Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor at Rice University, Houston and the Director of the Rice 360° Institute for Global Health. Her research has been instrumental in improving early detection of cancers and other diseases, especially in low-resources settings. She is currently working with colleagues and undergraduate students to develop and deploy a suite of technologies necessary to reduce neonatal death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Richards-Kortum has 40 patents, and her teaching programs, research and collaborations are supported by grants from NCI, NIH and NSF, the Gates Foundation, and HHMI. She is a member of the NAS, NEA and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Preface; 1. Emerging medical technologies: high stakes science and the need for technology assessment; 2. Bioengineering and technology assessment; 3. Health and economic data: a global comparison; 4. World health and global health challenges; 5. Healthcare systems: a global comparison; 6. Healthcare costs vs time: trends and drivers; 7. The evolution of technology: scientific method, engineering design, and translational research; 8. Prevention of infectious disease; 9. Ethics of clinical research; 10. Technologies for early detection and prevention of cancer; 11. Cost-effectiveness of screening for disease; 12. Technologies for treatment of heart disease; 13. Clinical trial design and sample size calculation; 14. Technology diffusion; 15. Regulation of health care technologies; 16. Future of bioengineering and world health; Index.

'As part of the Clinton Global Initiative, Rice University is launching a major initiative in global health technologies to narrow the unconscionable gap in life expectancy between rich and poor. This beautifully written volume by Rebecca Richards-Kortum will inspire and empower the next generation of engineers to make global health their calling. As President Clinton has said, 'today's generation of young people holds more power than any generation before them to make a positive impact on the world.' The next Jonas Salk or Maurice Hilleman will definitely have this book close at hand.' Thomas Kalil, University of California, Berkeley and Clinton Global Initiative