Swinfen Charitable Trust, UVA Health, Telemedicine AI, and MITRE Collaborate on Secure Global Health Telemedicine

PRESS RELEASE

McLean, Va., and Bedford, Mass., December 14, 2023 – To further support access to global health services, the Swinfen Charitable Trust, UVA Health, Telemedicine AI, and MITRE announced a new collaboration to enable medical cyber infrastructure protection assessments and testing for Swinfen’s next-generation telemedicine platform, OpenTelemed. This collaboration also will incorporate educational resources and cyber technology training for the Trust’s extensive network of health professionals across 427 hospitals and clinics in 96 countries.

In its long-standing mission to build the world’s free medical lifeline, the Swinfen Charitable Trust and its volunteer consultants provide telemedicine services to resource-scarce and vulnerable patients in underserved countries through connections with their providers, who themselves learn from some of the finest medical specialists in the world.

“Our mission is a simple one in theory,” said Katherine Davies, trustee, Swinfen Charitable Trust. “We offer a virtual hospital that never runs out of beds, has no political master, and welcomes every patient, free of charge. Through this collaboration and by expanding the reach of our care network, we hope to harness the technological capability to help prevent harm and provide care. We use telemedicine to close distances and create hope through medical care and education.”

“Easy and secure access to medical care is essential, and with this collaboration, we are enabling more doctors to connect with each other across the globe so they can safely bring their patients the best medical care wherever they are,” said Charles Clancy, senior vice president, general manager, MITRE Labs, and chief technology officer, MITRE. “Swinfen has spent decades building a trusted network for doctors, especially in remote and rural areas, and we’re honored to be a part of the solution to keep that network secure.”

“We are delighted to expand our long-standing collaborations with Swinfen Telemedicine through its partnership with MITRE and Telemedicine AI,” said Dr. Karen Rheuban, director, UVA Center for Telehealth. “This collaboration will preserve the legacy of the late Lord Roger and Lady Patricia Swinfen to provide humanitarian access to care via telemedicine and expand the knowledge and capacity of providers in underserved countries and conflict zones."

“We look forward to expanding our nonprofit telemedicine platform and technology offerings in partnership with MITRE’s expertise, and to deploy it for greater impact and scale with UVA and Swinfen Telemedicine,” said Sankalpa Ghose, founder, Telemedicine AI. “We hope the next generation of our platform makes it even easier and more robust to facilitate medical knowledge exchange and informed care for those most in need worldwide.”

Organizations that wish to get involved in the collaboration or Swinfen Charitable Trust should contact [email protected]. To learn more about MITRE’s work in securing critical infrastructure, visit mitre.org/cipic.

About MITRE

MITRE’s mission-driven teams are dedicated to solving problems for a safer world. Through our public-private partnerships and federally funded R&D centers, we work across government and in partnership with industry to tackle challenges to the safety, stability, and well-being of our nation. Learn more at https://www.mitre.org/.

About Swinfen Charitable Trust

Swinfen Telemedicine has worked for more than two decades to provide lifesaving knowledge through global telemedicine. We are the longest-running nonprofit telemedicine network in the world and have connected health professionals across more than 400 clinics in 96 countries. Our services are entirely free and supported by generous donors. Our platform and network enable people to spread medical knowledge and help their communities. Learn more at swinfentelemed.org

About UVA Health

UVA Health is an academic health system that recently expanded to include four hospitals across Charlottesville, Culpeper, and Northern Virginia, along with the UVA School of Medicine, UVA School of Nursing, UVA Physicians Group, and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library. With more than 1,000 inpatient beds, approximately 40,000 inpatient stays annually, and more than 1 million outpatient encounters annually at UVA Health, more than 1,000 employed and independent physicians provide high-quality, comprehensive, and specialized care to patients across the Commonwealth and beyond. Founded in 1819 as just the 10th medical school in America, the UVA School of Medicine—with 20 clinical departments, eight basic science departments, and six research centers—consistently attracts some of the nation’s most prominent researchers to develop breakthrough treatments to benefit patients around the world. Those research efforts are backed by more than $200 million in grant funding. UVA Health Children's is recognized as the No. 1 hospital in Virginia for children by U.S. News & World Report, with nine specialties rated among the top in America. More than 230 UVA physicians are honored on the Best Doctors in America list. For more information and resources, and to follow on social media, visit uvahealth.com.

About Telemedicine AI

Telemedicine AI is a health technology firm focusing on global health platforms. With more than a decade of experience in projects around the world, including some of the first efforts to deploy telemedicine on mobile devices and through the cloud, our engineering practices balance cutting-edge technology with real-world requirements. In partnership with Swinfen Telemedicine and others, we are building the next-generation platform for global telemedicine. Learn more at telemedicine.ai.