All Spotlights

A lab in a backpack

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Transitioning Technologies from Labs to LDCs Workshop at Rice University's Institute for Global Health Technologies.

The workshop was an excellent opportunity to learn about some great new health point-of-care diagnostic technologies, point-of-use water purification technologies, and also many of the regulatory hurdles that must be overcome to get products to market, as well as the many groups whose purpose is to support those working toward this goal.

Health technologies can save lives, lower costs

Recently, UNICEF announced that child mortality has dropped below nine million deaths per year for the first time in recorded history. The drop can be attributed, in part, to the fact that health technologies like vaccines are reaching more children in the developing world, where the vast majority of these deaths occur. Many leaders in global health, including philanthropic powerhouse Bill Gates, have encouraged researchers to focus on creating health technologies for the developing world, where function outweighs form and prices get too expensive very quickly.

Rice-TMC win funds for cancer research

A consortium that includes Rice University and partners in the Texas Medical Center has been awarded a major grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to establish a center to conduct innovative cancer research that draws upon the physical sciences.

Rice University receives $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations Grant

Rice University announced today that it has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will support an innovative global health research project conducted by the lab of Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Rice's Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering and director of Rice 360˚: Institute for Global Health Technologies.

Transitioning Technologies From Labs to LDCs Workshop

Nov 6, 2009:  A Rice 360° BTB Workshop that will bring leading experts in the field together to advance the discussion of how to bring health technologies from prototype to wide scale dissemination in the developing world.

Beyond Traditional Borders Summer Internship Program

Through the Beyond Traditional Borders Initiative, Rice University students travel to countries in Africa and Latin America for an 8-week summer internship to learn about healthcare in the developing world and to implement health technologies and educational programs of their own design. Learn more about their internship experiences at http://www.owlsbeyondborders.rice.edu/.

Taking the Lead in Education and Prevention

The influence of technology on global health is undeniable, but it’s clear that technology alone won’t prevent disease, reduce infant mortality rates or improve the overall health of people in some of the world’s poorest communities. This is something that Rebecca Richards-Kortum knows from personal experience, but she has some big ideas for solving global health problems, and they’re all about changing the world one Rice undergraduate at a time.

Microfinance pioneer shares wisdom with Rice

Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva, the world's first person-to-person micro-lending Web site, spoke at the Shell Auditorium April 14. Jackley was invited by Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Beyond Traditional Borders Director, as part of the Rice 360 initiative.

Listen to Jessica Jackley's talk