Recently, the ABSPIE Lab's Co-Director Professor Leandro Pecchia was very pleased to present the IFMBE Health Technology Assessment Division award to Adriana Velazquez BerumenLink opens in a new window for her biomedical engineering work during the COVID19 pandemic. Adriana is the Group Lead for Medical Devices and In-Vitro Diagnostics at the World Health Organization .Link opens in a new window

Prof. Pecchia who is also a Full Professor at UCBMLink opens in a new window (Rome) and the Secretary General of IFMBELink opens in a new window explained "During the pandemic, biomedical engineers worked hard to provide necessary technological support to hospitals around the world. Adriana coordinated the global efforts of hundreds of consultants and volunteers, who helped the WHO provide guidance and coordination to all countries, including low-resource settings, by providing guidance, medical device support and personal protective equipment (PPE). It is difficult to estimate exactly the impact of the biomedical engineers coordinated by Adriana, but certainly this pandemic would have had far worse results, without them. I am so pleased to present this award to Adriana".