A Guyana-born American biotech trailblazer, recently honored with one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious science and technology awards, is channeling his recognition into a transformative public health project to expand accessible early disease detection for underserved women across his home country and beyond.
Dr. Niven Narain, who was named a Joint Science & Technology Laureate of the 2026 Anthony N Sabga Awards for Caribbean Excellence, announced the launch of the Rukhminia Latchman Foundation for Women’s Health just moments after accepting his award. The new initiative, named to honor Narain’s grandmother, will combine grassroots outreach and cutting-edge medical technology to bring preventive testing directly to women who face barriers to accessing routine care.
Narain will contribute his full $35,000 award prize to seed the foundation, and the gesture quickly inspired a matching donation from A. Norman Sabga, patron of the awards program and executive chairman of the ANSA McAL Group. “Dr Narain you touched me deeply; your generosity. I will match your donation,” Sabga announced during the award ceremony.
The foundation’s first flagship program will be a women’s health on wheels service: a fleet of mobile testing units designed to deliver routine preventive screenings directly to community hubs and workplaces, with a priority focus on supporting working and single mothers. Narain emphasized that many women in Guyana are forced to choose between prioritizing their employment and caring for their health, a gap the mobile program is designed to close.
“No woman should have to choose between her health and her livelihood,” Narain said. He has already held collaborative discussions with Guyana’s Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony to develop the mobile units, which will offer common preventive screenings including blood tests, Pap smears, urine analysis and breast examinations. All screening data will be logged into a centralized digital health system to streamline follow-up care. The core mission of the initiative is to catch life-threatening conditions, particularly cancer, at much earlier stages, when treatment outcomes are far more positive.
Narain highlighted a stark public health disparity driving the project: in Guyana, young women and even adolescents are dying from breast cancer at rates not seen in the U.S., where the disease is most commonly diagnosed in patients over 60. Working women often lack the flexible time to travel to off-site clinics for routine preventive care, so the mobile units will bring initial screenings directly to their workplaces to flag potential health concerns and connect women to further care. As the foundation secures additional funding, Narain plans to expand the program to other Caribbean nations.
Beyond his work in public health outreach, Narain is a pioneer in artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery. As co-founder and president of Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical firm BPGbio, he developed a groundbreaking AI-driven drug discovery platform that holds more than 650 U.S. and international patents, has spawned over 100 high-impact scientific papers, and built more than 65 global partnerships with leading medical institutions, governments, and pharmaceutical companies. Multiple therapies developed through the platform are currently in late-stage clinical trials, and are under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat conditions from aggressive cancers and rare skin disorders to age-related muscle loss and childhood mitochondrial disorders.
A noted advocate for responsible AI innovation, Narain stressed that the scientific community must prioritize transparent, verifiable impact measurement for AI tools, as well as clear ethical frameworks to guide development. He called for balanced governance that promotes innovation while ensuring AI is deployed to serve public good, rather than strict overregulation that could slow progress.
The 2026 Anthony N Sabga Awards ceremony honored four other exceptional Caribbean leaders alongside Narain: Barbadian visual artist Sheena Rose in the Arts & Letters category, Jamaican telecommunications entrepreneur Dean Nevers for Entrepreneurship, Barbadian social activist Shamelle Rice for Public & Civic Contributions, and Jamaican climate scientist Professor Tannecia Stephenson, who shared the Joint Science & Technology Laureate honor with Narain. Each category award carries a total cash prize equivalent to $70,000, split between the two co-laureates in Science & Technology.