I am Dr. Shumit Saha, a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Data Science at the School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS) at Meharry Medical College, and a faculty member of the Meharry Vanderbilt Alliance (MVA). I am also an editorial board member of the Nature - Scientific Reports Journal.
I am the Director of the Resonance Lab, a research laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Data Science, part of the School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS) at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, focuses on developing novel technologies for chronic disease management.
I received my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada, my Master's in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and my Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
Before joining Meharry, I served as an Assistant Scientist at the University Health Network, Canada, and held a cross-appointment as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, Canada.
My research interests lie in developing artificial intelligence (AI) embedded mobile and digital technologies, such as wearables, smartphones, and applications, to enhance the management of chronic diseases. I have developed several algorithms using advanced signal processing and AI techniques to manage chronic diseases, including heart failure, sleep apnea, diabetes, and asthma.
[August 2025] I am honored to be selected as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee at SACS Meharry. As Chair of the Curriculum Committee, I lead efforts to review and strengthen our academic programs. This includes coordinating faculty discussions on course content and prerequisites, aligning our curriculum with accreditation standards, and ensuring that program changes support both student success and departmental goals. My role also involves facilitating collaboration, guiding committee decisions, and communicating recommendations to academic leadership.
[August 2025] Paper titled "Machine learning enhanced expert system for detecting heart failure decompensation using patient reported vitals and electronic health records" published in Nature - Scientific Reports.
[May 2025] Presented 4 abstracts at the 2025 American Thoracic Society Conference. One Abstract won the prestigious ATS Abstract Scholarship.
[April 2025] Presented at the Bridge 2 AI Voice Symposium in Tampa, FL.
[April 2025] Paper titled "Separating Obstructive and Central Respiratory Events during Sleep using Breathing Sounds: Utilizing Transfer Learning on Deep Convolutional Networks" published in Sleep Medicine.
[February 2025] Three Abstracts from Resonance Lab have been accepted to the 2025 RCMI Consortium National Conference, which will be held in March, 2025
[February 2025] Delivered a guest lecture on "Acoustic Signal Processing in Sleep Apnea Management" to the BME 1580 course at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto.
[January 2025] Four Abstracts from Resonance Lab have been accepted to the American Thoracic Society Conference, which will be held in May 2025.
[October 2024] Paper titled "Unveiling the Impact of Respiratory Event-Related Hypoxia on Heart Sound Intensity During Sleep Using Novel Wearable Technology" Published in Nature and Science of Sleep.
[Sept 2024] Paper titled "Feasibility of Acoustic Features of Vowel Sounds in Estimating the Upper Airway Cross Sectional Area during Wakefulness" Published in Speech Communication.
[Sept 2024] Funding News: My proposal, “Development of an Ethical Machine Learning Framework for Sleep Apnea Diagnosis,” has been awarded funding by the NIH's AIM-AHEAD Program. This ~$148k grant will enable us to develop a FAIR AI pipeline for sleep apnea diagnosis, a crucial area that impacts so many lives.
[May 2024] 2 posters were accepted at EMBC 2024. Titles: "Bridging the Language Gap in FND Care: a Comparative Analysis of Neurologists and Psychologists" and "Identifying Factors That May Cause Lower Sleep Efficiency for Cardiovascular Patients Taking β-Blockers"
[April 2024] Paper titled "Towards An Accessible Speech-based Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool for Underserved Populations" accepted at the 46th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), to be held in Orlando, Florida, USA
[March 2024] 2 Abstracts accepted in 2024 American Thoracic Society Conference, to be held in San Diego, California, USA
[March 2024] Joined the Faculty Senate Committee at Meharry Medical College
[March 2024] Joined the Faculty Recruitment Committee for the Meharry SACS
[March 2024] Joined the Ph.D. Candidacy Exam Committee as one of the primary examiners for the Meharry SACS
[March 2024] Joined the Admission Committee for incoming M.Sc. and Ph.D. Students at the Meharry SACS
[December 2023] Joined the School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS) at Meharry Medical College as Assistant Professor