Profile: Yonsei University and LabSD

A profile of our 2022 Regional Supporters from Korea, Yonsei University and LabSD:

The Centre for Global Development (CGD) was founded as one of Yonsei University Health System’s affiliated institutions to improve global health. Our headquarters are in Seoul, South Korea.

Since 2013, we have been carrying out blindness prevention initiatives in Malawi, Vietnam, Nepal, and Morocco to give comprehensive eye care to the most vulnerable people living in resource-limited settings. Many of you may know us as Project BOM

We were integrated into the Yonsei Institute for Global Health from December 2020, where we could work on increasingly broad and large-scale initiatives, not only in the field of eye health but also in health system transformation. And today we have competence in evidence creation for global health policies, with a focus on project design, development, implementation, and assessment with various health activities.

With support from the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), we are currently implementing global health cooperation programs in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Morocco. We intend to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the accomplishment of the values of YUHS.

LabSD, Inc., a spin-off  social enterprise of Project BOM, was established to provide solutions for global health programs/projects in resource limited conditions, improving their effectiveness and efficiency. Its first item, the EYELIKE Platform enables already existing health staff at the community level to conduct a proper retinal exam while contributing to the environment by using upcycled smartphones instead of producing entirely new medical devices.

The EYELIKE Platform is composed of three parts: i) a portable, easy to use, ocular imaging device attached to smartphones; ii) Artificial Intelligence based Clinical Decision Supporting System (CDSS) for blindness-causing eye diseases; and iii) Android Application along with a web-based dashboard for the collection, analysis, and visualization of eye health information. We are undertaking pilot projects in PNG, Vietnam, India and Morocco.