According to a scientific review published in 2018, \u201cbreast cancer is the second most common malignancy in Nepalese women. (...) In low-resource countries like Nepal, breast cancers are commonly diagnosed at late stages and women may receive inadequate treatment, pain relief or palliative care. Socio-economic disparities and insufficient financial resources hinder breast cancer prevention in Nepal.\u201d(National Library of Medicine<\/a>, 2018)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aware of this, Sweekrity Kanodia, a FIRE doctoral student at the Planet Learning Institute, came up with the idea of creating a BreMo (Breast Health in Nepal Monitoring & Awareness) mobile app to help prevent and diagnose breast cancer in Nepal. An important part of her work is to find frugal and accessible solutions in the field of health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interview with a committed researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My name is Sweekrity Kanodia and I'm a lucky woman from a small village in Nepal who has had the opportunity to learn and grow. Growing up, I was very intrigued by biotechnology and the vastness of this field. As I delved deeper and deeper into this sea, I realized its potential to improve people's lives. Having experienced the difficulties of seeking medical care (I was often sick as a child) and observed the poverty around me, I wanted to develop frugal medical technologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That's why I joined the FIRE doctoral school's PhD program. As part of this program, I'm trying to defeat breast cancer with my team by harnessing digital means to educate women in rural villages in Nepal about breast cancer and self-monitoring. My research project aims to improve breast health in Nepal using open and portable digital innovations. the 2 aspects of the project are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logging into the BreMo application is very simple, and users can choose to log in as well. A simple interface allows users to move easily from one screen to another. Users can follow a step-by-step process to learn how to self-monitor and record their symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main advantage of our BreMo application over other applications is that it allows users to select their symptoms from a list of symptoms, making them easier to identify and record.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n As soon as this new version of BreMo is ready, we'll be ready to go out into the field - in the western regions of Nepal - to test our application against the traditional local method of disseminating information about breast cancer via posters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I began collaborating with NGOs such as the Khokana Women's Society<\/a> and the Nepal Network for Cancer Research and Treatment<\/a> in Nepal to carry out field tests. We will bring together health volunteers from different districts and train them in BreMo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nCan you introduce yourself? What is your research project?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How far along is your project?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We're already working on the second version of the BreMo (Breast Health in Nepal Monitoring & Awareness) open source application, improving it based on feedback from a pilot study carried out at the Learning Planet Institute. We don't want to launch it just yet, as we first want to evaluate it scientifically by field-testing it with the target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"BreMo](\"http:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/capture-decran-2023-03-08-a-125952-1024x659-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"BreMo](\"http:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/capture-decran-2023-03-08-a-130207-300x300-1.png\")
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/com-lpi-version-1-683x1024-1.jpg\")
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