Series of Innovation, and is currently applying for a patent for her novel machine learning model method to analyse satellite data more accurately. To further enhance her software, she built a machine called MosquitoSat, which serves as a mosquito logging device using acoustic sensors to detect mosquitoes.
Gabrielle’s focus for MosquitoSat was Kebbi in Nigeria as it has the highest production of rice in the country. Rice fields are mass breeding sites for mosquitoes, and Nigeria accounted for 31.3% of all malaria deaths worldwide in 2021. Despite running into difficulties while collecting data, the model was successful and supported her hypothesis.
But the lack of data showed the inequality between data collection methods. “We have a lot of data about urbanised places such as Hong Kong or the UK,” she says, “but in rural areas in Nigeria, or areas in SubSaharan Africa, you really couldn’t gauge how much viable data you had. In the end, specifically because it’s so rural, the collection methods were either too expensive to execute, too remote to execute, or just not viable from other factors.”
Given this reality, Gabrielle’s software and machine solve all these problems by identifying mosquito habitats, predicting climate change’s impact on disease spread, and warning at-risk areas.
“We’re building it in this very sustainable, easy software and a very small machine, and is actually equipped with a drone, which means that it can be easier for people living in those rural communities to track down where the risk of mosquitoes might be, essentially preventing them from contracting the disease,” she continues.
With plans of making her software and machine scalable to be accessible on a global level, Gabrielle is not just combating the current issue of malaria but creating a preventative measure to safeguard people worldwide from vector-borne transmitted diseases.
And her scope doesn’t end there. Not only is she stunting the malaria crisis using software development and machine learning analysis, but she’s also giving back to children around the world.
After Cambodia faced heavy flooding in 2019, leaving rural areas severely damaged, Gabrielle felt inspired to travel on a volunteer mission to help the affected communities.
“What drove me to volunteer was a sense of unity that you want to be able to help someone facing such heavy flooding and heavy rain,” she explains, and while she was there she did whatever she could to “help them have a more comfortable home to live in.”
During her time painting and building new homes, she visited local schools and connected with the children by reading stories and even teaching an English class, but she quickly discovered the lack of supplies needed to support a well-rounded education.
“The teachers also said the children have never actually really had a computer to learn with or play with,” she emphasises, and it sparked an idea to change this reality.
Fast forward two years later in 2021, Gabrielle began raising money to purchase computers for one of the villages she visited. And the Discimus Foundation was born. The nonprofit organisation provides computers and quality computer and coding lessons to children worldwide with over 400 lessons, 30 plus teachers, and 9,000 student attendance in total. Gabrielle and her foundation have donated more than 45 computers to schools in 5 countries with plans of further reach and expansion. She has presented her work at large global festivals such as the Women’s Forum For The Economy And Society and the UNESCO Learning Planet Festival.
Through Discimus, Gabrielle was nominated as a finalist for The Commonwealth Youth Award and also received The 2023 Diana Award, the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work.
And in her spare time from giving back to so many individuals? Gabrielle plays for her school badminton team, as the captain, keeping her connected to friends and supporting a balanced personal and work life.
An inspiration for her generation and future generations to come, 17-year-old Gabrielle Wong is altering the course of vector-borne diseases for the better.
Visit Gabrielle Wong’s website Discimus Foundation today to learn more about her philanthropic efforts and show your support.
