CERN's Workshop on Global Health, held at IdeaSquare on 25 October. (Image: F.Tankut/CERN)
On 25 October, CERN held the Workshop on Global Health at IdeaSquare, in partnership with the Geneva Health Forum. The main goal of the workshop was to explore potential solutions to some of the world's most pressing global health challenges, fostering the co-development of research ideas among participants.
This initiative aligns closely with CERN's strategy for medical applications, which emphasises the importance of developing innovative technologies and solutions to address the needs of the medical community. The workshop participants, including healthcare professionals, technology experts and researchers, discussed five core challenges that exist in global health.
"CERN's global health workshop was a new, intellectually stimulating and enjoyable experience. Valuable ideas were generated that can lead to solutions. This was exactly the aim of getting us all in one room," said Ellen Rosskam of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
CERN facilitated cross-disciplinary discussion within five working groups with 10 participants each. These discussions aimed to explore solutions to challenges suggested by these working groups, such as vaccination data management, climate change and perinatal health, managing malaria, occupational safety of healthcare professionals with regard to radiation exposure and approaches to global smart healthcare.
One working group focused on the challenge of improving vaccination data management for low- and middle-income countries, as well as for migrants and displaced populations. Participants examined the complexities of transferring records across borders and languages and highlighted the need for a harmonised, adaptable platform to ensure accurate, continuous vaccination tracking. Another team explored the possibility of a simulation tool that could forecast the health risks tied to rising temperatures. This would help enable proactive planning to address the impact of climate change on maternal and perinatal health.
"CERN's data modelling expertise could be a game-changer for designing predictive models to address the future impacts of climate change on health," says Kallol Mukherji, Digital Health Manager and Health Programme Deputy at Terre des Hommes. He adds: "I was truly inspired by CERN's incredible computing facilities - handling petabytes of data is no small feat!"
Other challenges included improving the management of diseases such as malaria through advanced data models and diagnostic tools, especially in rural areas. Participants also explored radiation protection solutions for healthcare workers, focusing on better data tracking, real-time feedback and educational initiatives to enhance safety standards. They also examined the integration of health data that has been captured in different ways, noting the need for integrated datasets and standardised policies to streamline research and decision making across health disciplines.
"This workshop highlighted CERN's role as a mediator in a powerful ecosystem where the public and private sectors can converge," says Rita Pinho, a knowledge transfer officer at CERN. "This initiative was born out of a desire to explore new applications for CERN technologies in global health. Next, we'll be exploring potential funding opportunities to help drive these developments forward and make a lasting, positive impact on global health."
CERN's Workshop on Global Health demonstrated the Laboratory's commitment to leveraging its expertise and know-how to create tangible benefits for global health in society.
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You are warmly invited to a public webinar on 26 November to discover the outcomes of CERN's Workshop on Global Health, including the next steps for these innovative ideas and potential collaborative projects. Join us to discover how cross-disciplinary innovation can address global health challenges and find out how you can get involved.
