Organization/Department 
University of Pisa and Inter-University Institute on 3R Principles, Ubora 
Professor at the Department of Information Engineering  
Director of the Research Center E.Piaggo 
Director of the Centro 3R 

Biography 
Arti Ahluwalia is Full Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa. She is also Director of the Research Center E.Piaggo, dedicated to advanced biomedical and robotics engineering using intelligent systems and materials. Since 2018 she has also been Director of the Centro 3R, the Italian inter-university center dedicated to promoting the 3Rs (Reduction, Refinement and Replacement of animal experiments) in teaching and research. 

She coordinates the “Human-Based Models” group at the Research Center E.Piaggo. Her research is focused on the study of biomimetics and the interaction between the biological and the artificial world for the realization of physiologically relevant in silico and in vitro systems through the integration of engineering technologies (computation, biomaterials, fluidic systems, microscopy, biomechanics, biosensors). 

She is also involved in numerous projects on biomedical technologies for development and health equity and has contributed to the creation of the “Africa Biomedical Engineering Consortium” (www.abec-africa.org), dedicated to improving health in Africa through the training of biomedical engineers and the Ubora platform (www.ubora-biomedical.org) for collabrative design of safe, open medical technology.  

Title of Talk 
Sustainability: 3Rs and health equity in medical devices and technology 

Abstract 
Scientists have a responsibility to science and society. Ideally, the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of the quality of life for living beings and our planet are, or should be the driving force for our investigations. In this context, paying attention to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and using them as guidelines are crucial for the development of medical technology and for promoting health equity. At the same time, medical technology has to be safe and efficacious. Can safety testing possibly preclude the use of animal models? How far are we with the 3Rs in different fields of testing and development?  I will touch on these points and discuss how sharing platforms like UBORA can be used to democratise health technology and make it safer.