NEST360 team members receive Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award 2025

NEST360 team members Kara Palamountain and Rebecca Kirby received recognition from the Financial Times Responsible Business Award committee for their commitment to improving small and sick newborn survival in low-resource settings. This honor highlights their exceptional work on developing Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for neonatal healthcare technologies that ensure every newborn has a chance to survive and thrive, regardless of where they are born.

Globally, neonatal mortality remains a significant challenge, with preterm birth, intrapartum complications, and infection being the leading causes of death for newborns. Although many of these deaths are preventable, the gap in low-cost neonatal healthcare technologies leaves providers without the tools necessary to deliver quality, comprehensive care.

Most neonatal healthcare technologies are tailored for high-resource environments, making them unavailable and unsuitable for use in low-resource settings. This gap underscores the urgent need for innovations that are simple to use and maintain, affordable, durable, effective, and capable of operating with various power supplies.

To address this challenge, Kirby and Palamountain, in collaboration with UNICEF, and other stakeholders developed the TPPs. These profiles are practical, actionable guides for manufacturers, detailing the ideal specifications and performance targets for neonatal healthcare technologies. TPPs are crucial during the early stages of medical device and diagnostic development, ensuring alignment with the needs of end users. They outline critical factors such as the target population, the intended level of healthcare system implementation, and the specific requirements of end users.

The Financial Times Responsible Business Education Awards showcase and encourage innovative approaches to tackling global challenges such as climate change, sustainability, and poverty. By spotlighting NEST360’s work, this award reinforces the urgency of collaborative efforts to make newborn survival a reality for all.

At NEST360, we are inspired by the achievements of our team members who developed the TPPs and proud to be part of a global community working together with hospitals, country governments, and partners to ensure that every newborn in Africa has a chance at life.

Download the Target Product Profiles here.