Wired Health:Tech to explore advances driving future of patient care

Wired has announced a new virtual conference, Wired Health:Tech. As the newest conference in its health portfolio, Wired Health:Tech will take place on Tuesday 22nd September as a virtual live broadcast.

The conference explores the technological advances driving the future of patient care. Attendees will be able to enjoy the same compelling content, now available virtually. 

Wired Health:Tech will gather disruptors in health, medicine and science to investigate the direct impact of COVID-19, as well as the trends that the pandemic has accelerated. The programme covers artificial intelligence, telehealth, surgical robotics and next-gen systems, and addresses the need for smarter supply chains, remote friendly surgical systems and self-tracking software.

Wired has designed the conference content to flow through a live broadcast in 90-minute sessions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Its speakers for the virtual conference are:

Jennifer Doudna, professor of Depts. of Molecular & Cell Biology and Chemistry, Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley

Jennifer Doudna’s research seeks to understand how RNA molecules control the expression of genetic information. She and collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier determined the mechanism of RNA-guided bacterial adaptive immunity by the CRISPR-Cas9 system, a transformative technology aiming to revolutionise the fields of genetics, molecular biology and medicine.

Eric Topol, founder and director, Scripps Research Translational Institute & professor of molecular medicine, Scripps Research

Eric Topol is a practicing cardiologist, scientist and author who has published three bestselling books on the future of medicine, including Deep Medicine, on the impact of artificial intelligence for healthcare.

Agnes Binagwaho, vice chancellor, University of Global Health Equity

Professor Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PHD worked as the executive secretary of Rwanda's National AIDS Control Commission, then as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, and lastly as the Minister of Health for five years. She serves as senior advisor to the director general of the World Health Organisation and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans women for 2020.

Christofer Toumazou, regius professor of engineering, Imperial College London

Christofer Toumazou is a multi-award-winning tech entrepreneur, and founder of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London. He holds the 2014 European Inventor Award, Royal Society Gabor Medal and Faraday Medal for his innovations in microchips for healthcare and the co-invention of semiconductor genetics. Toumazou successfully adapted his world-first consumer genetics technology for healthier choices, DnaNudge, and validated it for detecting COVID-19, resulting in a UK government order for 5.8 million rapid CovidNudge test kits.

Devi Sridhar, professor and chair of Global Public Health, University of Edinburgh

Devi Sridhar is the founding Director of the Global Health Governance Programme and holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award. Her books include ‘Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why?’ (OUP, 2017) and ‘the Battle against Hunger: Choice, Circumstance and the World Bank’ (OUP, 2007) and she has published in Nature, Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet and the British Medical Journal.

Heidi Larson, professor of anthropology, risk and decision dcience, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine & director, The Vaccine Confidence Project

Heidi Larson is the director of the WHO’s Vaccine Confidence Project, an initiative tackling the anti-vax movement. Larson headed UNICEF’s strategy for the introduction of new vaccines and is the Principle Investigator of the project ensuring deployment, acceptance and compliance of an Ebola vaccine trial in Sierra Leone.

Indra Joshi, director of AI, NHSX

Dr Indra Joshi oversees the digital health initiatives within the NHS with a focus on data, digital health standards, evidence and AI policy. She has a unique portfolio with experience stretching across policy, digital health, national project strategy and implementation; whilst remaining true to her professional training as an emergency medic. Joshi is a founding member of One HealthTech and is a vice chair for the British Computer Society (Health).

Pearse Keane, NIHR clinician scientist, Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL

Pearse Keane leads a research group focused on the development and application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. In 2016, he initiated a formal collaboration between Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind, with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the earlier detection and treatment of retinal disease.

Pravene Nath, global head for Digital Health Strategy, Roche

Pravene Nath, an MD in emergency medicine, oversees the commercial deployment of digital health tools on market in partnership with Roche Affiliates globally. Prior to Roche, Nath was the chief product officer and SVP of solutions and healthcare operations at Mindstrong Health, where he was in charge of Mindstrong's digital biomarker, patient engagement, telehealth, and care management products.

Mark Slack, chief medical officer and co-founder, CMR Surgical

Mark Slack is an entrepreneur, consultant gynaecologist and the co-founder and chief medical officer of CMR Surgical. The British medical technology company is behind the next-generation surgical robotic system Versius – a surgical robotic system that supports surgeons to carry out minimally invasive keyhole surgeries and procedures.

Tal Zaks, chief medical officer, Moderna

As chief medical officer, Tal Zaks oversees clinical development and regulatory affairs across Moderna. Prior to joining Moderna, Dr. Zaks was senior vice president and head of Global Oncology at Sanofi, where he was responsible for all aspects of oncology drug discovery, development and commercialisation.

Jack Kreindler, founder, CHHP (moderator for Wired Health:Tech)

Jack Kreindler is a doctor, serial technology entrepreneur, and international thought leader on the future of life science and medicine. Having trained at UCL in Medicine and Physiology, and after practicing in Emergency Medicine and High Altitude Physiology, in 2007, Jack founded The Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP) in London. CHHP is now renowned for its work with elite athletes and applying sport science to help the sickest and most unlikely individuals succeed in extraordinary challenges, including all the Sport Relief charity challenges.

Niaz Jalal, global head for digital health technologies, product development, Roche (workshop leader for Wired Health:Tech) 

Niaz Jalal oversees the inception and R&D of digital health tools across therapeutic areas. He brings nearly 20 years’ experience successfully managing development of mobile devices and apps end-to-end throughout the product life cycle, particularly through validation and scale-up for market launch. Most recently he was the head of human understanding & virtual humans at Facebook, developing features for the Oculus Virtual Reality platform based on tracking of movements of the human body.