University of Melbourne launches a new International Research Hub for Digital Health Equity
The Centre for Digital Transformation of Health at the University of Melbourne, in partnership with the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) and the University of Toronto (Canada) launched its new international research hub for digital health equity last month. This hub is part of a broader trilateral partnership among the three universities called The International Collaborative for Translational Digital Health (ICDTH). Through the new digital health equity hub, we hope to catalyse international grant-funded projects, education and training opportunities, PhD studentships, and international academic visits among Australia, United Kingdom (UK), and Canada.
Dr Mahima Kalla, CDTH Research Fellow was previously awarded a Dyason Fellowship from the University of Melbourne which took her to the UK to conduct early stage scoping and conceptualisation work for this hub in April 2024. The official hub launch event, held on Tuesday 19 November 2024, featured a keynote presentation by A/Prof Leo Celi MD, MPH, MSc, of MIT and Harvard University on the topic: “From AI Bias to AI by Us, for All of US”. Rich discussion was held about how the new hub could facilitate cross-institutional and cross-sectoral partnerships to help make digital health technologies more inclusive and accessible for all. The hub has hub co-leads from each partner university – Dr Mahima Kalla from Melbourne, Dr Laura Brown from Manchester, and A/Prof Enid Montague and Dr Ibukun Abejirinde from Toronto.
Alongside the insights and feedback, we received during the first webinar, we will be using these to map out an action plan and next steps for 2025 and onward. A recording of the launch event can be viewed here. Passcode: 0Hsz&5aTP$
If you would like to learn more about the hub, get involved, or stay tuned to future hub activities, please contact Dr Mahima Kalla (Research Fellow – Digital Health Validitron, Centre for Digital Transformation of Health) on mahima.kalla@unimelb.edu.au.