Digital Health Coffee Time Briefing ☕

Your morning summary of digital health news, information and events to know about if you want to be “in the know”.

👇 News 

👨‍👩‍👦 New research from Healios, a digital-first provider of autism, ADHD and mental health services, has found that the success of online autism assessments is helping families to overcome their anxieties about not being seen face-to-face. With more and more assessments being delivered online, Healios set out to better understand how families felt about them, in a bid to understand what improvements could be made. The research found that in many cases any concerns and anxieties significantly decreased once the assessment was completed.

🔝 Leeds has been named as a top health innovation hub, in a report commissioned by Leeds Academic Health Partnership. The Perspective Economics research used new data insights to compare Leeds with similar UK and international cities. It found Leeds ranked consistently as a top location for medtech, digital health, software development, data analytics and AI. According to the analysis, Leeds has the most high-growth health tech companies securing equity investment; has the most health and care-related patents applied for or granted; and is the top city for health and care research funding, having secured over £200m in the past five years.

🦷 Digital denture care company, Denturly, has secured a £1,284,000 investment – with £500,000 coming from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, £392,000 from the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund, and the remaining £392,000 from co-investment by Haatch Ventures and Revere Partners. The company aims to disrupt the market with its digital scanning and 3D printing technology to improve fit, reduce costs and speed up the highly laborious fitting and manufacturing process.

🔧 Basecamp Research has announced it has augmented the Google DeepMind and EMBL AlphaFold2 artificial intelligence tool, for predicting protein structures. The new model, BaseFold, delivers more reliable 3D structure predictions for larger and more complex proteins. The company believes the new tool will help speed up AI-based drug discovery efforts.

👨‍💻 NHS Shared Business Services has announced a new online portal that will make it quicker and easier to access its portfolio of framework agreements. Over 40 framework agreements will be available in the new portal, supporting NHS and public sector organisations to procure solutions at pace, while remaining cost-effective and efficient. Portal users can review and download buying guides and contract information, including price lists, specifications and lead times.

❓Did you know that?

Ulster University and University College London are set to establish a £11.7m Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Health Technologies. The PhD programme is set to advance digital health technologies such as hospital-at-home programmes and virtual wards, to support early diagnoses and personalised treatments.

📖 What we’re reading

Generative AI: Will New Tech Transform Healthcare? Lyndsey Fletcher explores the potential uses of GenAI in healthcare for Front Line Genomics.

🚨 This week’s events

14 March, Online, Next steps for NICE in England Conference