Anna, the Oncopsychology Assistant
A peer-reviewed psychosocial support assistant for cancer patients and families, with a separate prototype exploring access through local Indian languages.
What it helps with
Cancer patients and their families often have psychosocial questions between appointments, including questions they may find difficult to ask in person. Anna offers a focused place to ask while keeping medical advice, diagnosis, and urgent care outside its role.
What was built
The original Hungarian work is documented in a peer-reviewed publication and uses curated psycho-oncology material with an explicit no-medical-advice boundary. A separate Indian experiment adapts the idea to 22 local languages and a 26-year curated knowledge collection, with source display and strict content filtering. That Indian retrieval pipeline remains experimental and is not presented as clinical production.
What made it different
Anna was an early, narrow use of conversational AI in an emotionally sensitive health setting. Its value comes from the combination of specialist subject matter, availability, and restraint. The Indian version then asks a harder access question: can the same support reach people in the language they actually use without weakening the safety boundary?
The boundary is part of the care: useful psychosocial support can be available without presenting itself as medical advice.
What it demonstrates
- Psycho-oncology information and support
- Strict no-medical-advice boundary
- Experimental access across 22 Indian languages