April 2026

The SkincAIr consortium is pleased to announce that its clinical validation study, “Early Detection and AI-Based Management of Skin-Related Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa by Frontline Health Workers (SkincAIr)”, has officially been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier NCT07506967.

The study addresses a major public health challenge: approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide are affected by skin-related neglected tropical diseases, particularly in poor and
rural communities where access to specialist care is limited. SkincAIr is testing whether a mobile app powered by artificial intelligence can help frontline healthcare workers improve
the early detection, diagnosis, and management of skin NTDs in real-world primary care setting

The SkincAIr study will run in two phases:

  • A 36-month image collection phase, during which dermatologists in Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria will collect and annotate
    clinical images in order to train the AI model.
  • A 24-month validation phase involving 50 frontline health workers and around 750 patients per country in Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal, to assess the app’s diagnostic performance with and without it.

During the validation phase, frontline healthcare workers will first diagnose patients without the support of AI technology, in order to establish a baseline level of performance. They will then use the SkincAIr app for an AI-assisted period, after which they will diagnose patients without the app to evaluate their retained skills. Various factors will be assessed during the study, including diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, time to diagnosis, referral patterns, cost implications, and epidemiological surveillance outcomes (including hotspot identification).

A powerful African-European alliance working to close the healthcare gap in underserved regions

SkincAIr is a collaborative effort involving research, clinical, academic, and implementation partners from across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. The study is sponsored by the Kenya
Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and supported by partners including the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, the Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Initiative Nigeria, TeaCup Lab, the Order of Malta France, Sherwood, and the Université Catholique de Bukavu, among others.

This registration is an important step towards transparency, scientific credibility and alignment with international research standards. The study’s findings will be shared with the
relevant national ministries of health, presented at local and international conferences, and reported to the appropriate institutional and regulatory authorities.

The SkincAIR consortium, led by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, SkincAIr brings together 12 partners from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa—combining clinical, academic, technical, legal, and marketing expertise. Meet here all the partners involved in this ambitious project.