Schulich MBA Alum Founds AI-Based Cancer Screening App
Keith Loo (MBA ’12) is Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Skinopathy, a new healthcare startup that helps people screen for skin cancer from home – increasingly important during a global pandemic where the public is asked to stay home and may fear a trip to the doctor’s office or hospital.
Loo has worked with some of Canada’s most experienced skin cancer doctors to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can help patients screen for skin cancer by using their cellphone camera to take a picture of a skin lesion and letting AI determine cancer risk. The application will then connect people virtually with a licensed physician to determine next steps.
“Our Skinopathy team is working hard to build something that will positively impact the Ontario healthcare system,” said Loo, as the service is covered by OHIP. “While no AI will ever be able to replace the accuracy of a microscope and biopsy, preliminary tests have been very encouraging. Our accuracy rate exceeds 85% with confirmed cases of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma at time of posting.”
Screening is personal cause for Loo – he has psoriasis and lost two centimetres of his right index finger to skin cancer. He says Schulich had a tremendous influence on Skinopathy and its first service – GetSkinHelp.
“Schulich really gave me the opportunity to round out my experience by providing me with the marketing, operations, finance, and management knowledge to holistically build a business. Further, Schulich with its Entrepreneur in Residence Chris Carder has a very strong startup community and network,” said Loo.