Capacity & access
Facility inventories, ICU capacity, workforce distribution and population travel-time analysis.
CRITICAL CARE · POLICY & HEALTH-SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Turn critical-care data into decisions about capacity, access and patient outcomes.
A policy and health-systems engineering initiative evaluating geographic access to intensive care globally. We map ICU capacity and population travel times to identify underserved areas, prioritize investment, strengthen referral networks and support accountable health-system planning.
POLICY & HEALTH-SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Facility inventories, ICU capacity, workforce distribution and population travel-time analysis.
Observational studies, real-world outcomes and protocol-led collaborative clinical research.
Translate accessibility estimates into priority expansion scenarios, referral-network design, regional policy briefs and dialogue with health authorities.
FOUNDATIONAL EVIDENCE · COLOMBIA
Preprint · Under peer review in Scientific ReportsThis study evaluates population-level travel-time access to intensive-care services across Colombia and identifies areas with prolonged geographic access to inform critical-care policy, service planning, and network design.
Principal investigators
Dr. Joseph L. Nates · Dr. Agamenón Quintero Villarreal · Jorge Racedo
Editorial status confirmed by programme leadership, 28 September 2026. Peer review is ongoing; the preprint is not an accepted journal article.
Quintero Villarreal A, Nates JL, Camargo-Assis F, et al. Research Square, 2026.
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-10233105/v1
Springer Nature
Journal-level metric, not a manuscript assessment. Submission or review does not imply acceptance.Protocols, participating institutions, roles, data rights, IP and economic arrangements are documented for each project and may require negotiation with investigators and stakeholders.
Review the scientific collaboration framework →EVIDENCE & OUTPUTS
Principal investigators
Dr. Joseph L. Nates · Jorge Racedo
A systematic review examining mortality prediction models in critically ill obstetric patients and assessing risk of bias in the underlying studies.
Heterogeneity precluded quantitative pooling. Discrimination does not guarantee calibrated probabilities. Validation and recalibration are needed before using these models for individual decisions.
Summary of a submitted manuscript, not yet accepted.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins · Wolters Kluwer
Journal-level metric, not a manuscript assessment. Submission or review does not imply acceptance.No public preprint or journal article is linked in the verified register.
Principal investigators
Dr. Francisco Camargo-Assis
This study evaluates rural–urban differences in obstetric intensive-care admission, organ support, resource use, and maternal–fetal outcomes within a Colombian hospital cohort from 2014 through 2018.
Exploratory, unadjusted, single-center complete-case comparisons; 52 of 309 admissions were excluded. Deaths were too few for reliable comparisons. Findings do not establish causality or population-level ICU access; they motivate research on referral and pretransfer care.
Summary of a submitted manuscript, not yet accepted.
BioMed Central · Springer Nature
Journal-level metric, not a manuscript assessment. Submission or review does not imply acceptance.No public preprint or journal article is linked in the verified register.
ONGOING REGIONAL WORK
21 regional ICU mapping projects and one adult critical-care phototherapy pilot, listed in the microscopIA project catalogue.
22 projects shown
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Part of the global evaluation of ICU accessibility: map facilities and capacity, model population travel times, identify underserved areas and inform regional service planning.
Clinical Expert and Head of the Global ICU Mapping Initiative
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Protocol-led investigation of a light-based intervention in adult critical care. Recruitment and intervention require project-specific authorization.
Professor and Deputy Department Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Dr. Agamenón Quintero VillarrealHead of the Critical Care Department, IMAT Oncomédica Auna, Montería, Colombia.
Countries and areas define the Observatory’s working geographic scope. These operational groupings are not identical to UN statistical subregions and do not imply completed mapping, local institutional participation or political affiliation. Geographic reference: UN M49
Catalogue reviewed 27 September 2026. A listing is not confirmation of open recruitment, ethics approval or trial registration. Confirm the specific project before applying.
PROFESSIONAL SCIENTIFIC MEMBERSHIP
For specialized practicing clinicians, investigators, policy professionals and other critical-care experts. Admission is overseen by the Executive Director under the Global Critical Care Observatory Membership and Scientific Committee framework.
Executive leadership coordinates admission decisions and scientific review. This professional membership has a separate pathway from the early-career Join a Project programme.
One case report or case-series development pathway every two active membership months, with methodological and publication support. microscopIA covers approved Observatory publication fees. Journal acceptance and publication dates remain editorial decisions.
Propose a systematic review with meta-analysis where appropriate. Approved projects receive an agreed microscopIA team, execution capacity and budget. The proposing member is expected to lead as PI and planned first author, subject to actual contribution and authorship criteria.
Apply to ongoing reviews, trials and scoping reviews through the project PI. Members receive priority consideration for expert invitations in Observatory and microscopIA-governed projects; selection depends on expertise, project needs and approvals.
Use the approved Observatory affiliation for authorized work. Receive a microscopIA researcher profile and certificates of verified participation. Support for eligible CvLAC/GrupLAC records is included; Ministry recognition or classification is independently determined.
All Research Elite benefits are included without a second membership fee, under the applicable booking, availability and eligibility rules. Community pilots, AI, innovation and device projects have separate eligibility and approvals.
Active members receive 50% off microscopIA service fees for their projects outside the Observatory. Request a written quote showing the regular fee, discount, taxes and any third-party costs before commissioning work. Discounts do not stack.
The form is hosted by Google. Submit professional information; do not include identifiable patient data. Privacy
The fee supports scientific development. Authorship requires substantial contribution, intellectual review, final approval and accountability.
FROM APPLICATION TO FIRST PROJECT
Complete the official Google application form. Sign in to a Google account to proceed, and provide your English CV, joint-project proposal, professional role, institution, country, relevant experience and contribution.
Professional suitability, scientific fit, feasibility, ethics, conflicts and available execution capacity are assessed. Incomplete requests receive a request for information rather than a payment invitation.
The Executive Director replies with a decision or a clearly explained request for missing information within 14 calendar days of receiving the form submission. No payment is due while the application is pending.
Approved applicants receive activation instructions for the “Global Critical Care Observatory” plan on microscopiatech.com. Review the terms, confirm the monthly total, then activate. Onboarding defines responsibilities and the first project plan.
Open the official application form
If 14 days pass without a reply, request follow-up from the director; administrative concerns may be escalated to jorge.racedo@microscopiatech.com.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
Complete the official Google application form. You must sign in to a Google account. The Executive Director replies within 14 calendar days of receiving your submission. Application is free, and payment follows written admission only.
Research Elite benefits are included in Observatory membership. Before activation, request coordination of your existing subscription so duplicate billing is avoided.
Publication support covers approved case-report or case-series development every two active months and approved publication fees. Journal editors decide acceptance and timing independently. Authorship depends on your actual contribution.
The Executive Director approves your proposal in writing and notifies microscopIA to initiate execution. Agree a project-specific scope, team, budget, milestones and contribution plan before activities begin. As principal investigator, you are expected to remain involved in scientific decisions, manuscript preparation and revisions.
Request access from the study’s principal investigator, describing your expertise and contribution. Outside projects are eligible for a 50% discount on microscopIA service fees through a written quote; third-party costs and taxes are separate.
No. Membership requires scientific admission and an active subscription. Donations are voluntary support, confer no membership or authorship, and use a separate one-time contribution route.
FOR CLINICIANS & SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATORS
Help translate the realities of intensive care into evidence that health systems can act on. We welcome discussions with intensivists, obstetric and oncologic critical-care specialists, nurses, service leaders and methods experts.
Define meaningful questions, outcomes and interpretation.
Discuss this contribution →Discuss local service mapping, feasibility and institutional coordination.
Discuss this contribution →Contribute to evidence appraisal, modelling or decision briefs.
Discuss this contribution →WORK WITH THE PROGRAMME
Hospitals, universities, health systems and research teams can discuss a defined scientific engagement with microscopIA. Scope, deliverables, milestones, data access and commercial terms are agreed before work begins.
PHILANTHROPY & PARTNERSHIP
Individuals, families, institutions and funders can make a one-time contribution or discuss recurring support. Contributions are separate from membership and preserve scientific independence.
Every new research project, case report, case series or innovation proposal requires written approval from the corresponding Observatory Executive Director or research group principal investigator. Admission or membership does not replace this approval.
If leadership is vacant, microscopIA coordinates proposal intake and review; execution awaits approval from a formally designated scientific authority.
Protocols and collaboration agreementsGOVERNMENTS, INSTITUTIONS & COMMUNITIES
Work with microscopIA on access evaluation, capacity planning, economic analysis, evidence synthesis or programme evaluation. Agree the decision question, methods, data, deliverables and timetable.
Discuss a collaboration →Describe the aim, population and geography, unmet need and proposed Executive Director—you may nominate yourself. Include expertise, methods, expected outputs, partners, resources, funding needs and timeline.
Prepare an email proposal →Jorge Racedo · Managing Director
jorge.racedo@microscopiatech.com
Proposals are evaluated before establishing an initiative, appointment or budget. Send a professional summary without identifiable patient information. Discuss recurring support