Global Biodesign

Overview

Global Health: Scaling Health Technology Innovations in Low-Resource Settings explores critical questions regarding the implementation and impact of technological innovations in low-resource settings.

Recent advances in health technologies – incorporating innovations like robotics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and smart sensors – have raised expectations of a dramatic impact on health outcomes across the world. However, bringing innovative technologies to low-resource settings has proven challenging, limiting their impact.  

This course will feature thought leaders from the health technology community, who will explore examples of technologies that have been successful in low-resource communities, as well as those that have failed. Students will think critically to consider conditions under which technologies reach scale and positively impact the global health field.

Three-unit students will also have a unique opportunity to work on real-world projects offered by organizations and companies. These projects will focus on the potential opportunity for the use of a health technology innovation in a low-resource setting and consider approaches to ensure its impact at scale. Students will work together in groups on these projects. In some cases, students have been offered an internship opportunity or have been an author on a publication based on the work and relationship they developed with their mentor during the course.

Questions? Contact Anurag Mairal.  


Course title
Global Health: Scaling Health Technology Innovations in Low Resource Settings
Course number(s) Quarter(s)
MED 232
Winter
Schedule Units
Wednesday
1:30-4:20 pm
2-3
Eligible students
Undergraduate
Graduate
Post-Doctoral
Enrollment information
By application only 
Learning goals
  • Provide an overview of technology innovations in global health industry, including history and future trajectory
  • Explore five important technology areas (vaccines, drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health) with a special emphasis on the role of new advances such as AI/ML, IoT, and big data in each
  • Develop an in-depth understanding of key challenges companies face when bringing innovative health technologies in resource-constrained settings, including technical, regulatory, clinical, and business model barriers
  • Introduce students to the opportunities for innovation in the field of “global health” – health for underserved communities everywhere (including the US)
  • Expose students to different career pathways in the global health technology field

What the Students Are Saying…

“Take the course! The teaching team is incredibly dedicated, and I felt like I learned so much that I would not have learned in other classes. I also liked the opportunity to work on a project and the opportunity to continue working on it in the future.”

The material is so interesting, and you hear from very experienced individuals within their fields about health technologies and how to scale them. The group project is an extremely valuable experience, as you get to collaborate with other brilliant students and gain experience helping a company with a real-world problem.”

A good overview of the global health landscape, especially if you have little prior background. The instructors are very enthusiastic, and having a mix of students from the med school, business school, etc. was interesting to get different perspectives."

“I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to interact with incredible instructors, guests, and peers with deep experience in the global health space.”