It is great news and really insightful that EPSRC is focusing so much of its resource on engineering for healthcare. I believe in the near-term some of the most impactful and transformative breakthroughs in patient care will come as the result of interdisciplinary collaboration across the fields of healthcare engineering and technology.
Sir Robert Lechler, Emeritus Professor, King's College London.
17 October 2024
EPSRC digital health policy day comes to LIHE
The latest EPSRC policy day on the potential of digital health has been hosted by the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering.
Delegates from across academia, industry, the charities sector, and government met at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) for a policy event day and briefing on the future of Digital Health in the UK.
Organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC), the event was designed to raise the profile of digital technologies for health and highlight key trends and opportunities as well as challenges and barriers not presently being addressed within the health space.
Maximising the potential of digital health and AI across the areas of personal health, treatment, and the wider health system is part of the EPSRC’s new strategy for Health Technologies which focuses on three high level challenges:
- Improving population health and prevention.
- Transforming early prediction and diagnosis.
- Discovering and accelerating the development of new interventions.
The day included welcome addresses from EPSRC Executive Chair, Professor Charlotte Deane, and LIHE Director, Professor Sebastien Ourselin, policy panel discussions led by Sir Robert Lechler, and a showcase of current EPSRC digital health grants including real-time digital twin assisted surgery, sensory technologies for managing fatigue, and predictive AI tools for the impact of pollution on respiratory health.
This event highlighted the key role that policy alignment and long-term decision making will have on the future of digital healthcare research and development. The case for increased integration across prevention, diagnosis, and intervention is clear, as is the need for infrastructure support at scale to ensure new MedTech start-ups can succeed in the complex environment of healthcare regulation and procurement.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng FMedSci, Director of the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council were delighted to be hosted at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) for our digital health policy event. The event consisted of an exhibition showcasing many exciting research projects and an engaging panel discussion around the future opportunities for digital health such as the importance of meaningful engagement with patients and the public in the development of new digital technologies.
Katherine Freeman Senior Portfolio Manager Healthcare Technologies, EPSRC
The EPSRC is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences in the UK. Its portfolio ranges from digital technologies to clean energy, manufacturing, mathematics, advanced materials, and chemistry.
Digital Health is an EPSRC strategic delivery priority as part of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) mission around transforming health and healthcare.
Located in a new building on the St Thomas’ Hospital campus, LIHE is the latest trailblazing initiative from King’s College London, and embodies its mission to make the world a better place.
The building is dedicated to bringing Medical Device (MedTech) innovations to patients and the market and offers hands-on executive support to innovators from across the UK.
As the first MedTech venture builder in the UK, LIHE will help novel healthcare technologies navigate the complex path to clinical and commercial success by bringing together world-class research and development expertise across academia, the NHS and the MedTech industry.
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Emeritus Professor
Professor of Healthcare Engineering