Alexander Hörbst takes over the lead of the new Master program "Medical Technologies”
Associate professor Dr. Alexander Hörbst has been appointed head of the new MCI Master Program “Medical Technologies”, starting in fall 2020.
With a background in medical computer science with profound expertise in the field of Digital Health, Hörbst has emerged from a multi-stage process as the ideal candidate and has been confirmed by the MCI advisory board as head of the program.
Alexander Hörbst began his academic career with a double degree in business administration and economics at the Leopold Franzens University of Innsbruck. He then went on to complete a degree in computer science. He completed his dissertation in biomedical computer science in 2009 and finished/presented his habilitation in medical computer science at the University of Health Sciences, Medical Computer Science and Technology (UMIT) in 2013. His research focus was on digital health, telemedicine, robotics in healthcare, networked information systems and data analytics. In addition to his function as associate professor at UMIT, he has been head of the Institute for eHealth Research & Innovation (formerly Research Division for eHealth and Telemedicine) since 2008. He was a long-standing member of the board of the European Society for Medical Informatics and has been a member of the WHO Expert Roster for Digital Health since 2019. Numerous other memberships, publications and guest professorships complete his profile.
The Master program "Medical Technologies", held in English, complements the MCI's focus on technology & life sciences. The program combines the latest trends in medical technology with current global developments in digitalization. Study course Director Alexander Hörbst is looking forward to the new challenge: "As the concept of health has evolved, so has the field of medical technology. A modern course of study lives up to those standards by understanding medical technology as a complex ecosystem of, among other things, hardware, software, concepts, users and beneficiaries. The overriding goal is to support health holistically, for example in terms of prevention, economic aspects or patient benefit".
MCI Rector Andreas Altmann thanked the entire development team of the new master program: "The new master program not only provides an excellent academic education for state-of-the-art medical technology, but also stands for exemplary cooperation with the universities on site, above all the Medical University of Innsbruck, and with numerous corporate partners. My special thanks go to Andreas Mehrle, head of the Mechatronics Department at the MCI, who has played a leading role in the development of the study course".
Due to the new start of the study program, applications are still accepted at any time.
