D-Lab: Medical Technologies for the Developing World, Spring 2010

Abstract:: D-Lab Health provides a multidisciplinary approach to global health technology design via guest lectures and a major project based on fieldwork. We will explore the current state of global health challenges and learn how to design medical technologies that address those problems. Students may travel to Nicaragua during spring break to work with health professionals, using medical technology design kits to gain field experience for their device challenge. As a final class deliverable, you will create a product design solution to address challenges observed in the field. The resulting designs are prototyped in the summer for continued evaluation and testing.

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Identification of T Lymphocytes

Abstract:: In a clinical setting, it is often necessary to examine the cells of the immune system, especially in patients with immune deficiencies. One method takes advantage of the fact that lymphocytes will bind foreign red blood cells to form rosettes which can be enumerated microscopically. Specifically, the Ox49/50 antigen on the rat T lymphocyte surface has been identified as the probable binding site of the sheep rbcs. In this exercise, we will show that the number of antigen-binding lymphocytes increases after immunization.

Abstract:: Countries around the world - even those at war - are collaborating to ensure that children under the age of five don't die from diseases for which vaccines are available. In the past twenty years, global vaccine coverage has surpassed eighty percent, and a second disease, polio, is nearly eradicated. In the United States, coverage rates are even higher, and vaccine-preventable diseases are now rare. Never have so many resources been focused on immunization - yet problems remain. Additional, highly effective vaccines have been developed but still do not reach the majority of children. More worrisome, currently high immunization rates may be unsustainable for a number of reasons. This material will cover immunization basics and survey the public health, sociological, and economic literature, identifying and analyzing common problems using a standard problem-solving approach. Topics will span developed and developing countries and will include vaccine-delivery strategies, program management and supervision, epidemiological surveillance, community participation, and disease eradication. Students will analyze actual vaccination data using the U.S. Center for Disease Control's CASA software program. Once you've completed the course, you should have gained the necessary tools to identify and formulate innovative solutions to common problems faced by immunization program managers and policymakers.