Debra Hotaling

UC San Diego researchers have built what they call a “hospital IT system in a box.” Project CRASHCART is designed to restore patient records, communications and clinical workflows after a cyberattack. Using satellite and cellular connections, it can create a private network that bypasses compromised hospital systems. It’s a smart response to a problem hospitals are confronting more often: what happens when the network goes down? Cybersecurity has long focused on keeping attackers out. But as...

The most important thing about UC San Diego’s recent humanoid robotics milestone may not be what the robots did. It is where they did it. In a preclinical trial, researchers used teleoperated humanoid robots to complete two surgeries. One worked alongside a human surgeon. During the second procedure, two robots worked together using conventional laparoscopic instruments adapted for their use. Two teleoperated humanoid robots perform a laparoscopic procedure during a preclinical trial. Photo:...

When the only way to save your hospital network is to shut down your hospital. If you lead IT or security in healthcare, you are trapped in an impossible position. The Board demands absolute protection. The budget meetings offer next to no funding to build it. And if ransomware breaches your perimeter, the entire organization looks at you to fix a crisis that legacy design made inevitable. When an attack happens, you are forced to make a high-stakes choice: Do you isolate the network to stop...