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About the Center
The Baylor Global Innovation Center, directed by Dr. Sharmila Anandasabapathy, is a hub for collaborative research efforts that involve the development, validation, and commercialization of technology to ultimately improve health care delivery and population health, with specific emphasis on low-resource and/or medically-underserved areas.
The center also supports quality and process improvement research involving health informatics, an area that has complementary scientific and programmatic overlap with device and tele-health development. These studies rely heavily on initial community- and population-based health studies and needs assessments that provide the initial framework for subsequent research and development efforts.
Disease Focus
Chronic, non-communicable diseases present a significant global health burden, and a disproportionate one as well. The World Health organization (WHO) reports that cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally; more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause [1]. Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionally affected, representing more than 80 percent of all CVD deaths.
The disease focus of the research efforts at Baylor's Global Innovation Center are on chronic, non-communicable diseases especially cancer and heart disease. More than 60% of the world’s total new annual cases of cancer occur in Africa, Asia and Central and South America; these regions account for 70% of the world’s cancer deaths. Many cancers and CVDs share common behavioral and dietary risk factors and, like most diseases, they are most effectively and affordably treated when detected early. This focus complements the noteworthy international programs elsewhere at Baylor that have traditionally focused on infectious diseases (HIV), tropical diseases, and neglected diseases of poverty (malaria, malnutrition, parasites).
[1] Globocan 2012, Estimated Cancer Incidence, Mortality, and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012. WHO, IARC
