Jefferson’s reach stretches far beyond the Philadelphia area. Through many partnerships and collaborations, we’ve truly become a global organization that brings health care and educational opportunities to all corners of the world – and welcomes people with diverse cultural backgrounds and expertise back home to Philadelphia. Both at home and abroad, Jefferson continues to enrich the lives of students, employees and those we encounter on an international scale.
Through the Jefferson All-Island Ireland Center, Jefferson is the first and only North American institution to join the worldwide network and academic collective known as SMARTlab, which develops ground-up technology solutions for people of all cognitive and physical ability levels in the developed and developing worlds. SMARTlab promotes user-driven, transdisciplinary, practice-based research and leverages technology innovation at scale.
Jefferson has creative, very smart people who were willing to say, ‘Hey, let’s just do this. What’s stopping us?’ I am really impressed by the way Jefferson has just stood up and embraced it.
SMARTlab was founded in 1992 with the goal of truly inclusive education. It all began when Dr. Lizbeth Goodman presented a Shakespeare in Performance course at the Open University in the United Kingdom. In a distance-learning effort before distance learning was really a thing, the course was aired on BBC2 television, one of four channels available in the U.K. at the time.
Dr. Goodman anticipated lecturing to 6,000 registered students, but later learned that there were also 6 million additional drop-in viewers. It was an intriguing development that led to questions about how to engage with different audiences, how to gather feedback and understand what different audiences were understanding, and what further support might be needed, especially by those with disabilities or other learning challenges. And thus a team and partnership with the BBC was born to invent an interactive remote teaching medium, which they did.
Decades after its inception, SMARTlab is providing world-class research space, and offers a brain trust for academic staff, practice-based PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Transdisciplinary by design, SMARTlab brings together specialists from around the world. The group works collaboratively together and with practitioners and experts from relevant fields spanning the arts, engineering, humanities and social and natural sciences.
SMARTlab connects public health and business innovation and pairs private and public sector partners. In all areas, the focus remains on developing Creative Technology Innovation that makes a positive impact on the planet and humanity. SMARTlab researchers are actively designing new tools and assessing their potential through socially based research models. They are enacting their findings in social and sustainable actions across sectors, all around the world.
This is a wonderful, exciting and significant partnership with an internationally renowned group. This contributes greatly to Jefferson’s international visibility, footprint and reputation.
SMARTlab continues to bring together the brightest minds across disciplines to solve real-world problems with user-driven, transdisciplinary research, creative technologies and sustainable solutions to create social change and an inclusive future for all. As the established model grows, more successful PhDs become top global scholars, and the collaborative spirit of reinventing education increases with each new generation.
"SMARTlab is about coming together to create solutions, using technology to enable connectedness for the future of education, and the future of culture and community."
Medical imaging is an undeniably powerful diagnostic tool. Imaging technology can be expensive and complex to use, which leaves many around the world lacking access to this life-saving resource. Technological advancements in the realm of ultrasound imaging are limiting these barriers. Jefferson’s own Dr. Patricia Henwood is at the forefront of bringing this tool to as many patients as possible around the world.
Ultrasound machines have become easier to use, more portable and less expensive over the last few years, and the trend seems to be continuing. Ultrasounds are non-invasive and contain no dangerous radiation. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) trained clinicians act as both the clinician and the diagnostician, which allows for quick and efficient diagnosis.
Point-of-care ultrasound is:
diagnostic tool that answers specific clinical questions and helps narrow differential diagnosis
in comparison with other imaging techniques
with guided procedural management and easy evaluation of patients too sick to transport
Ultrasound can help provide cardiac, pulmonary and abdominal assessments, obstetric scans and many additional studies. Having it readily available at the bedside gives caregivers the ability to answer lots of clinical questions rapidly and inexpensively.
Dr. Henwood understands the immense benefits and is dedicated to training healthcare clinicians across the globe how to use ultrasound at the point-of-care. The training and technology are changing outcomes in the treatment of tuberculosis, ebola, trauma and more. She also works with Jefferson students and faculty to facilitate global health programmatic and research projects.
African nations receiving clinical training programs
clinicians training in point-of-care ultrasound
patients evaluated per day with point-of-care ultrasound
Dr. Henwood is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Jefferson Health and earned her medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College. From early on, she was called to support health care efforts in Honduras, El Salvador and Ethiopia. In 2010, while working with a field hospital during the post-earthquake humanitarian response in Haiti, she realized the power of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in limited clinical settings. POCUS could impact patient care most where expensive and less portable imaging technology isn’t feasible.
With this in mind, in 2011 Dr. Henwood launched Point-of-care Ultrasound in Resource-limited Environments (PURE), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting global ultrasound training and research programs in austere settings. Initially, a majority of PURE’s work focused in countries of sub-Saharan Africa like Rwanda, Uganda, Zanzibar and Liberia. (Photo: Jacques Nkinzingabo)
In Liberia alone, point-of-care ultrasound made a huge impact when the health system struggled with an overwhelming Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic. At the time of Dr. Henwood’s work in Liberian Ebola treatment units, EVD had nearly a 50% mortality rate, and there was most often no functional CT scanner in the country. Point-of-care ultrasound helped her and her medical team provide more accurate assessments and gather data that ultimately led to broad-spectrum IV antibiotics as treatment for patients with severe EVD. (Photo: Jacques Nkinzingabo)
The specific specialty of Emergency Medicine didn’t exist In Uganda and Rwanda when PURE first started working there. It does now, but radiology training and equipment is still rare. POCUS continues to provide much-needed accessible imaging, and Dr. Henwood’s impact has expanded. PURE’s reach has been felt during a tuberculosis crisis in South Africa, in refugee camps in Greece, in remote medical clinics in rural Australia and even in base camps for those scaling Mount Everest.
A global-local approach is relevant since Jefferson supports many clinics in Philadelphia that aid underserved and migrant populations with similar barriers to care and burden of disease. In an increasingly interconnected world, diseases do not recognize borders.
Jefferson has grown into a worldwide presence with multiple international and regionally focused centers that provide research, education and health care. These centers offer opportunities for our local employees and students to continue Jefferson’s missions abroad and for guests from around the globe to visit Philadelphia and experience Jefferson firsthand.
“Coming to Jefferson you have a lot of amazing opportunities, but our campus is larger than East Falls and Center City. Our campus is the world. You experience your major in a new setting and expand the possibilities of what you can do—as a professional and a person. You grow your network, meet new friends and mentors, see different places, gain inspiration and communicate across cultures.”
“Studying abroad brought out my inner creativity and pushed my style of design. I could focus and push myself as a designer. It will forever give me a different outlook on my designs and way of thinking.”
“We live in an international world. The best way to understand where someone comes from and to find commonalities is to experience their culture—not just as a tourist but as someone who earnestly says, ‘Teach me about your world.’ It changes you. You come home and see things in a new way.”
With more than 45 programs available in over 35 countries, Jefferson’s study away program continues to provide life-changing experiences for students.
Inspired by her studies away in Rome and South Africa, Jefferson faculty and alumna Natasha A. Trice gained a new perspective on documentation, narrative and her role in improving lives through intentional design. She now lives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where she runs a design collaborative called The Nomad while exploring her passion for storytelling and examining how design is impacted by cultural contexts.
The Jefferson Consortium for African Partnerships develops strong clinical, academic and research collaborations with hospitals and universities in African countries. High-impact initiatives address emergency medicine, maternal-child health, motor vehicle accidents, medical imaging and more.
The Jefferson Ireland Center is the coordinating body for Jefferson activities in Greater Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and creates opportunities for study, research, hands-on learning and cultural engagement. The agreement between the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) in Dublin and the Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing (JIB) in Philadelphia brought a renewed focus to formalizing the relationship.
The Jefferson India Center provides partnerships to study health disparities, access and social determinants to affect meaningful healthcare delivery change. Areas of focus are maternal and neonatal health, preterm birth prevention and eye disease reduction.
The Italy Center identifies, organizes and promotes strategic partnerships between Jefferson and Italian colleges, universities and institutions to maximize their collective impact. Opportunities include joint research, clinical trials and grant applications for European funding agencies. As a result of these partnerships, the International Fashion Design Management Master’s Degree Program was created, a group of Jefferson College of Nursing students completed their capstone clinicals at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and much more.
The Jefferson Japan Center coordinates the exchange of health personnel between Jefferson and several prominent health care institutions in Japan to promote the sharing of experiences and the completion of research for the benefit of both countries.
Fostering relationships with Israel led to the creation of the Jefferson Israel Center and a partnership with Sheba Medical Center, an internationally recognized healthcare facility and the leading medical center located near Tel Aviv. These connections have led to many exciting initiatives and have enabled Jefferson to take its global initiative to new heights.
Sheba Medical Center’s 200-acre campus is home to:
healthcare professionals, including 1,700 physicians and 2,740 nurses
medical departments and clinics, featuring nearly 2,000 beds and 75 laboratories
annual inpatients / outpatients, including 200,000 ER visits and 50,000 surgical procedures
The Rakia Mission, a 2022 journey to the International Space Station led by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, included three experiments developed in partnership with Jefferson and the Sheba Medical Center. All of the experiments proposed by the Jefferson teams were selected for the mission, the goal of which was “to lead to technological, scientific and medical breakthroughs that will influence life on Earth and beyond.”
The experiments selected for the Rakia Mission were designed to be easily performed by non-scientist personnel and tested the effects of low gravity and space on urine microbiome, the immune system and stress and sleep. All were designed to promote an understanding of living in space and identifying ways to overcome potential obstacles to long-term space travel.
"I hope that the students feel as good as we feel about the results, which were amazing, beautiful and original."
The partnership with the Sheba Medical Center also opened the door for a fascinating opportunity for Jefferson architecture and industrial design students who worked on Sheba’s “City of Health” initiative. The goal was to identify how to best structure the growing Sheba campus over the next 15 years. The results had to be both artistic and functional, and incorporate the surrounding community as well as the campus. Jefferson's efforts focused on bolstering public transportation and walkability, discouraging personal vehicles on campus and making navigation and wayfinding easy.
Bringing the community to the center and having them feel comfortable there was key. The resulting plans included pedestrian friendly environments, bike paths, green spaces, public transportation hubs, light rail stops and welcome centers. The planning didn’t stop at the macro level, but included accommodations for the individual patients as well. The students designed public seating that helps older patients sit down and then be able to stand again, which fills a need that goes beyond the Center.
Jefferson has embraced its role as a global leader that extols the importance of being a citizen of the world. As we move into our third century, we will continue to expand our global reach as well as broaden our educational and humanitarian efforts in order to positively impact as many lives as possible.
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