This seminar is part of the Oxford Martin School Hilary Term seminar series: Blurring the lines: the changing dynamics between man and machine

Cheap, accessible and easy to use, mobile phones are everywhere. With the advent of the smartphone has come a new kind of healthcare - mHealth - in which mobiles are playing a key role in monitoring and improving the health of communities around the globe. Linking remote communities in developing countries with professional healthcare, mobile phones are helping break down long-standing barriers to accessing treatment. Use of mHealth is also growing in developed countries, helping patients to monitor and manage their own health, thereby reducing pressure on health services.

According to the World Health Organisation the burden of deaths from non-communicable diseases will climb from 28 per cent in 2008 to 46 per cent by 2030. The George Institute for Global Health is investing in research into innovative new strategies for tackling the burden of chronic disease.

Speakers:

• Dr Fred Hersch, James Martin Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health, Oxford Martin School
• Dr Gari Clifford, James Martin Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health, Oxford Martin School
  (Dr Clifford will be joining the seminar via videoconference)

Join in on twitter with #humantech

About the speakers

Dr Fred Hersch is a James Martin Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, an Oxford Martin School Institute and a Clinical Research Fellow in Essential Healthcare also at The George Institute for Global Health. His research interests are focused on the intersection of health and technology and how current and emerging technologies can be harnessed to improve access to essential healthcare; in particular the emerging problems of non-communicable diseases amongst disadvantaged communities.

Fred trained in Medicine and Public Health at the Sydney Medical School, Australia where he was previously working as a clinician. Fred came into healthcare with a background in Business and Information Technology and seven years of commercial experience in the analysis, design and implementation of web based solutions.

Dr Gari Clifford is a James Martin Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, an Oxford Martin School Institute; Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Healthcare Innovation and a University Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University's Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science. Prior to joining the faculty at Oxford he was a Principal Research Scientist at MIT, where he spent 6 years managing the engineering effort behind a multi-million dollar project to collect and analyse the world's largest public database of hospital data. At Oxford he directs a research group focused on machine learning and signal processing to extract actionable information from medical data. In particular he focuses on intensive care medicine, cardiovascular disease, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep and mental health. His research is aligned with the concept of sustainable healthcare and he has a particular focus on resource-constrained mHealth.