JLI Director for Global Health Diplomacy, Christoph Benn, has been instrumental in setting up a new international organization in Geneva: The International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR). He supported the inaugural CEO, Ambassador Dr. Amandeep Gill, in establishing the basic structures and secretariat until Ambassador Gill was appointed UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Technology in July 2022.
As the appointed inaugural Chair of the Board Dr. Benn was leading the search for a permanent CEO and was pleased to recruit Dr. Ricardo Leite from Portugal, an established scientist and long-term Member of Parliament, to take charge of I-DAIR at his inauguration in Geneva on May 22, 2023. At the recent board meeting on July 14, Dr. Benn was re-appointed as the Chair of the Board for another two years until 2025.
Together with the CEO Dr. Leite, Christoph Benn is currently supporting the development of a new strategy for I-DAIR that will be approved by the board in September 2023.
About I-DAIR
The International Digital Health and AI Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) is a Geneva-based organization enabling and improving access to inclusive, impactful, and responsible research into digital health and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for health.
I-DAIR works with a growing number of hubs (currently established in Geneva, Johannesburg, Nairobi, New Delhi, Santiago de Chile, Singapore and Tunis), and I-DAIR-affiliated research centers.
The focus for I-DAIR has been on small States (population less than 10 million) of all income levels, which will reap more benefit from pooling data, talent and other resources, as well as low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is a combination of need and science and technology talent that can be leveraged for innovation with a global impact.
With an international network of over 40 partners, that prioritizes the involvement of the Global South, I-DAIR strives to foster access to cutting-edge research on digital health and artificial intelligence for health, using a distributed research infrastructure.
Find more information at www.i-dair.org
