Medical innovator and humanitarian improves healthcare in poor countries

José Gómez-Márquez, the MIT Technology Review's Humanitarian of the Year, is making innovative medical devices for use in poor countries. Márquez's inspired creativity in the field of medicinal invention is producing tools that medical workers in poor countries can count on. Based on the notion that medical devices are often complicated and expensive to fix, find or replace, he makes simple new creations that are easier to fix than the standard version. Some are designed to be difficult to break in the first place and require no power.

One of his innovations is a version of the centrifuge, a commonly used medical device that breaks down often but is necessary for many basic medical tests. Gómez-Márquez, originally of Honduras, comes from a medical family and came to the United States to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

In 2005 Gómez-Márquez joined a team competing in the MIT IDEAS competition. The competition's goal is to develop programs and technologies that will make a positive impact on the world. His team focused on healthcare and eventually developed a needle-free vaccination system that won the Award for International Technology at the IDEAS competition in 2006.

In 2007 Gómez-Márquez was hired by MIT to run the Innovations in International Health program and is one of the forefront medical device and healthcare innovators today.