Neel Mehta
IBM has selected five domestic and international organizations to receive public health-related pro bono consulting services worth a total of $2.5 million under the company’s Health Corps program.
The winning projects aim to provide chemotherapy medicines in sub Saharan Africa, track and control Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases in Taiwan and Panama, perform health interventions in southeastern U.S. and expand access to diagnostic radiology in underserved countries, IBM said Thursday.
Health Corps is part of IBM’s portfolio of problem-solving initiatives and deploys cross-disciplinary teams of up to six company employees to help communities improve public health through data analytics, cognitive and cloud computing, mobile app development, Internet of Things, weather and health consulting.
The grants will support development of the American Cancer Society’s chemotherapy-forecasting tool, Duke Health and Duke Center for Community & Population Health Improvement’s analytics platform framework, Gorgas Memorial Institute-Panama’s public health mobile application, RAD-AID’s digital radiology framework and Taiwan Centers for Disease Control’s predictive analytics platform.
American Cancer Society’s project is set to kick off in September.
“By contributing our IBM experts and technology to partner with these five visionary organizations, we believe that together we can transform health in our communities and across the world,†said Jen Crozier, vice president of global citizenship initiatives at IBM.
IBM has concluded three pilot Health Corps consulting engagements, including one initiative with Unity Health Care in Washington.
