Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies

The Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) within the McCormick School of Engineering and the Feinberg School of Medicine's Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health recognizes the multidimensional complexity of the global healthcare arena. Working in alliance with corporate, not-for-profit, and education partners, CIGHT seeks not merely to develop, but bring to market comprehensive, context-appropriate healthcare solutions that integrate seamlessly with the lives of patients and medical practitioners in the developing world.

PIs: Kara Palamountain and Becca Kirby

The Kellogg School of Management’s Medical Technologies in Global Public Health course provides students with a unique opportunity to conduct real-world needs assessments that inform the design and launch of global health medical technologies. Through the program, student innovators receive scholarship support to travel to partner communities in Africa to obtain direct user and stakeholder feedback on their innovations.

Students typically participate in a two-week field experience, with funding helping to subsidize travel and in-country expenses. This year, philanthropic support enables students to travel to Kenya to engage in person with attendees of the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Nairobi. There, students gather feedback on maternal and newborn health technologies aimed at reducing preventable deaths across the continuum of care.

Prior trips have included engagement in South Africa to engage in-person with partners at WITS, UCT, and Stellenbosch in Johannesburg and Cape Town and obtain their feedback on exciting innovations funded by IGH and the Center for Innovations in Global Health Technologies grants to innovations intended to bring point of care testing and treatment to hard-to-reach areas.