Recently the Health Science and Technology (HST) Division of Harvard Medical School and MIT announced the launch of a new Spring Semester elective course beginning Tuesday Feb 5th 2008 to address the growing demand from students, faculty and staff to improve global health practice through the development and deployment of innovative and low cost technologies. The philosophy behind the new course is that innovation in global health starts with directly examining problems experienced in the field. Solving these problems requires leaders who are trained to think and act like entrepreneurs. Students will receive training through a combination of lectures, case studies, and "real world" projects. Technology development and global health practice will be examined from several perspectives, including looking at different ways to stimulate innovation, applying cost-benefit tools for evaluating opportunities, and exploring different strategies for successful field implementation and adoption. In collaboration with sponsors, teams of students will work on design projects that address "real world" field-based problems. Projects may involve strategic planning, case study development, product design, or field test proposals. Examples include devising a business plan for a rapid CD4 T cell counting system for patients with HIV/AIDS, creating a regulatory testing plan for a low cost aerosol device for children with asthma, or using microfinance schemes to expand non-communicable disease (NCD) services. Students may apply for grants through MIT, Harvard and private sponsors to extend their classroom projects into the field. This course is being developed by Dr. Utkan Demirci and Jeff Blander.

Course Website