Recent UW Bioengineering undergraduate student Josh Coyle (B.S. ’20) was awarded a fellowship from the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies.
The Rice360 program is a one-year post-baccalaureate fellowship for graduating seniors and recent graduates who want to design and implement new technologies to solve global health challenges.
Since his junior year in high school, Josh has dreamed of working in global health and medical devices. Josh’s dream is coming true with a one-year fellowship from Rice University’s Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies.
In August, Josh traveled to Houston to work with Rebecca Richards-Kortum, director of Rice360, on the BreathAlert device, a respiratory monitor for premature babies in low resource areas. Infants born at less than 32 weeks of gestation experience a high rate of apnea of prematurity – a recurring condition in which a baby suddenly stops breathing for more than 20 seconds, which can lead to death. The BreathAlert device will detect if breathing has stopped and vibrate to wake the baby.
Josh will be working on phase three of the monitor at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and, if the COVID pandemic allows, in Malawi.
“To have an opportunity to put my skills to use in the field of global health means a lot to me. I was really prepared to work on medical devices because of my studies at UW BioE.” – Josh Coyle
“The fellowship feels like an immense privilege because there isn’t a lot of opportunity or funding to do this type of work,” Josh said. “There is a huge need for it, so to have an opportunity to put my skills to use in the field of global health means a lot to me. I was really prepared to work on medical devices because of my studies at UW BioE.”
In his free time, Josh likes biking, backpacking, hiking, exploring the world of coffee and being in the outdoors. He also enjoys writing and journaling.