A new collaboration between Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology (IT) and The Apollo University (TAU) based in Chittoor, India aims at advancing healthcare and medical AI education, research, and student engagement.
Speaking about the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two organisations earlier this month, Digital Health lead at Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology Professor Chris Bain expressed his excitement regarding the numerous opportunities that the collaboration between Apollo University and the Faculty will bring.
“This agreement is a first step towards sharing and developing more capabilities in the space of digital healthcare and delivery,” Professor Bain said.
“The pandemic emphasised the importance of building digital health capabilities such as examining how to deliver the best available technology support for the public, in ways most suitable to them, so they can take ownership of their wellness needs, and examining how to build these systems in what are currently quite low tech, paper-based or low resource healthcare settings.”
Through the collaboration, Monash’s Faculty of IT researchers and academics will engage in knowledge sharing sessions with health sciences students from TAU and healthcare professionals from Apollo Hospitals.
TAU students will be given the opportunity to undertake four to six-month joint certification programs particularly in the fields of health informatics and analytics, and digital health with Monash University. In a reciprocal arrangement, Monash University students will be able to gain practical experience at Apollo Hospitals Group.
“Building strong networks of learning and research sharing between learning centres in India like Apollo University and Monash Faculty of Information Technology will surely lead to better health outcomes in both countries,” Professor Bain said.
In addition to teaching and student engagement, the universities aim to establish periodic multinational Health AI events that will serve as a forum to share research findings and discuss approaches to better tackle healthcare challenges with the help of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
TAU’s School of Health Sciences Professor Satyanarayana Rentala welcomed the strategic collaboration between the two universities and thanked Professor Bain for nurturing the partnership.
“The alliance between our two institutions and forthcoming knowledge sharing aligns with our broader shared objectives of achieving great strides with real-world implications in the field of digital health,” Professor Rentala said.
Digital Health Lead at Monash University’s Faculty of IT Professor Chris Bain is
