This September, we were joined in Newcastle upon Tyne by 33 participants of the Digital Health and Care Summer School. Attendees from across the UK and disciplines came together for three days of discussions on the effective and innovative use of digital technologies in the health and care sector.
The involvement of participants from diverse academic backgrounds illustrates the versatility of digital solutions for addressing the needs of the health and care sector.
Below, we have summarised all three days of the Summer School, accompanied by photos taken by photographer Jay Dawson.
On the first day, we were joined by speakers working in digital health research and innovation in the North East and North Cumbria to explore the value, contributions, and responsible use of digital solutions in health and care. Thank you to our wonderful speakers for bringing their insights and perspectives:
- Penny Day (Chief Operating Officer at XR Therapeutics),
- Julie Lynn (Head of Business Development in Adult Social Care at Sunderland City Council),
- Chris Plummer, (Theme Co-Lead for the Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population Theme at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre),
- Lynsey Threlfall, (BRC Leadership Track for Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre),
- Jennine Jonczyk (Programme Manager at the National Innovation Centre for Ageing),
- Collin Gillespie (Chief Technology Officer at Jumping Rivers),
- Annalisa Occhipinti (Professor of Computing at Teesside University),
- Beth Friel (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Manager, Health Data Research UK),
- Laurence Humphreys-Davies (Public Advisory Board Member, British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre),
- and Arlene Astell (Professor of Psychology at Northumbria University).
The afternoon talk, delivered by Jeff Clark (Co-founder and CEO at IngeniumAI), introduced the intricacies of launching a med-tech spin-out company following PhD study. Finally, representatives of regional and national funding organisations, Elena Matucci (Health Innovation North East North Cumbria), Amy Brown (the Newcastle Health Research Partnership), and Simon Williamson (Innovate UK), introduced participants to available postgraduate and postdoctoral funding and development opportunities.
In the run-up to the Summer School, all participants submitted a poster presenting their latest research to our poster competition. Judges Amanda Taylor-Beswick (Cumbria University), Beth Friel (HDR UK), and Christopher Yau (HDR UK & Oxford University) awarded prizes for best poster design and best poster content to Yiwen Shang, Namia Mohamed Eli, Faiza Yahya, and Lauren Lawson. Congratulations!
Day two was dedicated to our Innovation Challenge Day, run by Sarah Cox (formerly Innovation SuperNetwork). Divided into teams, participants designed digital-based solutions to address genuine problems experienced by the health and care sector, which were presented by our problem owners:
- Digitally supported care pathways for people with Parkinson’s disease - Professor Camille Carrol, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre
- Ensuring patients’ communication needs are provided for in line with the Accessible Information Standard - Melanie Robertson, Assistant Director of Nursing, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
- Human Care, Machine Logic: Squaring Explainability with Responsibility - Professor Amanda Taylor-Beswick
- Unlocking the value of data on over 11,000 patient journeys in the VCSE - Ang Broadbridge and Sonia Townend, Ways to Wellness
To support participants in designing innovations with end users in mind, we were joined by Consultant on Responsible Digital Transformation Adam Parnaby and HDR UK Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Manager Beth Friel.
Finally, participants came together for the Unconference Day, led by Dave Kirk. Individually at first and later in teams, participants brainstormed key research areas and topics in digital health for the next 5-10 years, and discussed the key opportunities and challenges involved. The discussion addressed central topics, such as the implementation of AI into clinical and social care settings, as well as the more niche matter of enabling humans to survive on Mars.
Many thanks to everyone who joined us during the Summer School, as well as our partner organisations, HDR UK and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for supporting the organisation and delivery.
