ULPGC – Proyecto MACbioIDi : Jornadas de Tecnología Médica para el desarrollo sostenible de África

• The Government of the Canary Islands collaborates in this innovative program initiated in the INTERREG – MACbioIDi Project of medical technology for sustainable development, of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

 

• The conferences have the participation and assistance of experts in medical technology worldwide such as Dr. Ron Kikinis (USA), director of the Surgical Planning Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, among other European, American and African experts

 

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on January 21, 2020. Casa África has been the setting chosen for the celebration of specific conferences on Medical Technology for Sustainable Development promoted by the INTERREG – MACbioIDi Project on medical technology for sustainable development, of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), through the IUIBS, with the collaboration of the Government of the Canary Islands, Casa África and other national and international institutions.

The sessions were inaugurated by the general director of Casa África, José Segura Clavell , the rector of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Rafael Robaina , and the general director of Economic Relations with Africa of the Government of the Canary Islands, Nasara Cabrera Abu . The conference also served for the presentation of the report on the use of 3DSlicer in university education in Mauritania and Senegal, by professors Ahmedou Moulaye Idriss and Babacar Diao , and another on the results of this international cooperation project according to the personal vision of his project manager at the ULPGC, Asmaa Skareb .

The event was organized by the coordinator of the project, Juan Ruiz Alzola , professor at the ULPGC in Signal Theory and Communications, researcher affiliated with the IAC and Principal Investigator of the MACbioIDi Project, which has managed to bring this initiative to the Canary Islands. «The project has been growing and we have researchers who come from very different places,» Alzola explained to the media, who also told that, for the last three years and on three occasions now, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has served as the headquarters for an international meeting on this matter that has already accumulated 33 editions and whose celebration alternates every six months with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This event focuses on how to advance computational technologies in medicine in open licenses, affordably and with the support of an international community trying to develop new technological paradigms. Within this framework, Alzola defended that the Canary Islands can serve as a gateway to the African continent for these innovations.

 

‘Levers in Heels’ project. Ghana

 

During this day, a vision from Africa was presented by Larisa Akrofie , from Ghana, who explained the ‘Levers in Heels’ project, a leading digital platform in Africa that highlights emerging African women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ( STEM areas).

 

As part of these conferences, opinions and experiences of international experts in this field were also presented, such as Professor Ron Kikinis, from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of the Harvard Medical School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. Likewise, Professor Alexandra Golby from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor Gabor Fichtinger from Queen’s University in Canada presented their vision of the use of medical technology for sustainable development. After these presentations there was a final Round Table and the presentation of conclusions moderated by Professor Juan Ruiz Alzola of the ULPGC.

 

 

Interreg Project –MACbioIDi (ULPGC)

 

Interreg – MACbioIDi 2017 -2019 “Promoting the cohesion of the Macaronesian ORs through a common ICT platform for biomedical research

 

MACbioIDi is led by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canarias (ULPGC) through the Office of the Vice President for Internationalization and Cooperation. One of its aims is to promote global scientific, training and business activity in the field of medical ICTs.

 

More than 31 partners from the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and the USA participate in MACbioIDi. Its objective is to develop medical technology and training programs that can be used in the participating territories, paying attention to its social and business transfer.

 

The project is carried out in these geographical areas of the Macaronesian RUPs, the Canary Islands (metropolitan areas of Gran Canaria and Tenerife), Madeira (Funchal), Azores (Ponta Delgada), Cape Verde (Praia), Mauritania (Nouakchott), Senegal (Dakar ), Mozambique and Boston (USA). The results will be installed in all the territories participating in the project. An engineer integrated into the team of the coordinating entity will supervise the software integration in the Azores, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Senegal through periodic visits (we will try to make them every four months).

 

MACbioIDi  is co-financed by the European Union program INTERREG MAC, through the FEDER (85%). It has an FEDER grant of €2M and is coordinated by the ULPGC within the framework of the Medical Technology for Sustainable Development (MedTec4SusDev) initiative.