Questrom MBA Students Take on a Global Healthcare Challenge
August 31, 2026
At Boston University Questrom School of Business, Action Learning projects give MBA students the chance to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real business challenges. For MBA students Alex Yang and Ronan Smith, their Action Learning project with Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies Africa allowed them to work with a real client and tackle a problem that did not have an easy answer.
Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies
For Rita Owino, a global executive with more than 15 years of experience in healthcare and consulting, working with Questrom students was a chance to bring new ideas and perspectives to an important challenge.
“The Questrom Action Learning program offered a unique opportunity to combine academic rigor with real-world business challenges,” Rita said. “We were excited to work with MBA students who could bring fresh perspectives, structured problem-solving approaches, and global business insights to a highly strategic challenge.”
Terumo BCT Africa is working to expand access to advanced therapeutic apheresis treatments across Africa, including Automated Red Blood Cell Exchange and Therapeutic Plasma Exchange. These treatments can help improve outcomes for patients with conditions such as sickle cell disease and neurological disorders. However, these treatments are still not widely available in many African countries.
This created a difficult question for the student team. They were asked to look at opportunities across several African countries, determine which markets should be prioritized, identify what was helping or preventing adoption, understand the different groups involved, and explore business models that could help expand access to these treatments.
The students were also asked to think beyond traditional business goals. They needed to consider how expanding these treatments could improve patient access, strengthen healthcare systems, and lead to better outcomes for patients.
For Alex, the project felt very different from a typical classroom case. Instead of being given a clear problem, a set of information, and a framework to follow, the team had to figure out where to start.
“There was no clean framework to apply and no known solution waiting for us… We ended up surprising even Rita and some of the physicians on her team with how much we learned,” Alex said.
The team had to build its understanding of the healthcare industry while working on the project. They researched hematology, blood banking, healthcare financing, and regulations across eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Learning about an unfamiliar industry quickly became one of the most valuable parts of the experience for Alex. The team had to figure out which sources could be trusted, how to work with limited information, and how to find useful data when the information they needed was not always available.
For Ronan, one of the biggest lessons from the project was the importance of humility. The students did not have much healthcare experience, and they had never worked in the region before. Because of this, they had to be careful about making assumptions about the culture, business environment, and economy.
“The right starting posture is always one of curiosity and humility,” Ronan said.
That mindset became especially important as the team worked with Rita and the Terumo BCT Africa team. Instead of assuming they already understood the problem, the students had to listen to their client, ask questions, and make sure their ideas reflected what was actually happening in the markets they were studying.
The project also changed the way Ronan thinks about using business tools and frameworks. Questrom students learn many different approaches to solving business problems, but the Terumo project showed him that knowing the tools is only part of the process. The more important question is knowing when to use them. The team could not simply apply every framework they had learned in class. They first had to understand the problem and figure out what the client actually needed. Only then could they decide which tools would be helpful.
This is one of the things that makes Action Learning different from a traditional case study. In a classroom case, the information is already provided, and the outcome stays within the classroom. With a real client, students have to work with incomplete information, build relationships, manage expectations, and create work that can actually be used by an organization.
For Alex, that made the project one of the most useful parts of his MBA experience. As someone interested in consulting and product management, he saw the project as a chance to experience what a real consulting engagement could look like. The team worked through the entire process, from understanding the problem and conducting research to working with the client and developing recommendations. “It was the closest thing to a real consulting engagement,” Alex said.
Rita also saw value in the students’ work. She was impressed by how quickly they learned about such a specialized area of healthcare and how willing they were to ask questions. Instead of simply agreeing with the team’s existing ideas, the students challenged the Terumo team to think differently about market priorities, partnerships, access, and long-term growth.
“Their willingness to explore unconventional ideas and connect insights across industries brought tremendous value to the project,” Rita said. Their research provided new perspectives on which markets could be prioritized, how different stakeholders could be involved, and how adoption of aRBCx and TPE could be increased.
Professor Carter also played an important role throughout the project. During one-on-one coaching sessions, he helped the team test its ideas, question its assumptions, and avoid “solution-jumping.” His guidance reminded the students that solving a business problem starts with understanding it before trying to fix it.
The Terumo project became more than an assignment for Alex and Ronan. It showed them what it’s like to work on a problem without a clear answer and how important it is to stay curious, ask questions, and be willing to change direction.
By bringing students and organizations together, mutually beneficial relationships are made. “Action learning creates value for both the sponsoring organization and the students,” Rita said. “Companies gain access to bright minds that can challenge conventional thinking, while students gain exposure to real business problems with meaningful impact.”
The Terumo BCT Africa project is a strong example of what makes Action Learning such an important part of the Questrom MBA experience. Students do not just learn about business, they get the opportunity to practice it. By working with real organizations on real challenges, Questrom students can take what they learn in the classroom and use it to create ideas that have an impact beyond the classroom.
