Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Media Contact: Desa James | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-2669 | desa.james@okstate.edu
Yu Feng, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University, participated in the 2024 Rural Health Innovation Challenge in collaboration with the Oklahoma Public Health Institute on behalf of Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Systems Innovation.
The Oklahoma Rural Health Innovation Challenge aims to address the unique healthcare challenges facing rural communities. The challenge has five main categories, and Feng participated in the cardiology and community group.
Building on Feng’s commitment to promoting lung health, he aims to develop multi-scale modeling strategies for public health programs to improve the overall health of humanity.
Before embarking on his innovation challenge, Fenn said his research was “inspired by significant health concerns associated with the proliferation of new, unregulated e-cigarette products, particularly among rural Oklahoma residents.”
The risks and information about e-cigarettes and vaping products are not always readily available to Oklahoma residents, with “higher rates of vaping product use among Oklahomans (11%) and high school students (21.7%) than the national average for adults (7.7%),” Fenn said. Additionally, 41% of Oklahomans live in rural areas where they are less educated about the potential risks of vaping products.
Fenn expressed concern about the lack of awareness in rural Oklahoma about the adverse effects of toxic aerosols on lung health, saying, “The need to address these gaps and provide accurate, personalized health risk assessments prompted the development of the Digital Twin of the Human Respiratory System (DTHRS).”
This innovative digital model was developed for the evaluation of e-cigarette products, focusing specifically on products that are unregulated and untested in underserved areas of Oklahoma. Fenn emphasizes that the device uses advanced computer simulations to mimic the workings of the lungs and demonstrate how inhaled toxins interact within the lungs. Moreover, the DTHRS provides a real-time, accurate analysis of the potential harmful effects of e-cigarettes, which are often abused.
“Not only does this research aim to improve public health in rural Oklahoma, it has the potential to establish a new standard for global health risk assessment for e-cigarette products. Winning third place in the 2024 Rural Health Innovation Challenge is just one example of how Fenn’s research is impacting rural health.”
Article Written by: Natalie Henderson | Prospective Student Services Coordinator | natalie.henderson@okstate.edu
