Don’t just innovate because you can. Innovate to find solutions to problems. And seek innovations from the communities and countries affected by the health problem.  Those were the key approaches outlined by Anurag Mairal, PhD, MBA, Global Program Leader for the Technology Solutions Global Program at PATH during the Washington Global Health Alliance Discovery Series on February 27. 

By putting country needs first, and sourcing innovations from around the world, Mairal thinks we can achieve profound advances in health technology, and subsequent health outcomes. One of PATH’s new approaches, the Global Health Innovation Hub, relies on a portfolio management approach to identify technologies from around the world with the best chance of achieving impact. A key element of this disciplined approach is to drop those technologies that don’t meet a rigorous set of criteria. 

The challenge? Finding funding that is flexible enough to support something that is not project-based. “If you provide piece meal funding, you’ll get projects, not solutions,” said Mairal. But, if they can get funders to sign on, they just may change the paradigm of global health funding.  

To follow PATH’s work, follow @mairal and @PATHtweets. Read more about Dr. Mairals work on the PATH blog. #ghihub

A collaboration between the Department of Global Health and the Washington Global Health Alliance, this lecture series was initiated to spark discussion within the university and community about drug discovery and science, and other relevant topics of importance to the field of global health. The Washington Global Health Alliance has more than 60 members. For more information, visit www.wghalliance.org.