About The Conference

Join us on October 27 and 28, 2025 for the 2025 Innovation for Healthcare Access Conference: from Global to Local in Houston, Texas, and experience the exciting speakers and networking opportunities focused on innovations for addressing high-priority unmet needs for maternal and newborn health and chronic disease care, particularly in Texas and the United States.

This conference will bring researchers from Rice, the Texas Medical Center, non-profit organizations, healthcare providers, and state and national policy makers to foster collaboration to support these initiatives.

The conference aims to:

• Highlight current efforts to design and develop innovations that address unmet healthcare needs in underserved communities.
• Examine global case studies of technology-based healthcare solutions that were successfully put into practice.
• Explore local pathways to transition innovations from global settings to implementation in underserved communities in Texas and the US.
• Discuss overcoming challenges to effectively transition technology-based healthcare solutions from conceptual development to implementation in resource-constrained settings.
• Identify and build collaborations to address high-priority unmet healthcare needs for maternal and newborn health and chronic disease care in Texas and the US.

Who We Are

This event is organized by the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, a multi-disciplinary institute at Rice University and is a leader in health technology research, implementation, and education. Rice360 has a distinctive focus on collaborative medical device innovation to sustainably expand healthcare access.

View the Program Committee

Our Speakers

The conference will feature an exciting lineup of globally renowned leaders and representatives from key-stakeholder organizations in the areas of maternal and newborn health and chronic disease care, sharing their experiences to expand access to healthcare in underserved communities as well as innovations and opportunities to address high-priority needs.

View the lineup

To give attendees further insight into our 2025 conference, we have included a PDF highlighting our sessions and speakers at a glance.

Open Call for Abstracts & Innovator Marketplace

The submission window for abstracts to present research posters and/or innovation marketplace exhibits opens on August 4, 2025, and closes on September 12, 2025. We are looking to showcase emerging research and device innovations that address increased access to technology-based solutions for unmet healthcare needs, aligned with maternal and newborn health and/or chronic disease.

Submit an abstract

Selected submissions will be notified by September 26, 2025.

Registration

• When: October 27–28, 2025

• Where: BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) on Rice University's campus in Houston, Texas.

• Early Registration: Secure your spot by September 14. (Exclusive merch will be provided for those who register early!)

• General Registration: Available from September 15 to October 15.

Registration includes access to all keynote plenary sessions and panel discussions, as well as the poster session, and Innovator Marketplace. All registered participants are invited to a networking reception, as well as provided daily breakfast and lunch.

Go to event registration

Cost of Attendance