Business School academic awarded prestigious Fulbright Global Scholar Award
Manoj A. Thomas recognised for use of tech to improve healthcare
Associate Professor Manoj A. Thomas from the University of Sydney Business School has received the Fulbright Global Scholar Award for his work on the innovative use of low-cost technologies to advance the knowledge and skills of health practitioners in resource-challenged countries.
Associate Professor Manoj A. Thomas
Dr Thomas is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Business Information Systems whose research focuses on the development and use of emerging technologies and data science in areas of public health and education.
He is the Co-Founder and President of Techies without Borders, a not-for-profit organisation providing opportunities for like-minded experts and IT professionals to harness the power of technologies for social development.
As the recipient of the Fulbright Global Scholar award for the academic year 2022–2023, Dr. Thomas will use the scholarship to advance his work promoting continuing medical education in Uganda and Ecuador.
A key component of this work is the Continuing Medical Education on Stick (CMES) initiative, which provides free educational content and materials to medical practitioners in resource-poor areas via mobile apps, Raspberry-Pi computers, and auto-running USB drives.
“I will be working on fund-raising initiatives and grant applications to develop scaling strategies, country-wide rollouts and enhance core capabilities of CMES,” Dr. Thomas says.
“I also hope to get more colleagues, collaborators, HDR and doctoral students on board, especially those who are interested in creating social impact through the innovative and pragmatic use of technologies.”
The Fulbright program is the world's largest and most diverse international educational exchange program devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Former recipients include 61 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 76 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors.
As the saying goes, progress is made in small steps, not giant leaps - one doctor at a time.
