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Improving Healthcare Access through Point-of-Care Technologies

About the conference

The Innovation for Point-of-Care Diagnostics Conference will be held in person, in Houston, Texas, at the Bioscience Research Collaborative on Rice University's campus on October 27 and 28, 2025.

This conference will:

  • Consider current efforts to design and develop point-of-care diagnostics appropriate for low resource settings
  • Examine case studies of point-of-care health technologies that were successfully put into practice for critical components necessary for success
  • Explore what pathways exist and gaps face those making the transition from development to implementation of point-of-care health technologies in low resource settings
  • Advance the discussion on overcoming barriers to effective transitioning of point-of-care health technologies for low resource settings from conceptual development to implementation in Texas, the U.S., and globally
  • Issuance of expert consensus recommendations for the dissemination and regulation of point-of-care health technologies in Texas, the U.S., and globally

Who We Are

Innovation for Point-of-Care Diagnostics is a conference organized by the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies and the point-of-care innovation community to explore groundbreaking tools and effective pathways for improving healthcare in low-resource settings in the US and beyond.

Recent publications from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that despite advances in medical technology, the quality of healthcare in the US has not improved due to “disconnected processes” creating a gap between technology, knowledge, and care quality. With the aim of improving health, researchers and innovators are developing technologies that provides results closer to the point of care.

This conference will bring together clinicians, engineers, researchers, and experts in point-of-care innovations to advance collaboration and promote innovation for healthy outcomes for patient care.

Our Speakers

We have an exciting lineup of speakers that will discuss how to overcome ongoing challenges in the development, translation, and scale of point-of-care technologies. More information forthcoming, stay tuned!

Open Call for Abstracts and Innovator Marketplace

The submission window for abstracts to present research posters and/or innovation marketplace exhibits opens on May 30, 2025, and closes on September 12, 2025. We are looking for emerging research and device innovations to showcase related to point-of-care diagnostics aligned with at least one of the two conference themes of Texas/U.S. underserved communities and cancer. Apply here: rice360.rice.edu/abstract-submission

Selected submissions will be notified by September 26, 2025.

Registration

Conference Dates: October 27-28, 2025

Register by visiting our registration page or register using this link. (https://riceconnect.rice.edu/Innovation-for-POC-DX)

  • Early Registration Period: May 30 - September 14, 2025
  • General Registration Period: September 15 - October 15, 2025

*exclusive merch will be provided for those who register during the early registration period.