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Press Release: IIH win $25K public service award for tuberculosis work with the Prajnopaya Foundation May 4, 2008 For Immediate Release Innovators In Health (IIH), a not-for-profit social enterprise founded by MIT students and alumni has been awarded the RGK Center Winner's Cup worth $25,000. In collaboration with the Prajnopaya Foundation, a charitable organization based at MIT and in India, they have been working to bring innovations to the delivery and monitoring of TB drug regimens for rural communities in the Indian state of Bihar. The Cup is awarded by the RGK Center for Philanthropy & Community Service in the LBJ School for Public Affairs at the University of Texas. The RGK Center rewards university affiliated teams that demonstrate the most effective implementation of their plans for social change. IIH was awarded the prize for the most significant progress made during the last year in their implementation of the uBox and uPhone (“u” standing for Upaya meaning “Solution” in Sanskrit)- two new devices designed to improve adherence to TB drug regimens. Bill Thies, architect of the uPhone, Goutam Reddy and Sara Cinnamon, architects of the uBox, received the award on behalf of Innovators In Health at a ceremony at the University of Texas, Austin on May 2. The awarded funds will be used for continued research, development and deployment of the new devices. The uBox is a palm-sized, intelligent pill dispenser, which reminds patients to take their medication, records when a patient has taken a dose, and locks itself to prevent double-dosing. The uPhone is a commodity cell phone that allows workers to record symptoms that are diagnostically valuable for TB (night sweats, weight loss, etc.). This information is wirelessly relayed to a central location where the most efficient itinerary to serve patients in need is relayed back to local physicians. Both interventions have tremendous potential for patients in remote and rural areas with limited or no access to hospitals and clinics. IIH was originally formed after a group of MIT students and alumni entered and won the 2007 IDEAS competition held by the MIT Public Service Center. The Prajnopaya Foundation supported the team as a community partner and arranged for the deployment of their devices in the Foundation’s ongoing Tuberculosis Treatment and Prevention Program. IIH and the Prajnopaya Foundation recently held a training session for the uBox and uPhone in January 2008 in Dhanarua, Bihar. 22 local villagers were trained to operate the devices and to provide feedback on their design and ease of use. They will participate in the deployment of approximately 160 uBoxes and uPhones at three locations in Bihar in September and October of this year. The Prajnopaya Foundation India has recently initiated a collaboration with the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra - a prominent technical university with campuses throughout India - to assist in the trial implementation. Faculty and students from the Patna campus of the institute have started working with the Foundation and IIH to prepare for the trials by assessing the reliability of cellular services in the surrounding villages and setting up the infrastructure for the data management and trial supervision. For more information, please visit the website of Innovators In Health at http://www.innovatorsinhealth.org and The Prajnopaya Foundation’s website at http://altruism.prajnopaya.org. Contact: |