The Laboratory for Technological Innovation in Health at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (LAIS/UFRN) was made official this Thursday (21) as a Collaborating Center of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the international organization of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas. It will be the first of its kind in the Northeast region of Brazil.

The consolidation was confirmed by the regional coordinator of the PAHO/WHO Virtual Public Health Campus, Gabriel Listovsky, who will also be the organization’s collaborator responsible for the partnership with LAIS.

Collaborating Centers (CCs) are institutions such as universities, hospitals, research institutes, academia, or ministries that have been designated to carry out activities in support of PAHO/WHO programs in various parts of the world.

In Brazil, the group of CCs includes important institutions such as the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), the José Alencar Gomes da Silva National Cancer Institute (INCA), and the Evandro Chagas Institute, among others. They collaborate directly as the main health organ of the continent. in the promotion of actions. According to PAHO/WHO, CCs are encouraged to form working relationships with other Collaborating Centers by forming collaborative networks or incorporating into existing ones.

For LAIS executive director Ricardo Valentim, the designation “is a source of pride, always accompanied by the mission of democratizing access to quality health care for all, through technology and innovation.”