Design for Global Health
Thursday, April 12, 8:00-9:30, Ski-U-Mah, McNamara Alumni Center

Organizer: Kathleen H. Sienko, PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan

"Innovating to Save More Lives"
Harshad Sanghvi, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins University

"From De-tuned to De-signed - Medical Devices for the Emerging Markets"
Mike Hess, Medtronic, Inc.

"The Magic of Science and Empathy"
Jon Polhamus, GE Healthcare Global Design

Session Abstract:

Currently the design, development, and implementation of medical devices insufficiently address health care needs in resource-limited settings. This session explores both medical device needs and best practices for device design and implementation in resource-limited settings. The speakers represent industry and non-governmental organizations. 

Session Organizer Bio:

Kathleen H. Sienko, PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
Kathleen H. Sienko is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor, MI. She earned her PhD in 2007 from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology’s Medical Engineering Program, and holds an SM in Aeronautics & Astronautics from MIT and a BS in Materials Engineering from the University of Kentucky. She directs both the Sensory Augmentation and Rehabilitation Laboratory (SARL) and the Laboratory for Innovation in Global Health Technology (LIGHT). Professor Sienko has led efforts at the University of Michigan to incorporate the constraints of global health technologies within engineering design at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Innovative educational activities including low-cost medical device design and project scoping activities at rural clinics in sub-Saharan Africa, Nicaragua, and China have been implemented in an iterative co-creative design process that occurs in close collaboration with stakeholders from resource-limited settings. 

Speaker Bios:

Harshad Sanghvi, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins University
Harshad Sanghvi’s professional background is in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Clinical Epidemiology. He is the Vice President and Medical Director for Jhpiego, and a senior Associate at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He has work experience in 45 countries. He is currently engaged in developing faster, cheaper and more efficient technologies to address global health challenges.

Mike Hess, Medtronic, Inc.
Mike Hess is the VP of Innovation for Medtronic focused on corporate technology and the establishment of regional R&D Centers. Mr. Hess has been at Medtronic for 21 years. He has a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western and a MS in Software Engineering from the University of St. Thomas.

Jon Polhamus, GE Healthcare Global Design
Jon Polhamus leads the strategy for Design Language as a member of the GE Healthcare Global Design team. He has a background in industrial design, and has been with GE Healthcare design since 1999.

Presentation Abstracts:

"Innovating to Save More Lives"
Consistent with Jhpiego’s mission, Innovating to Save Lives, the overarching goal of Jhpiego is to expand the portfolio of process-based and technology-based innovations for pressing global health needs either emerging or persistent, bring transformational change to the quality and scale of health care services at the community and population level, are extremely affordable, build on local assets and expertise, and foster entrepreneurship and leadership worldwide to innovate for global health.

"From De-tuned to De-signed - Medical Devices for the Emerging Markets"
Historically Medical Devices sold in the Emerging Markets have included older models sold to meet different price targets. These products do not take into account unique clinical needs for these markets.  Future medical device design needs to be fully informed by local market insights.

"The Magic of Science and Empathy"
Sharing GE Healthcare's design philosophy, "The Magic of Science and Empathy": our approach to thinking about the design of healthcare experiences across the globe.