HRfH Connect

by Web team (RS) | 12 Sep 2024 | Annual event, Uncategorised | 0 comments

HRfH Connect took place at Google HQ in London on 7 February 2025.

The inaugural event brought together a community of people involved in creating world-leading health research using smartphones and wearables. These people included academics, industry and members of the public.

The event sold out within days, was at full capacity on the day and there was a long waiting list for tickets.

We are in the process of planning our next event. If you would like to be the first to find out when tickets are available, please add your name to our waiting list.

About

Cross-Sector Networking
Co-Creation
Inspirational Speakers
Technology Showcase

Health Research from Home (HRfH) has been funded by the Medical Research Council (UKRI MRC) to build a cross-sector community and share know-how and skills.

Thanks to our MRC grant, the generosity of our partner Google and our Co-Design Workshop sponsor Haleon, delegates were able to register for this prestigious and exciting event for free.

Neither Google nor Haleon have influenced the scientific content of the event.

Highlights of HRfH Connect

Co-Design at the Core

Our Co-Design workshop was one of the highlights of HRfH Connect. We identified a real problem facing our community and then asked thinkpublic to create a collaborative workshop so delegates could help us find answers.

We brought academics, industry and members of the public together, as only through combining their individual insights can we create life-changing research. A huge thank you to Haleon for sponsoring this workshop.

The Ken Rothman Award

We invited 14 talented researchers to share their work in front of some of the biggest names in health research using smartphones and wearables.

Congratulations to Michele Orini from Kings College London who won our audience vote for his presentation and received an Oura Ring for his efforts.

It was the hugely impressive Humphrey Curtis and Timothy Neate, also from Kings College London, who took home The Ken Rothman Award. Their presentation on ‘Co-designed Wearable and Discreet Communication Technologies For People with Aphasia’ was a brilliant demonstration of how research using smartphones and wearables has the power to transform lives.

Inspirational Speakers

The diversity of the HRfH Connect speakers reflected the diversity of people needed to create world-leading research. Thank you to Professor Aiden Doherty and Professor Claire Steves, it was so inspirational for our delegates to hear about the huge impact their work has made in the UK and around the world.

Thank you also to Dr Mary De Silva, her unique perspective on health research from the government’s point of view demonstrated the potential and impact research can have on our daily lives.

A final, and very special thank you, to Max Carlish and Seb Tucknott who spoke so eloquently about living with their long-term health conditions. Hearing about the challenges they face, and how technology could help them manage their conditions, put the whole event into perspective.

Latest Technology

Industry is the third pillar in a collaborative approach to health research using smartphones and wearables. We were thrilled that Fitbit/Google, Oura, uMotif and RADAR-Base agreed to participate in a technology showcase.

Through their presentations they showed what their technology is capable of and how it can be applied to research. They shared examples of successful collaboration with researchers and the public. They also offered the room a glimpse into the future and the possibilities that technology currently in development may bring.

Agenda

HRfH Connect Event Programme (PDF)

9am: Registration and breakfast
10am: Welcome, Introduction to Health Research from Home and Understanding Long Term Health Conditions and research opportunities – Will Dixon, Professor of Digital Epidemiology at the University of Manchester and Health Research from Home Lead
10:30am: State of the art / keynote lecture 1 by Aiden Doherty, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Oxford.
11:30am: Technology showcase featuring presentations from Oura, Google, Fitbit, uMotif and RADAR-Base where these technology powerhouses show off emerging and existing technology that can support and power successful health research.
12:30pm: Lunch with networking opportunities for delegates.
1:40pm: Co-design workshop facilitated by thinkpublic and sponsored by Haleon in which delegates will work with people living with long-term health conditions to create solutions to real-world problems facing our community.

3:15pm: Research showcase, future leaders in our field will have the opportunity to showcase ground-breaking research of the future and win prizes for their efforts. Apply to showcase your research by filling out the form above.
4:40pm: State of the art / keynote lecture 2 by Claire Steves, Professor of Ageing and Health and the Clinical Director of TwinsUK, King’s College London.
5:30pm: Rooftop drinks reception at Google Headquarters.