1/26/18 · Health

International experts in eHealth to discuss paradigm shift in health in Barcelona

World-leading expert in health innovation Alejandro Jadad will be among the speakers at the first academic conference organized by the UOC eHealth Center
Photo: UOC_Universitat / Flickr

Photo: UOC_Universitat / Flickr

The conference will be opened by Alejandro Jadad, director of the Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation of the University of Toronto; founder of eHealth Innovation at UHN, the world’s leading centre in digital health; and holder of an honorary doctorate from the UOC.  Jadad is a doctor of Colombian-Canadian origin and a pioneer in the sphere of eHealth. A specialist in treating pain and WHO advisor, he has promoted the concept of a “good death” and was identified by Time magazine as one of the geniuses that will change the world in the 21st century.

Also participating in the event will be Stein Olav Skrøvseth, director of the Norwegian Centre for E-health Research; Carlos Palacio, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidad de Antioquia; and Carme Carrion, professor at the UOC Faculty of Health Sciences and coordinator of one of the UOC eHealth Center's knowledge areas.

The sessions will discuss the role of digital technologies in improving the health of the population and how big data can help health systems meet current challenges, as well as evaluate mobile health applications, a highly-disputed field in which no regulation exists. Manuel Armayones, director of Development at the eHealth Center, says that “innovative ideas are needed in the sphere of health, given that the premise that having more resources is tantamount to better health is not necessarily true”. In this regard, the UOC has established itself as a hub for adding value, based on scientific evidence and from a university perspective.


International network for eHealth

The UOC eHealth Center, despite only being in existence for six months, has already established partnerships with the most prestigious eHealth research centres in the world, including the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation (Canada), the Norwegian Centre for E-health Research (Norway) and the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia), among others. “The aim is to promote a network of academic and research centres to add value to a sector that has grown considerably from the perspective of a business enterprise initiative and to which the UOC aims to provide a university perspective”, explains Marta Aymerich, director of the UOC eHealth Center and Vice President for Strategic Planning and Research at the UOC.

The conference will take place on Friday, 26 January, at Palau Macaya (Passeig de Sant Joan, 108, Barcelona) and can be followed via Twitter with the hashtag #eHealthUOC.

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