News Releases

A Digital Health Symposium will be staged in Barbados next week that will place the spotlight on how technology can strengthen Caribbean health systems and improve patient care within the country and across the region.

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has entered a major international collaboration with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) aimed at strengthening academic integrity amid the rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education.

The practical part of the partnership is The UWI’s participation in the UWS’ IntegraGuard Project, a platform for managing academic misconduct. The Proof-of-Concept project positions The UWI among a select group of international universities working alongside UWS to re‑imagine integrity systems that are fair, data‑driven, transparent and future‑ready.

Through the IntegraGuard Proof‑of‑Concept, The UWI is working closely with UWS to test and refine an integrated academic integrity management system that brings together AI‑assisted detection, investigation workflows, policy compliance and institutional reporting. The engagement also supports plans to strengthen academic governance and advance a unified, One UWI approach to academic integrity across its multi‑campus environment.

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is deeply saddened by the passing of Professor Juliet Daniel, a distinguished Barbadian-Canadian cancer biologist.

The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus is set to strengthen its sport education offerings with the introduction of postgraduate programmes in the upcoming academic year.

The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus has secured a regional partnership with the Government of Belize to support the training of nurses, in a move expected to strengthen healthcare capacity while generating economic benefits for Barbados.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Clive Landis, announced the $500,000 contract during a recent Campus Council meeting, describing the initiative as both timely and impactful.

Seventy-five per cent of Barbadians given free at-home colorectal cancer screening kits are not using them, a situation health officials have warned is a challenge in the fight against the deadly yet preventable disease.

They suggest the low return rate is contributing to missed opportunities for early detection, which allows the cancer to go unnoticed until it reaches more advanced stages.

Between 2022 and 2026, the Caribbean Colon Cancer Initiative (CCCI) distributed 1,500 of the non-invasive faecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits. However, only one in four recipients completed and returned them.

For the second time in three years, a Cave Hill Campus student has claimed top honours in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) final examinations, reinforcing the campus’ tradition of excellence.

In the November/December 2025 examinations, Barbadian Liyee Su achieved the highest programme grade point average (GPA) among candidates from across The University of the West Indies. She topped both the written papers and clinical performance – Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) – securing the best overall score and graduating with distinction.

Her achievement follows the success of Nathan Lovell in 2023, who emerged as the highest-performing graduate among the May/June cohort. He also graduated with distinction based on his overall GPA.

Preparations are underway for the launch of a new innovation centre at The UWI Cave Hill Campus.

The Centre for Knowledge, Invention and Advanced Sciences (NEXA Cave Hill), as it will be called, was created through a strategic partnership between The UWI and the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology.

A call has gone out for employers to give mid-career professionals the time and space needed to continue their education. It comes as The UWI Cave Hill works to address a decline in mature and part-time student enrolment.

Speaking at a recent Campus Council meeting, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Clive Landis highlighted a growing imbalance in the student population.

“Our student numbers in the age group below 30 are higher than ever, but what we’ve lost is the older students. It is just shrinking and shrinking, and there’s an unprecedented number of students on our campus who are between [the ages of] 16 and 20,” he said.

What has long been seen as a frustrating invasion of Caribbean coastlines may soon become part of an exciting new environmental solution.

A research project at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus has secured international funding to transform sargassum seaweed into renewable bioplastic, opening the door to new possibilities for sustainable manufacturing in the region.

The initiative, From Marine Waste to Bioplastic: Sargassum-Derived Sodium Alginate for Sustainable Packaging and Plastic Alternatives, is led by Dr. Srinivasa Popuri, Senior Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences.