Sunday, September 19, 2010

Update from Stoker: Innovations in Public Health

Hi all, going through old blogger accounts on a Sunday afternoon discovered this is still active. Thought I would chime in with a little alumni return & report-

Since graduation I have worked with a group called Ashoka, we are a professional association and/or platform of entrepreneurs working on social issues. Here are a few of the interesting projects I have seen around our network recently:

Innovative rural health care model in India, an interesting combination of clean water, preventative and clinical care, health financing mechanisms, telemedicine and latest technologies in point-of-service diagnostics. The entrepreneur-in-residence driving the effort, Al Hammond, in a recent interview with Fast Company, video below



An effort to develop the young talent in the field of maternal health by hosting an open-source but referral based and judged competition leading to arranged mentorships with current leaders in the field.

Sakena Yacoobi written up in the Lancet, quite remarkable results in Afghanistan amidst all the turmoil.

Seeing the topics of obesity and chronic disease within the US as favorite topics here are two more people whose models I really admire, if you have the time I'd recommend both videos:
Jill Vialet, Playworks
Sanjeev Arora, Project Echo

Hope all is well in Provo, Go Cougars!