This July, the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) launches its seminar series with an event on how big data is changing healthcare

This will be the first of three events in a pilot series that will team together experts from Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to bring the work of the AHSC to life. The inaugural event will be held on Monday 4 July at St Mary’s campus Paddington and will focus on the implications of big data for healthcare now and in the future.

The Imperial College AHSC is a unique partnership between Imperial College London, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Its aim is to improve patient outcomes by harnessing scientific discoveries and translating them as quickly as possible into new diagnostics, devices and therapies for patients, in the NHS and beyond.

Professor Jonathan Weber, Director of Research at Imperial College AHSC, said: ‘The seminar series is designed to communicate the achievements of the AHSC and what it means to be part of an AHSC to staff and patients. It is a programme of themed lectures to showcase the AHSC’s work so people can hear about the breakthroughs and new thinking that are shaping the future directly from those leading the work. This is important, exciting work and we want even more of our staff and patients to become involved.’

By pairing together researchers at Imperial College London and clinicians at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the series will present examples of how research evolves from hypotheses, into innovative approaches, to patient treatment and care.

How big data is changing healthcare – Monday 4 July

Professor Yike Guo

The first talk will be delivered by Professor Yike Guo, Director of the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London, and Dr Sanjay Gautama, Caldicott guardian and Chief clinical information officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Professor Guo will discuss how big data can be used to personalise the diagnosis and treatment of severe asthma.  Professor Guo led a Europe-wide research project which improved understanding about the different types of severe asthma with the aim of uncovering information that could lead to the creation of effective new treatments.  

Dr Sanjay Gautama

Dr Gautama will speak about the delivery of the Care Information Exchange programme.  This is a web-based application that provides online access to medical records for patients, service users and their health and social care teams in north west London.  One of its main aims is to give patients a greater sense of control, and the opportunity to participate more actively in their own care.

The seminar will be held on Monday 4 July 2016 at 12:30, in the Roger Bannister lecture theatre, first floor, School of Medicine, St Mary’s Paddington Campus. Refreshments will be served in the committee room, ground floor, School of Medicine, following the presentations. Register to attend the first seminar.    

Future seminars

Two further seminars have also been planned for this series.

The second talk, on 'Healthcare innovations to keep joints working', will be on Monday July 25 at 13:00.

This talk will be delivered by Professor Justin Cobb, Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery at Imperial College London, and Alison McGregor, Professor of Musculoskeletal Biodynamics in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.

Professor Cobb will outline how he has used a combination of 3D imaging, 3D printing and robotics to understand, prevent and treat a range of problems associated with impaired mobility. Professor McGregor will share her work to create and develop new devices to detect and monitor patients with osteoarthritis. Register to atttend the second seminar.

This seminar will be at Hammersmith Hospital in the Wolfson Education Centre, lecture theatre 3.

The third, on the spread of infectious diseases, will be on Tuesday September 20 at St Mary's Paddington. This talk will be delivered by Neil Ferguson, Professor of Mathematical Biology at Imperial College London and Dr Sarah Fidler, Reader and honorary consultant physician in HIV and GUM. It will be at St Mary’s Paddington, venue to be confirmed.

The plan is to develop future AHSC events with feedback from this first seminar series.