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10/29/2009

Life-saving technologies featured at Nov. 6 workshop
International experts to share health care design successes at Rice

RICE NEWS AND STAFF REPORTS

Lack of access to basic health care in the developing world is a global crisis. For example, it's estimated that 24 million children still don't have access to immunizations, that a simple diagnostic for tuberculosis could save 400,000 lives per year and that prevention of waterborne diseases could free up half of the world’s hospital beds.

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To explore issues surrounding the design and dissemination of health technology in the developing world, Rice 360º: Institute for Global Health Technologies and Rice's Beyond Traditional Borders initiative are hosting "Transitioning Technologies from Labs to Least-Developed Countries" Nov. 6.

The workshop, which will be held in Duncan Hall's McMurtry Auditorium, will bring together leading experts from industry, academia and nongovernmental organizations who are designing and disseminating health technologies for the developing world and providing health care in the field.

Speakers will describe their experience with successfully transferred health technology, including Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw, an inexpensive and portable water purifier that removes bacteria and viruses that cause common diarrheal disease; Procter & Gamble’s PUR packet, which costs about 10 cents and cleans water by removing pathogenic microorganisms and suspended matter; and PATH’s SoloShot Needle, an approach to nonreusable syringes for immunizations. Leading researchers from Rice University, Columbia University, University College London and University of California-Berkeley will discuss their cutting-edge work in point-of-care diagnostic development and point-of-use water treatment. A panel discussion moderated by Maria Oden, director of Rice's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen and professor in the practice of engineering education, will address regulatory issues and medical ethics concerns associated with transferring health technology to developing countries.

Rice 360º
Find out how Rice University is working with global leaders and communities to improve health care around the world Beyond Traditional Borders
Want to help fight the world's global health care crisis? Find out how Stanley Schultz of the University of Texas Medical School-Houston will deliver the keynote address. Schultz’s pioneering work formed the basis for oral rehydration therapy that has saved millions of lives by combating dehydration from diarrheal disease. He will focus on the development of oral rehydration therapy as an example of the translation of basic biomedical knowledge from the bench to the field.

Those interested in attending the workshop, which is free and open to the public, should register at www.rice360.rice.edu. For more information, contact Janet Wheeler at jmw@rice.edu or 713-348-4491.