Chil AI Lab, an African-led health technology company, announced a breakthrough in breast cancer care with an AI platform designed to predict chemotherapy resistance. The system allows oncologists to determine if a treatment is failing significantly earlier than traditional methods. The project is led by Dr. Nabuuma Shamim Kaliisa. The platform addresses a critical gap in oncology, where many patients currently wait up to six months to discover if their treatment is effective.
Unlike many medical AI tools that function as a “black box” by providing answers without context, the Chil AI Lab platform measures its own confidence levels with every scan. This approach allows the system to act as a digital specialist that flags cases for human review when it is uncertain.
Key features of the technology include:
- Early Detection: The platform can identify warning signs that a treatment may not be working within the first 21 days.
- Transparent Reporting: When the AI is unsure about a scan, it alerts the doctor rather than providing a guess.
- Clinical Support: The system provides a range of possibilities and confidence scores to help oncologists decide whether to pivot a patient’s treatment plan.
The technology was tested during a 24-month study involving 306 patients across multiple cancer centers in Africa. The results indicated that the early confidence scores accurately predicted how patients would respond to treatment by the conclusion of their care.
In oncology, an “I don’t know” from a tool can be just as lifesaving as a yes, Kaliisa said. She noted that by building a system that quantifies its own certainty, the lab is giving doctors a tool they can trust to move away from guesswork.
Dr. Shamim is a Ugandan innovator, Social Entrepreneur. She is the Founder of Chil Artificial Intelligence Lab, a company incorporating artificial intelligence-guided e-oncology services to detect cervical and breast cancer. She is also serving as Africa’s representative on the Commonwealth Youth Council Executive Committee, where she is helping bridge the gap between young African entrepreneurs and investors willing to invest in Africa.
She is a winner of the Takeda Young Entrepreneur Award 2018, Young African Entrepreneur Award 2018, and a Social Impact Finalist at AWIEF Awards. In 2021, she was selected by the Bloomberg New Economy as one of the extraordinary individuals forming the inaugural class of catalysts that includes 30 other scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs and policymakers.
The Chil AI Lab team is scheduled to present their findings at the upcoming World Health Assembly. The group plans to expand the platform to cover additional cancer types and further refine its predictive accuracy.