Worldwide experts to explore how digital health evidence generation is transforming healthcare

The series will span a wide range of issues around the topic with special reference to the digital health transformation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Renowned across the world for their work in the field, the chairs and guest speakers include; internationally recognised academic Professor Trish Greenhalgh, University Oxford; the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Digital Medicine Society and former Olympian and World Championship silver medallist Jen Goldsack; and senior clinical scientist Professor Dame Til Wykes who has carried out research in digital health with service users and has developed her own digital health software for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The webinars are all free to join and are targeted at an international audience of digital health developers, researchers, students, clinicians and NHS managers and commissioners. Audience members can join discussions with experts on key questions such as, ‘Can we move beyond regulation stifling innovation?’, ‘What can different academic disciplines bring to evaluating digital health?’ and ‘Can I trust digital mental health to work for me?’.

Dr Henry Potts, University College London and Public Health England, said: “Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a momentum building around the importance of generating evidence for digital health. Now as hundreds of digital services and products have been introduced into health and care sectors, the need to understand their impact and use digital technology for lasting change requires real collaboration. We’re delighted so many digital health leaders have been enthused by this webinar series and I am very much looking forward to discussions and information exchanges.”

Dr Jean Ledger, Research Fellow, Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, said: “This webinar series is aimed at sharing perspectives and expertise with the hope of starting a collaborative movement around improving evidence generation in digital health. We hope these discussions raise interesting questions and ideas about how to improve evidence in this rapidly evolving field. There is great potential for digital health to improve health and social care for patients and NHS staff, but we need to get it right and understand what works well for end users, and under what conditions. Generating and applying evidence appropriately is key to that.”

Professor Paul Wallace, Clinical Director for Digital at the Health Innovation Network and National Institute for Health Research London Clinical Research Networks, said: “The DigitalHealth.London Generator is committed to promoting the generation of evidence to support the digital transformation of our health and care services and we are delighted to be a founding partner of this exciting webinar series. If you are interested in any aspect of digital health, please join us this unique programme to hear from and interact with some of the most influential pioneers in the digital health space.”

Neelam Patel, CEO, MedCity said: “We are currently at a pivotal moment in digital health where its future will be decided by the success of collaborations between industry, the NHS and academia. MedCity is proud to be a partner in this top-level webinar series and I for one am very much looking forward to engaging debates and discussions on this important topic.”

Anna King, Commercial Director, the Health Innovation Network, said: “We have been inspired by high-profile thought leaders in digital health evidence generation who are sharing their experience and expertise in this webinar series. I would encourage anyone with an interest in digital innovation in health care – whether innovators, clinicians looking to adopt a digital solution or academics hoping to evaluate a digital health tool – to join these fantastic webinars.”

Each webinar will last for approximately one hour and will include presentations and a moderated question and answer session. The webinars will be streamed live, and recordings will subsequently be made available online.

The programme has been made possible by a grant from the UCL Knowledge and Information Exchange and all sessions will be free of charge.