For the last 40 years, the month of March has been dedicated to celebrating the contributions of women to history, society, and culture. Although this is something that should be honored all year, Women’s History Month allows us to take intentional time to commemorate the vital roles women have played in shaping many of the structures and systems that are significant to our lives today. From academia, to arts and media, politics, diplomacy, governance, and education, women have been making strides and shattering glass ceilings. Even in the various fields of healthcare, women have and are continuing to impact how we provide care, and how we address some of the greatest health issues of our time. Julielynn Wong is one of the many women currently impacting the world of medicine and healthcare.

Julielynn Wong

Julielynn Wong is a Harvard educated physician with a background in technology, robotics, and telemedicine. She is internationally recognized for her continuous work in the intersection of medicine and engineering, where she has harnessed the power of technology in order to make health care more accessible to remote communities with little to no resources.

In 2011, she proposed that with the help of a 3D-printer, healthcare supplies could be made to use in rural and global communities where access has been historically difficult. She founded the organization, 3D4MD, with the mission to “provide 3-D-printable healthcare supplies to remote communities, and ensure that available open source 3-D printable medical supply templates are safe to use.” Julielynn Wong was the first to design a solar-powered, ultra-portable 3D printer system that could make medical supplies that were low cost, and readily available, even in areas that had no electricity.

She was soon invited to continue her work with a research team aboard the International Space Station, where she proposed that medical supplies could also be printed in space. After much work and a two week long mission simulation at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, U.S., Julielynn Wong was able to test her proposal and successfully printed medical supplies. On January 11, 2017, using 3D4MD’s blueprints, astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully used a desktop-sized 3-D printer to print medical supplies, and brought Julielynn Wong’s work to life.

In that same year, Julielynn Wong founded, Medical Makers, an organization that would go on to connect communities of innovators and scientists with a common passion of wanting to use their skills and creativity to solve humanitarian issues within their own societies and around the world.

Julielynn Wong’s incredible work has not only paved the way for healthcare to reach places previously deemed impossible, but it has also helped various medical organizations understand the power of 21st century tools in a our joint mission to make the world a healthier place.

Together we can make an impact on the health of the nations and the generations to come.

The mission of WHEF is to increase accessibility to medications and supplies for healthcare facilities in Guatemala and Grenada. If you are interested in hearing more about the work we are doing, or in connecting with us, you can visit our website, check out our instagram or facebook, or sign up to receive our newletters. If you would like to support us in our work, please donate here.