Engineering Access: Transforming Cancer Prevention and Treatment for Women Worldwide

Speaker:

Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD

Robert W. Carr Professor of Biomedical Engineering,

Professor of Cancer Pharmacology, Cancer Biology, and Global Health,

Founder & Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies (GWHT)

Abstract:

Cervical Cervical cancer should not be a death sentence. It is preventable, detectable, and treatable. Yet hundreds of thousands of women die each year simply because the tools of modern medicine do not reach them. Professor Nimmi Ramanujam’s work addresses this gap by reimagining how biomedical engineering can expand access across the cancer care continuum. As founder of the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies at Duke University, Professor Ramanujam has reimagined how biomedical engineering can serve women in the most resource-constrained settings. For example, her team developed the Pocket Colposcope, a portable, low-cost imaging device that brings high-quality cervical visualization directly to frontline clinics. By integrating optical engineering, mobile health platforms, and cloud-based quality assurance, her team has transformed a traditionally centralized procedure into an accessible point-of-care solution. Clinical studies in Kenya among women living with HIV demonstrate feasibility, provider acceptance, and improved diagnostic confidence while reducing unnecessary treatment. At the same time, her recent work, supported by the DoD Breast Cancer Research Program, advances novel immune-modulating and imaging strategies designed to improve early-stage breast cancer treatment while reducing overtreatment and toxicity. Together, these efforts illustrate how engineering innovation can move beyond invention to measurable global impact, reshaping how cancer prevention and therapy are delivered worldwide.

Professor Ramanujam received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining Duke in 2005, she served as an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In addition to her distinguished academic career, she has served as President and CTO of Zenalux Biomedical, Inc., and is a founder of Calla Health Foundation/Calla Health. Both organizations focus on translating women’s health technologies into clinical practice. Her contributions have been recognized with major honors, including a Fulbright Scholarship and election as a Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. Recent awards include the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Innovator Award (2024), the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award (2023), and the AnitaB.org Social Impact Abie Award (2019). She is also the author of the textbook Biomedical Engineering for Global Health, reflecting her commitment to training engineers to develop technologies that expand access to high-quality health care.