Congratulations to the recipients of the 2026 MICCAI Society Awards for the Advancement of Health Equity!

The MICCAI Society Awards for the Advancement of Health Equity were announced at MICCAI 2025 with the aim to support pioneering initiatives that expand access to healthcare and improve health outcomes for all populations. These awards fund early-stage research with the potential for meaningful, equitable, and long-term impact.

“Advancing health equity is one of highest values and is essential to our mission as a scientific society”, said Marius George Linguraru, MICCAI Society President. “The benefits that medical imaging, computer-aided interventions, and AI bring to healthcare must reach every population - not just those already well resourced.”

For 2026, the MICCAI Society will fund projects advancing geographical health equity across six global regions, along with a seventh award dedicated to addressing environmental and climate-related health challenges in any region. Each award provides up to $10,000 in funding for a one-year project period.

“Congratulations to all 27 teams who submitted proposals for their vision and dedication to universal healthcare”, said Linguraru. “The review panel selected seven projects that demonstrate how thoughtful, community-driven research can create lasting, meaningful change. We are proud to support their efforts and look forward to seeing through them the impact of the MICCAI community in advancing global health equity.”

We extend our sincere thanks to the expert review panel for their thoughtful evaluation of the submitted proposals. The panel members were:

• Qi Dou, Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Ruogu Fang, University of Florida
• Pierre Jannin, Université de Rennes 
• Leo Joskowicz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Natasha Lapore, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California
• Xiaoxiao Li, University of British Columbia
• Marius George Linguraru, Children’s National Hospital, George Washington University
• Parvin Mousavi, Queens’ University
• Terry Peters, Robarts Research Institute
• Linwei Wang, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Maria Zuluaga, EURECOM, King’s College London

We are pleased to announce the seven innovative projects selected to receive a MICCAI Society Award for the Advancement of Health Equity in 2026. These projects were selected by the expert review panel for their innovative approaches to advancing health equity.

Read the projects' Executive Summaries here.

AFRICA

Project: AI-assist for MRI safety and image quality: A study to develop AI tools to enhance patient safety, workflow compliance, and captured image quality for MRI in resource-limited settings.

Project team: 

• Abdulrazaq Zubair (Lead), Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare, Medserve Kano Diagnostic Center/AKTH, 
• Nafiu Musa Muhammad, B.Rad Medserve Kano/Diagnostic center/AKTH
• Mubaraq Yakubu, MSc King’s College London/AKTH
• Abbas Rabiu Muhammad MBBS, MSc Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital
• Mohammed Abba, PhD Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital
• Abba Muhammad Baze University Abuja, Nigeria
• Zulyadaini Muhammad Aminu Omdena Kano State AI for Smart Farming Project
• Yunusa Mohammed Garba, PhD Gombe State University, Nigeria
• Charles Delahunt, PhD University of Washington, USA
• Tarisiro Matiza, Mphil Market Access Africa

Location: Nigeria

ASIA

Project: ASEAN-HeartTwin: Validating Cardiac Digital Twin Models for Sudden Cardiac Death Risk Prediction of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Across Diverse Healthcare Systems

Project team: 

• Lei Li, (lead) National University of Singapore
• Ching Hui Sia, National University Heart Centre Singapore
• Pham Hieu, College of Engineering and Computer Science, VinUniversity 
• Marni Azira Markom, Universiti Malaysia Perlis

Location: Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia

EUROPE

Project: MICCAI 2026 Open Data Initiative: Enabling Equitable Access and Global Participation in Medical Imaging Research

Project team: 

• Martijn P.A. Starmans (lead), Erasmus University Medical Center
• Apostolia Tsirikoglou, Karolinska Institutet
• Lidia Garrucho Moras, University of Barcelona
• Kaouther Mouheb, Erasmus University Medical Center

Location: Europe, Global

NORTH AMERICA

Project: Enhancing Translational Neuronavigation Capacity in Honduras

Project team: 

• Dr. Ena Isabel Miller (Co-lead) Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas and Universidad Nacional 
• Gabor Fichtinger (Co-lead), Queen’s University
• Víctor Berríos, MD, Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas
• Norman Cubilla, MSc, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
• Alexandra Golby, MD, Harvard University / Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Sonia Pujol, PhD, Harvard University / Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Ron Kikinis, MD, Harvard University / Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Carla Chong Lara, MD, Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas
• Francisco Amador, MD, Hospital Hondureño de Seguridad Social
• Eduardo Nassar, MD Hospital Escuela Universitario
• Oscar Panameno, MD, Hospital Escuela Universitario
• Fabiola Cortez, MD, Hospital del Caribe, Puerto Cortés

Location: Honduras

OCEANIA

Project: Automated Anomaly Detection using Ultra-Low-Field MRI for Remote Patients

Project team: 

• Zhaolin Chen (lead), Monash University, Australia,
• Kh Tohidul Islam, Monash University,
• Karen Caeyenberghs, Deakin University, Australia
• Meng Law, Alfred Hospital, Australia
• Jianfei Cai, Monash University, Australia

Location: Oceania

SOUTH AMERICA

Project Title: MSI-based Skin Analysis for All in Brazil

Project team: 

• Leticia Rittner (lead), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC), UNICAMP
• Simone Appenzeller, MD/PhD: School of Medical Sciences (FCM), UNICAMP
• Bruna Alice Gomes de Melo, PhD: Center for Biomedical Engineering (CEB), UNICAMP
• Ana Clara Caznok Silveira, MSc: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC), UNICAMP
• Nathan Shen Baldon, B.Eng.: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC), UNICAMP

Location: Brazil

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Project: LEINA: Low-Compute Vision–Language Model for Equitable Tuberculosis Detection in Indonesian Chest X-Rays

Project team: 

• Dr. Vanya Valindria (lead), Monash University Indonesia
• Dr. Reyhan Eddy Yunus, RSCM Hospital / Universitas Indonesia
• Dr. Grace Wange, Monash University Indonesia

Location: Indonesia