King's College London

To showcase their solutions and explore how partnerships make progress possible, King's and the MIT Sloan School of Management will host an inclusive all-day summit on 22 May in Bush House. The event, 'Building Sustainable Healthcare Systems through Innovation and Entrepreneurship,' will bring together entrepreneurs, academics, healthcare professionals and policymakers from around the world to discuss opportunities to strengthen healthcare ecosystems.

Professor Sir Robert Lechler, provost and senior vice-president (health) at King’s, said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to engage a range of distinctive voices from different professions and parts of the world, from newly-formed teams and successful CEOs, NGOs, investors, policymakers, academics and healthcare professionals. Together, we can strengthen innovation ecosystems and better equip the next frontline generation to innovate, collaborate and improve healthcare systems.”

“We are delighted to host this event with King’s to find new ways to implement sustainable, effective and scalable global healthcare solutions through the lens of innovation and entrepreneurship. Through these global conversations, we seek to support and shape the conditions necessary for entrepreneurs and innovators to maximize their impact,” said Fiona Murray, MIT Sloan Associate Dean.

Georgina Campbell Flatter, research scientist and former executive director of MIT Sloan’s Legatum Center, added: “The conversation is often around what the public sector can do, but innovators and entrepreneurs are also pushing boundaries and saving lives. There is so much we can learn from these change agents, especially those in emerging economies. Because they often benefit from the lack of legacy infrastructure and norms, we are seeing some fascinating on-the-ground solutions that are leapfrogging and changing traditional healthcare systems.”

The summit features several keynote speakers, including:

• Lord Nigel Crisp, independent crossbench member of the House of Lords and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, will discuss the next global challenges in healthcare and how entrepreneurs can contribute at home and abroad.
• Javier Lozano, founder and CEO of Clínicas del Azúcar, will discuss how he built an affordable and effective healthcare delivery venture in Mexico. His patient-centric approach to diabetes care has reduced the annual cost of care by 70% and prevents more than 60% of diabetes complications.
• King’s Professor Prashant Jha, head of affordable technologies, will speak about the role of innovation and partnerships in driving developing world growth and new ways to approach healthcare in emerging economies.
• King’s Professor Sebastien Ourselin, head of biomedical engineering and imaging sciences, will discuss crafting a “fit for purpose” ecosystem for healthcare innovation.

Entrepreneurs will also share their startup stories at the event. Speakers include the founder of Flare, which is revolutionising emergency healthcare access for patients in East Africa, C the Signs, a multi-platform tool for healthcare professionals to support early identification of patients at cancer risk, and MDaas Global, which aspires to build Africa’s largest network of diagnostic and primary care facilities.

The event is open to the public and media, but pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, please visit: http://mitkingslondonsummit.com/