Researching e-health in a borderless world
By Rebecca Eras
Information technology has come a long way from the days
when health researchers first transferred recordings of a heart
beat by telephone to other colleagues. That
was 50 years ago, and today, e-health capabilities allow patients
to be monitored in their own homes and surgical procedures
to be performed remotely.
 The University of Calgary houses Canada’s primary centre of e-health
research, training and global outreach in the Health Telematics
Unit (HTU) at the Centre for Innovation in Health Technology. As part of
the visiting scholars program and seminar series offered through the global
e-health research and training program, the HTU welcomed visitors this
week from Cuernavaca, about 30 miles south of Mexico City, and Buea, in
the Republic of Cameroon, Africa.
The Mexican delegation consisted of representatives from the
National Institute for Public Health and the National Centre
for Health Technology Excellence. Dr. Peter Ndumbe, dean of
medicine from the University of Buea, also attended, exploring potential
opportunities for establishing an e-health collaboration with the University
of Calgary.
“Because of the University of Calgary’s great reputation in
telehealth and e-health, we are very interested in establishing a collaboration
here that allows us to leverage a stronger cyber network within our own
institution,” said Dr. Laura Mangana Valladares, academic secretary
of Mexico’s National Institute of Pubic Health.
E-health collaborations provide valuable research contributions
by uniting academic, public- and private-sector professionals
from around the world to efficiently share knowledge and applications
instantly.
In addition to e-health discussions, the group was interested in learning
about medical technology, evaluation processes and health curriculum
development. From these enquiries, a provisional agreement between the
U of C and the University of Buea was made that would see the exchange
of faculty and students in the future.
“I think of the University of Calgary as an adequate one-stop shop
that has the technology, experience and knowledge capacity
to solve most of the challenges we face at the University of Buea,” said
Ndumbe, who is presenting a seminar on HIV/AIDs control in Cameroon on
March 14 at 5 p.m. in room G500.
The global e-health research and training program (GeHRT) is
dedicated to using the latest advances in applied and technical
research in supporting health, health delivery and health education.
It is built around a concept of collaboration that thrives on partnerships.
This provides the environment needed to conduct international,
competitive, cutting-edge e-health research and training.
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