Dr. Gary Darmstadt's research focuses on advancing child health and development in low resource settings and advancing gender equality and health globally. His research spans intervention development and introduction as well as processes of scaling up delivery of innovations in developing countries.

Dr. Darmstat iscollaborating with Dr. Dennis Wall in the development of machine learning-based tools to identify children with developmental disabilities, especially autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in low resource settings, beginning in Bangladesh and Kenya. Dr. Wall has developed AI-enhanced technology to quickly detect ASD using features extracted from brief, parent-submitted home videos, with 94% accuracy in the USA. Dr. Darmstadt and Dr. Wall are adapting and testing the feasibility and accuracy of this approach across cultural and language barriers, using crowd-sourcing technology.

Dr. Darmstadt is also interested in topical emollient therapy 1) in preterm infants to improve skin barrier function, shape the skin and gut microbiome, reduce risk for serious infections and mortality, and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes, 2) to accelerate clinical recovery in young children with severe acute malnutrition, and 3) to prevent the onset and mitigate the severity of atopic diseases including atopic dermatitis, asthma and food allergies.