Meet Hamed Minaei, an experienced data scientist who is passionate about making a difference in communities using research and data science tools. He has extensive experience in rigorous data analysis, machine learning and creating models, along with the skills to understand complex problems and deliver optimal solutions. He's a great communicator and leader with seven years of data science experience. Combining his soft and hard skills - including his technical data scientist experience - allows him to also solve business problems.
USING DATA IN A GOOD WAY, AND MAKING BORING BREATHING EXERCISES FUN
(excerpt from The University of Auckland News, 27 September 2019)
Dr Hamed Minaeizaeim was studying his PhD in Bioengineering at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) when, in his spare time, he developed a device to make the chest physiotherapy exercises prescribed for children with lung disorders a fun thing to do.
The device, BreatheHero™, was developed in collaboration with a team of researchers at the University, and has won several awards including the UniServices prize in the Velocity $100,000 Challenge 2015 from the University of Auckland.
It is about to be trialled among 20 children with cystic fibrosis (CF) at Starship Children’s Hospital (a trial funded by Cure Kids) to see how the children respond to the device, and if it encourages them to do their exercises.
“These chest exercises are the most important treatment for the health of children with lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis,” says Dr Minaeizaeim. “They have to do them to clear their lungs but the exercises are tedious, repetitive and boring - so they often don’t.”
Using sensors and gaming technology, BreatheHero™ makes the exercises fun, measures how well the children do them, rewards them when they do them well, and also collects data on how often they do them.
The trial, led by Associate Professor Cass Byrnes, from the Faulty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University, will help inform larger studies to determine if the device encourages children to do their chest exercises, and if it improves their quality of life.
Dr Minaeizaeim graduated in September. For his PhD he also focussed on the lung, using mathematical modelling to develop a framework to, using medical imagery, track changes in diseased lungs more precisely than is currently possible.
“Interpreting the results of current scanning technologies depends upon the expertise of the clinician and is very subjective,” says Dr Minaeizaeim “This was about creating a more quantitative way of assessing the progress of the disease.”
He was supervised by Dr Alys Clark and Professor Merryn Tawhai, both internationally recognised pioneers in lung modelling research.
Dr Minaeizaeim began his studies in mechanical engineering at Bu-Ali Sina University in Iran before winning a scholarship to Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where he completed a Masters in Mechatronics Engineering. He worked as a consultant engineer in South Africa, but decided to follow up on his passion for biomedical engineering and moved to Auckland, to study at the ABI.
“It is one of the best multidisciplinary bioengineering institutes in the world,” he says. “It’s a multicultural institute with so many incredibly talented students and researchers who are researching cutting edge technology and science to reshape the future.”
Dr Minaeizaeim is employed as a Research Health Intelligence lead at Mahitahi Hauora, the new primary care entity set up in Northland, and which is committed to close the equity gap between Māori and non-Māori in the region. He is leading a data analytic team to better identify where the gaps are in healthcare, why the healthcare systems are disadvantaging Māori and how to address that.
While a lot of work has been done to address health inequities in Northland, too many Māori are still ending up in hospital. “A lot of work has been done in this area, and many organisations are recording data, but they are not using it in an efficient and effective way,” he says.
“We are looking to use all the data-gathering techniques that are currently available to actually help patients, to use data more effectively and efficiently, to improve healthcare in Northland.”
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NEW ZEALAND RESEARCH PROJECTS
CFNZ and Cure Kids are jointly funding two research projects – one for a new device for chest therapy for children and the other to target the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) which causes a serious lung infection in people with CF.
Improving compliance levels among children and adolescents, Associate Professor Cass Byrnes of the University of Auckland and Starship Children’s Hospital is a leader in clinical care of children with CF throughout NZ. Her research focuses on the prevention of respiratory disease in children with CF or post-pneumonia bronchiectasis. She's the NZ principal investigator for many international trials in CF (ACFBAL trial, COMBAT CF trial, GAIN, FAB) and received a grant from CFNZ and Cure Kids to explore making physiotherapy a game, rather than the daily chore it can be.
The tablet-based game, BreatheHero™, rewards kids when they perform physiotherapy correctly, as well as collecting data on how often the exercises are done. It’s hoped that the more engaging form of therapy will see an increase in compliance among children and adolescents, which sits at around 49%.
The BreatheHero™ research team is co-led by Cass Byrnes, Dr Christof Lutteroth from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, Hamed Minaei, as well as including engineering expert Dr Robert Gallichan from the ABI, and business consultant Dr Katherine Lutteroth.
While the final results of the research aren't yet available, anecdotal feedback from families has reported a significant improvement in both compliance and adherence to the vital therapy.
The team has been guided in technical design by Marcus King at Callaghan Innovation who has extensive experience developing medical devices, including the AbleX device for stroke rehabilitation.
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