IGHI is home to a team of staff who are skilled and passionate about their roles. Our talented people are the reason we’re able to tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges through cutting-edge innovation.
By Dr Benny Lo, Senior Lecturer, MRes Medical Robotics and Image-Guide Intervention,
Hamlyn Centre, Institute of Global Health Innovation
I started my research on wearable sensors when I was appointed as a researcher in a UK Trade & Investment (now Innovate UK) funded project, while I was working on my PhD on a completely different topic.
When I first started working on sensor research, the concept of wireless sensor networks had just been introduced. I was one of the first few researchers who started the development of body-worn sensors for healthcare and wellbeing applications. Being one of the pioneers in this emerging field, I have developed a number of novel sensing platforms, and some have been widely used in the research community.
In wearable sensing research, we often have to start from scratch. We build our own sensing hardware, compose the embedded software, design the networking infrastructure, and develop the data analysis algorithms, as well as conducting the clinical validation studies. Basically, we have to start from generating the new ideas, turning the ideas into working prototypes, and then carry out the studies to evaluate the technologies’ potential benefits to patients. Although it is very challenging, I have learnt and gained invaluable experience in multi-disciplinary research. Apart from addressing healthcare challenges in the UK, our work has been extended to address some global health challenges.
Currently, I am leading a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded project with a team of researchers from the UK and US to develop wearable and AI technologies to enable accurate assessment of dietary intake. The project aims to develop the technology to support large-scale nutritional studies, in particular assessing family nutritional intakes in low- and middle-income countries.
We plan to deploy and trial our technologies in rural and urban households in African countries. It is a very ambitious and challenging project, but at the same time,
it has given us an opportunity to develop technologies which could potentially transform the field of dietary intake analysis.
While tackling the challenges in conducting field studies in Africa, my research group is also working closely with a research partner in Thailand. This project is deploying and testing our low-cost wearable sensors for fall preventions in local hospitals and residential care homes. Apart from healthcare applications, I have also explored the applications of sensing technologies for elite sport training and other applications.
With the advances in 5G mobile networks and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, we anticipated that sensors will be widely used in supporting the digital transformation of our society. In particular with the current COVID-19 crisis, pervasive and low-cost sensing technologies could help alleviate the pressure on our healthcare services while providing quality care remotely.
As I started my research in this new field at its infancy, it has been a very exciting journey. It has given me opportunities to investigate novel technologies to tackle major healthcare challenges. The most rewarding part of my work is seeing our technologies being deployed and used to help patients.
In the midst of a global pandemic, our people are continuing their endeavour to improve health and care. In this new series, we’re speaking to our IGHI community to find out how they’re adapting to working life amid coronavirus, and the unique opportunities and challenges this has presented them. (more…)
IGHI is home to a team of staff who are skilled and passionate about their roles. Our talented people are the reason we’re able to tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges through cutting-edge innovation.
In the midst of a global pandemic, our people are continuing their endeavour to improve health and care. In this new series, we’re speaking to our IGHI community to find out how they’re adapting to working life amid coronavirus, and the unique opportunities and challenges this has presented them. (more…)
By Dr Justine Alford, Communications Manager, IGHI
My journey into research communications was somewhat serendipitous.
During my undergrad in biology I’d become really passionate about HIV. I embarked on a PhD studying the virus in the lab, envisioning my name in scientific lights as I contributed towards a cure. The reality of pipetting minuscule amounts of liquid into test tubes while sporting an oversized bottle green lab coat was far less glamorous.
In the midst of a global pandemic, our people are continuing their endeavour to improve health and care. In this new series, we’re speaking to our IGHI community to find out how they’re adapting to working life amid coronavirus, and the unique opportunities and challenges this has presented them.
Right now, we’ve never been more grateful for the health and care workers who are tirelessly demonstrating their dedication to our health and wellbeing.
Supporting our health system, too, are many unsung heroes working away from the frontline. People who may have hung up their stethoscopes, but with the same determination to improve health and care.
Like Drs Jack Halligan and Natalia Kurek at IGHI, who both left medicine but are staying at the forefront of healthcare in different ways.
We caught up with Jack and Natalia to find out about their careers post-medicine, how they’re applying what they learnt in medical school, and what the COVID-19 crisis means for their roles. (more…)
In the midst of a global pandemic, our people are continuing their endeavour to improve health and care. In this new series, we’re speaking to our IGHI community to find out how they’re adapting to working life amid coronavirus, and the unique opportunities and challenges this has presented them.
In a matter of mere months, a new virus has completely changed the world. In the trail of destruction that coronavirus is causing, it has rudely propelled many of us into a new way of working.
Offices have closed, laboratories shut their doors, classrooms and lecture theatres emptied. But the world has not ground to a halt – the show must go on. At IGHI, our researchers are continuing their endeavour to improve health and care. In this new series, find out how our people are adapting to working life amid coronavirus, and the unique opportunities and challenges this has presented them. (more…)