Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday! 

Health care and its delivery have always been a challenge everywhere. Rural communities, in particular, have long struggled with additional challenges due to doctor shortages, hospital closures, and limited access to advanced, specialized services. The persisting results? Poor health outcomes for Americans in rural areas. We are talking about over 85% of the United States’ land mass with a population of nearly 65 million people who are poorer, older and in need of care.

Fortunately, advances in technology can help provide higher-quality, more reliable patient care regardless of geographical limitations. Consider the impact of advanced remote patient monitoring systems engineered for reliability, improved communication, and AI-enabled alert systems that provide data and information independent of a patient’s physical location. Advances in robotic surgery and automated image recognition technologies, for example, have dramatically enhanced surgical interventions, image analysis and disease detection. 

There is good news! With the announcement of the new $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, “sustainable accessand innovative care” will be significantly enhanced through technology innovation and development. The collective efforts will “foster use of innovative technologies that promote efficient care delivery, data security, and access to digital health tools by rural facilities, providers and patients. Funded projects support access to remote care, improve data sharing, strengthen cybersecurity and invest in emerging technologies.”

Here at S&T, our work to help the effort ranges from advanced biomaterials and nanotechnology to cancer research, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, neuroscience, brain health and sensory systems, computational intelligence and data analytics, and public health, health care systems, and behavioral science, to highlight a few. S&T’s biomedical research has established a domain of excellence in the development and application of bioactive materials to treat liver cancer and stimulate healing of serious soft-tissue and hard-tissue wounds. The advanced glass products that are the basis of these treatments are commercially available and in clinical use worldwide. Over 60 U.S. and international patents have been awarded to S&T for bioactive materials in medical applications, and ongoing research is evaluating the potential of these materials to treat skeletal muscle tissue pathologies caused by cancer treatments. Our faculty are also conducting research in drug development and delivery for cancer, AI-enhanced skin cancer detection and decision-making in kidney transplant, music therapy for memory impairment in older adults, and the development of implants for osteoporotic fracture fixation and stabilization.

To this end, in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Social Services, we have been working to align S&T’s strength in research, education and workforce development with the Missouri Rural Health Transformation Program’s stated goals.

Interestingly and strategically, our Bioplex initiative, along with our Center for Medical Engineering and BioInnovation, can contribute to multiple areas at the intersection of engineering and medicine to develop innovative technologies, provide sustainable access, and grow the workforce of the future needed to improve rural health.

If past successful examples are any indication, the newly announced Rural Health Transformation Program is timely, needed and welcome news to elevate the quality and availability of care for rural America and, by extension, the rest of the deprived world. Here at S&T, our faculty and research-minded students are able and eager to provide critical contributions to this critical challenge facing the millions of Americans living in rural regions.

Warmly,

-Mo.
 
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Check out the latest news from S&T:

• Celebrate future of manufacturing at Missouri Protoplex ribbon-cutting April 15
• Community celebrates rural health care drone project
• Researchers lead push for health innovation at NextGen Pathways Symposium

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu