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$100,000 doesn’t amount to much in the world of medical imaging. But in developing countries, it makes medical imaging available to thousands of people – and that’s just the first benefit.
Imaging the World (ITW), a US based non-profit that develops medical training and technologies to bring medical imaging to remote areas around the world, recently received a $100,000 grant from Grand Challenges Explorations, which funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Grand Challenges Explorations is one of many global health initiatives funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
ITW aims to use the money to support its efforts to bring low-cost ultrasound technology to areas of high maternal and neonatal mortality. According to ITW, advance warnings of critical maternal conditions made possible by ultrasound technology can dramatically improve maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality in the most vulnerable populations.
McKesson Medical Imaging vice presidents Joe Biegel and Rex Jakobovits serve on the Board of ITW. “Joe and I were personally inspired by the ITW team,” says Jakobovits. “Serving on the ITW Board is a golden opportunity: A chance to leverage our unique expertise in a ‘ground floor’ effort that has a good chance of making a real difference in the lives of millions of people by helping to usher in the ‘age of imaging’ in the developing world.
Biegel and Jakobovits don’t just help govern ITW. They recently coordinated a McKesson donation of a PACS and time from experts to the organization, and they devote many hours of their own time to help spread medical imaging around the world.
