911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ

From wearable diagnostics to AI-powered patient care, technology is rapidly transforming how healthcare is delivered around the world. But alongside innovation comes an equally urgent challenge: ensuring that these advances are accessible, equitable and scalable across global health systems.

These questions were at the centre of “Alumni Insights: Shaping, Sensing and Empowering Health Equitably,” a panel discussion hosted by 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ on 24 February. The event brought together alumni leaders working across medical technology, the NHS and international non-profit organisations to explore how innovation, collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking can help address some of the most pressing healthcare challenges worldwide.

The evening was chaired by , Convening Co-Director of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s School of Convergence Science, Health and Technology. The School forms part of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s Science for Humanity strategy, which aims to translate research and expertise into solutions that benefit society. “The University does three things: create knowledge, communicate knowledge and translate knowledge — for societal benefit,” said Professor Bull.

The event also offered alumni an opportunity to engage directly with one of the University’s key strategic priorities. , highlighted the important role graduates play in applying 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s knowledge beyond the University.

“Our alumni are the practitioners of Science for Humanity. You’re the ones taking your incredible 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ education out into the world and doing amazing things. Challenges are solved by networks of people coming together to approach a problem from different perspectives, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to build in our 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ alumni community.” Nicole Kempton, Director of Alumni Engagement

The audience included alumni from across 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s four faculties - what Professor Bull described as “a convergent group of individuals.” Among them was Professor Bull himself, who studied at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, completing a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Biomechanics.

Within the School of Convergence Science, Health and Technology, Professor Bull explained the focus of the initiative. “We have decided to focus on the challenges of equity, spiralling health costs and resilience in health systems. We focused on those because of the need, and because of our expertise.”

Together, the panel explored how technology and interdisciplinary collaboration can help shape, sense and empower healthcare systems for the benefit of society.

The Panel

The discussion brought together four alumni working at the forefront of healthcare innovation.

Lucy (Soo Min) Jung, founder of and , develops neuromodulation devices designed to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. She graduated from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ with an MSc in Innovation Design Engineering in 2019 and recently received the Entrepreneur Alumni Award.

is the National Strategy Director for the NHS New Hospital Programme. He also founded Healthcare London, a partnership of private healthcare providers that helps international patients access specialist treatment in the capital. Barker received his MBA from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ in 2001.

, founder of , is developing technologies to make illness detection more proactive and accessible. Her company builds non-invasive monitoring systems that analyse sewage data to identify viral and bacterial infection risks before symptoms appear. She completed her PhD in Materials at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ in 2020.

is CEO of the (SCMR), an international non-profit organisation that promotes education, research and quality standards in cardiovascular imaging. She graduated from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ with a PhD in Cardiovascular Imaging in 2012 and received the Emerging Alumni Leader Award in 2022.

Drawing on their experiences across industry, healthcare systems and research, the panel explored how innovation and collaboration can help build more equitable and effective healthcare systems.

Health Equity

Equity lies at the heart of the School of Convergence Science in Health and Technology’s mission - making healthcare accessible, affordable and effective worldwide. Throughout the discussion, panel members reflected on how their personal and professional experiences have shaped their perspectives on the issue.

For Dr Claire Trant, the importance of health equity became deeply personal when several members of her family were diagnosed with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to treatment was severely limited.

“I don’t think having access to treatment is all that health equity is. It’s having access to diagnostics, it’s having access full stop, and living in a fair environment. It’s about being fair right from day zero.” Dr Claire Trant

Lucy Jung highlighted how disparities in healthcare access can vary dramatically across countries. Through her work with Parkinson’s patients, she has seen first hand how treatment availability differs globally. “We went to Panama and realised they actually have to fly to the US to see a consultant to get medicine that is widely available in the UK… Within the UK we can do better. Globally, there are definitely lots of things we can improve, so it’s a passionate topic for me.”

In cardiovascular care,  Dr Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci emphasised that access to advanced diagnostics also depends on education and specialist training being available worldwide. “We run many courses in India, Africa, Hong Kong and around the world to teach cardiologists and radiologists how to perform these tests, why they are done and why they are important.” As she noted, scaling expertise internationally is key.

Michael Barker added that inequity can persist even when healthcare systems technically provide access to treatment.

“You only need to look at black women and the statistics around pregnancy. They have around a 25% higher chance of dying during labour and childbirth. That is access to care, but while the care is being delivered it’s inequitable. These are ethical issues we need to address in how care is actually delivered.”

Turning Innovation into Impact

While medical technologies continue to advance rapidly, bringing these innovations into real-world healthcare systems remains a significant challenge. Although many promising technologies exist, improved innovation, creative deployment and collaboration are required to ensure that devices and systems can be implemented at scale. Patients also play an important role in the adoption of new technologies.

“Increased uptake makes implementation more successful and accelerates the deployment of technology.” – Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci. Despite strong research and development activity, barriers such as funding constraints or limited economic incentives can slow progress. “There is incredible technology out there - research happening at the university and laboratory level. But collaboration is needed to move it from innovation to implementation so it can have real-life impact.”

Dr Claire Trant advised caution for start ups seeking NHS funding too early in their development.

“Making something that makes financial sense for companies in the UK without relying on NHS funding has to be key in driving successful technology. Then you go to the NHS.”

New technologies must also demonstrate their reliability and value.

“Once that’s proven, the NHS is persuaded. It’s in their interest to accelerate implementation.” – Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci

Professor Bull emphasised that 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s work bridges both local and global healthcare challenges.

“We are focused on the local, the NHS. We know here in West London, so many studies that we’re leading within the NHS. But we’re very motivated for the rest of the world as well and to partner with colleagues to address things in a very different way, with different constraints and systems.” 

Using Technology as a Diagnostic Collaborative Tool

Advances in technology are increasingly enabling patients to play a more active role in managing their health.

Lucy Jung shared her own experience of how early detection can make a critical difference.

“I thought I was just a little imbalanced, but it turned out to be a severe imbalance caused by a brain tumour that was diagnosed very quickly.”

Wearable devices and biomarker monitoring technologies can now help identify potential warning signs earlier, allowing individuals to better understand their own health.

“Knowing what’s around you, having wearables and the right information, allows you to make your own decisions.” – Dr Trant 

Michael Barker emphasised the importance of conversations between clinicians and patients when deciding on treatment options.

He shared the example of a patient with hip problems whose main goal was simply to walk his daughter down the aisle. In that case, a full hip replacement was not necessary.

Lucy Jung also described how preparing structured information before a consultation helped improve communication with her doctor.

"I just said I’m going to take my journey as if I’m doing research. So I put down all the symptoms, categorised them, top three things, that’s going to be important for the clinician. So I brought that and my consultant was absolutely incredible, she looked at it, she was so happy, these are the three things that you’re very concerned about, let’s focus on that for now because it’s very complicated and we were able to address those very quickly."

A Look to the Future

Looking ahead, the panel agreed that technology will continue to accelerate change across healthcare systems. “With technology, communication and social media, we can accelerate implementation and scalability.” – Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci. However, adoption remains essential. “If patients see the impact - whether for themselves or others experiencing similar conditions — they are much more likely to change their behaviour.” – Lucy. Monitoring technologies may also help prevent future outbreaks by identifying risks earlier. “Preventing things ever becoming as bad as covid was or worse and that’s the world we’re trying to build right now and the one I want to be in, in the future,” Dr Trant. 

Diagnostics are expected to play a particularly transformative role. “If someone had stitched my symptoms together earlier, they could have diagnosed me much sooner.” – Lucy. Earlier diagnosis could reduce strain on healthcare systems by enabling treatment before conditions worsen and by shifting resources towards prevention.

This vision closely aligns with the goals of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s School of Convergence Science in Health and Technology: a future where health is continuously sensed, continuously adaptive and radically personalised.

University Start-up Showcase: Health and Technology Innovation

As part of the evening, alumni founders from three start-ups showcased technologies designed to deliver real-world healthcare solutions.

Founded by (MBBS Medicine, 2020), The Evidence Company builds trustworthy, explainable AI agents for healthcare.

These systems can call and speak with millions of patients simultaneously - preparing them for surgery, checking in after procedures and enabling proactive care by identifying patients who need support early.

During the session, Uddhav demonstrated how the AI conducts phone calls, showcasing how human-like the interaction can be.

“The patient will create a virtual twin of themselves, meaning clinicians know about the patient before they even step through the door.” Dr Vaghela. 

The AI companion can also support patients within the community after procedures, helping to reduce clinical and administrative workloads.

Co-founded by (PhD Biomedical Circuits and Systems, 2008), ProtonDx is an innovative MedTech startup that spun out from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ in December 2020.

Proton DX was established to commercialise the multidisciplinary work the co-founders were carrying out. It aims to enable better healthcare through fast, portable, accurate, connected, and multiplex diagnostic technology that facilitate the decentralisation of testing, improve infection management and reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use, a key driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Its flagship Lacewing platform can perform molecular diagnostics in under 20 minutes using lab-on-chip technology. The team has also commercialised the Dragonfly point-of-care diagnostic device, which fits inside a backpack and can be used anywhere from the Arctic to . Dragonfly can detect mpox, malaria and skin-tropic viruses. Early users included Team GB athletes at the and the .

The team is now exploring diagnostic tools for agriculture “If an animal becomes infected, it can be a huge cost for farmers.” – Professor Georgiou. 

ProtonDx was recently crowned winner of the 2025 .

AlphaVectors Biotech

Co-founded by (Chemical Engineering, 2022), AlphaVectors Biotech aims to transform RNA-based therapeutics by

addressing key challenges in stability and delivery efficiency.

Its scalable, cold-chain-free nanoparticle technology enables room-temperature stability and ten-times dose efficiency.

“We’re not just improving vaccines - we’re making them accessible to everyone.” – Dr Kaur

The company has already gained significant commercial traction, including a validation study with GSK. AlphaVectors Biotech aims to reduce logistical barriers and accelerate the global impact of next-generation RNA medicines.

ChatGPT-5 was used to do the final edit of this article.