RSU and the University at Buffalo Deepen Cooperation in Medicine and Dentistry

Collaboration in biomaterials research, new residency specialisations in oral pathology and in academic performance monitoring systems in surgery, anaesthesiology, gynaecology, and other specialties are just some of the future cooperation directions established between Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) and the University at Buffalo (UB) in New York. RSU representatives recently visited New York to discuss deepening these collaborations, which is seen as the next step in the work already underway between the two universities. Lecturers from RSU and other higher education institutions are currently learning about digitisation at UB with the help of EU funds.

To develop the already mentioned directions of cooperation, UB hosted meetings at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, one of the oldest medical schools in the USA, and at the School of Dental Medicine, ranked ninth in the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities. In the near future, RSU plans to provide postgraduate training for its lecturers in digital anatomy and simulation technologies, continuing education visits in medical simulation scenario development, residency, and oral pathology. In the longer term, however, there are plans to work on biomaterials research, a medical student monitoring system, and other projects.

Toms Baumanis, RSU Vice-Rector for Administration and Development, Prof. Ilze Grope, Dean of the Faculty of Residency, Assoc. Prof. Andris Ābeltiņš, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, and Assoc. Prof. Ingus Skadiņš, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, assessed the possibilities for cooperation with their UB peers. The RSU representatives travelled to the USA as part of a larger delegation, where Latvia was represented by Santa Šmīdlere and Dmitrijs Stepanovs, Deputy State Secretaries of the Ministry of Education and Science, researchers and lecturers from Riga Technical University (RTU) and Jānis Grēviņš, Director of Riga Business School, under whose leadership this national project for lecturer development and strengthening of digital skills was initiated.

The group of lecturers from Latvia that is currently studying information and communication technologies at UB is already the fourth to visit what is one of the strongest technology universities in the USA: Dace Reihmane, lecturer at the Department of Human Physiology and Biochemistry, Dace Rezevska, lecturer at the Department of Biology and Microbiology, Andrejs Šitovs, researcher at the Scientific Laboratory of Biochemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Justīne Vīķe, Innovation Project Manager at the Research Department, and Assoc. Prof. Rudīte Koka, lecturer at the Department of Biology and Microbiology. The first group went in 2019, and since then representatives from RTU, Riga Business School, RSU, the University of Latvia, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, and the BA School of Business and Finance have participated. The project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and will run until 2023, but other ongoing cooperation projects do not yet have specific deadlines.

From the left: Jānis Grēviņš, Director of Riga Business School, Prof. Agris Ņikitenko, Dean of the RTU Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Toms Baumanis, RSU Vice-Rector for Administration and Development, John Wood, representative of the UB Office of International Education, Santa Šmīdlere and Dmitrijs Stepanovs, Deputy State Secretaries of the Ministry of Education and Science, Sarmīte Jaunpetroviča, Deputy Dean of the RTU Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Asst. Prof. Ingus Skadiņš, Vice-Dean of the RSU Faculty of Medicine, Larisa Survilo, Deputy Dean of the RTU Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Jānis Grabis, Professor at RTU, Prof.Ilze Grope, Dean of the RSU Faculty of Residency, and Assoc. Prof. Andris Ābeltiņš, Dean of the RSU Faculty of Dentistry.