Faces Of Digital Health

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare presents both opportunities and challenges that demand careful consideration. The complex interplay between innovation, regulation, and ethical governance are central themes at the heart of global discussions on health AI. This dialogue was brought to the forefront in a recent conversation with Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of Health AI - Global Agency for Responsible AI in Healthcare. Understanding Health AI and Its Mission Health AI, the global agency for responsible AI in health, is at the forefront of steering the development and adoption of AI solutions through collaborative regulatory mechanisms and global standards. www.facesofdigitalhealth.com https://fodh.substack.com/ Youtube:

Can video games really save lives? In this episode of Faces of Digital Health, we sit down with Anca Petre to explore the booming intersection of gaming, virtual reality (VR) and healthcare. From Fortnite maps that teach immunity to Roblox worlds that demystify diabetes, we showcase real-world success stories and practical steps for health organizations that want to level-up patient engagement. What you’ll learn 2:00 Intro & why gaming matters in 2025 4:05 Success story #1 – Fortnite immunity map 8:40 Success story #2 – Minecraft mental-health build 11:55 How creator economies (Fortnite Creative, Roblox, Minecraft) open doors for health innovators 16:10 Budgeting & ROI: making the business case 20:30 4-step framework for your first health-game project 26:45 Overcoming stigma & regulatory hurdles 31:00 Future outlook: VR, digital therapeutics & beyond Key takeaways Gaming isn’t just entertainment—it’s a powerful storytelling engine for complex medical topics. Creator platforms already host millions of enga

Jack Kreindler is physician, explorer, and CEO of WellFounded, who studies human performance, resilience, survivorship, and longevity. He emphasizes the distinction between longevity, which caters to the fear of death, and health span, which focuses on expanding vitality and ensuring good quality of life in the finite years we have. The discussion dives into human performance medicine and its application beyond elite athletes to everyday individuals and patients in critical conditions. Kreindler talks about integrating human performance science with traditional medicine, improving health outcomes, and assessing current medical practices such as prehabilitation in oncology. He also touches on the impact of COVID-19 on public health perception, the rise in self-directed healthcare, and the importance of mental health and human connection for overall well-being. Show notes: 01:03 Human Performance Medicine: Beyond Athletes 02:31 Integrating Human Performance with Traditional Medicine 06:00 Prehabilitation

Philippe Habets is a Dutch physician-scientist and entrepreneur specializing in computational psychiatry and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare. He is co-founder of Evidence Hunt, a health-tech company aimed at revolutionizing medical literature discovery using AI. The AI-powered platform that streamlines the process of finding, analyzing, and utilizing medical evidence, enabling users to access summarized, evidence-based answers with cited sources in seconds. This discussion covers: Why measuring resilience with data is so elusive How Evidence Hunt reduces search fatigue for clinicians and researchers The philosophical challenge of translating emotions into data What makes a good prompt when searching for medical knowledge Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8tC0B4NvpM www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/

Starting Summer 2025, researchers and innovators across Europe will be able to apply for access to one of the largest pseudonymized health datasets in the EU—via Germany's Health Data Lab at BfArM. In this discussion, Head of Health Data Lab (BfArM) Dr. Steffen Heß, scientist with has extensive experience in combining scientific expertise with data analysis in the healthcare sector, talks about conditions to access and analyse data from the Health Data Hub, differences between digital twins, synthetic data and real world data and more.

Fidelia Cascini is Digital Healh expert engaged by the Italian Ministry of Health on European and national initiative. She recently wrote a book on secondary use of data in healthcare, read it here: Secondary Use of Electronic Health Data Public Health Perspectives, Use Cases and Challenges https://link.springer.com/book/10.100... This conversation covers the categorization of electronic health data, the importance of distinguishing different data types, and the potential applications and challenges in digital health. We also explore healthcare systems' digitalization, patient data privacy, the European Health Data Space (EHDS), and future public health perspectives. Learn about patient-generated data, clinical trials, and the significant role of digital health advancements in shaping the future of healthcare. www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbSCXUhIDZ8 Show notes: 01:08 Diving into Different Categories of Health Data 0

Fidelia Cascini is Digital Healh expert engaged by the Italian Ministry of Health on European and national initiative. She recently wrote a book on secondary use of data in healthcare, read it here: Secondary Use of Electronic Health Data Public Health Perspectives, Use Cases and Challenges https://link.springer.com/book/10.100... This conversation covers the categorization of electronic health data, the importance of distinguishing different data types, and the potential applications and challenges in digital health. We also explore healthcare systems' digitalization, patient data privacy, the European Health Data Space (EHDS), and future public health perspectives. Learn about patient-generated data, clinical trials, and the significant role of digital health advancements in shaping the future of healthcare. www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbSCXUhIDZ8 Show notes: 01:08 Diving into Different Categories of Health Data 0

In the evolving landscape of work life balance expectations workforce dynamics is reshaping the future of medicine. Dr Amanda Herbrand, clinical data specialist at the University Hospital Basel and former oncologist, shares her insights on this transformation, highlighting the critical role of technology and shifts in physician careers in healthcare. Dr. Herand shares her transition from oncology to healthcare IT and the challenges and solutions in integrating clinical expertise with IT systems. The host and Amanda explore changing workforce expectations, the role of technology in alleviating clinical burdens, and the importance of digital health literacy. The conversation also covers clinical data modeling, international collaborations, and the future vision of healthcare IT development. 00:00 Introduction to Faces of Digital Health 02:00 Interview with Dr. Amanda Herand 02:27 Transition from Oncology to Clinical Data Specialization 04:36 Challenges and Observations in Healthcare IT 11:35 The Role of Digit

NextMed Health in a healthtech and biotech conference exploring the most forward thinking ideas and topics in healthcare. Taking place in San Diego, a four day programme covered topics such as latest developments in AI, aging, increasing lifespan and longevity, addressing mental health and exercise through VR, and more. In this special episode of Faces of digital health, Gary Monk and Tjasa Zajc reflect on the key findings through additional discussions with: Anthony Chang, MD, MBA, MPH, Founder, AIMed. Chief Intelligence & Innovation Office, Children's Hospital of Orange County  Daniel Kraft, MD,  Founder & Chair, NextMed Health. Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD, Founder, Beyond Clinical Walls. Urgent Care Medical Director, Saint Mary's Health Network Steven Brown, AI developer, Coder, founder, investor, filmmaker Jennifer Garrison, PhD, Professor, Buck Institute. Co-Founder & Director, ProductiveHealth.org Eric Topol, MD,  Founder and Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute What's covered:

The news of the year for UK healthcare in March 2025 was the announcement of the abolishment of NHS England. Many people welcome the move, expecting the healthcare system in the UK to become more efficient. If we look at the history, NHS is under constant restructuring - in the past, for digitalization efforts, two entities were established - NHS X and NHS Digital, and were later merger into NHS England. A few years ago 200+ commissioning groups were restructured into 42 integrated care systems. In this discussion Liam Cahill, Founder of Together Digital, Digital Advisor to Organisations and Healthtech Advisor talks about the impact of the latest restructuring and expected impact. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB3XXtxvfag&t=19s www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/

6% of the hospital budget, EPIC and 100 healthcare IT systems. That's the description of the infrastructure in the Cleveland clinic London. CIO Raihaan Mughal likes to emphasize CEOs are concerned about three things: 1️⃣ Increasing revenue 2️⃣ Reducing cost 3️⃣ Mitigating risk When investing, Cleveland clinic is mindful of Return on investment, return on employee. When it comes to AI, CIO Raihaan Mughal says: "Take your time, be skeptical about vendor promises." Cleveland Clinic in the US is running a pilot comparing 5 ambient solutions before they sign a long-term contract. Tune in to the full discussion with Raihaan, recorded at the Digital Health Excellence Forum by Smart Bridges GmbH in Berlin. Youtube: https://lnkd.in/dKzBrAxS www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/

In early March HIMSS Global (https://www.himssconference.com/), the currently biggest global gathering about healthcare IT took place Las Vegas. A few tens of thousands of people visit HIMSS Global every year, it can take 20 minutes to get from one session to another in another building, therefor preparation and planning are key. This year, the key topic seemed to be how are companies embedding AI in their solutions. Hospital leaders talked about cybersecurity, and political uncertainty impacting the future of digital health development. I asked a few participants at HIMSS Global, who are also speaking at HIMSS Europe in Paris in June 2025, about their reflections on the content at HIMSS.  You will hear from: Guido Gunti, Chief Digital Officer at St. James Hospital, Ireland Mathew Little, Chief Nurse Information Officer (CNIO) & Associate Chief Nurse, Gloucestershire Hospital NHS Trust, UK  Rasu Shrestha, Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation & Commercialization Officer at Advocate Health, USA, Henriq

This short episode will address some of the trends shaping the future of healthcare: agentic AI,  Longevity efforts, Uncertain policy in light of the current US government.  You will hear from Daniel Kraft - founder of NextMed Health - a unique interdisciplinary community dedicated to catalyzing and accelerating the arrival of a new, human-centric, technology-enabled health age.  NextMed Health is a very special event, focused on updates in biotech, policy, convergence of technology and expectations of the future. Daniel shared his views on: the expectation that the current US government will not regulate AI and how will this impact healthtech,  what will be covered around longevity and health span at NextMed ,  Innovations in the brain-mind-body connection and more. Expect updates on the conference at: Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@facesofdigitalhealth Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjasazajc/ www.facesofdigitalhealth.com

When it comes to cancer, prevalence is increasing and there is still a lot we don't understand about the factors and causes of cancers. Many studies have clearly demonstrated the benefits of biomarker testing for cancer therapy. However, broadly speaking, roughly 30% of cancer patients are eligible for targeted therapies based on their tumor profile. And even when the biomarket is present, roughly 30% of the eligible patients respond to these treatments. We have a lot more to uncover. In the discussion you are about to hear, I spoke with Luka Ausec - an expert in the field of biology and computational science. He works as the Chief discovery officer at Genialis, RNA biomarker company which develops and validates clinically actionable biomarkers informed by the world’s most ethnographically diverse cancer data sets to better predict patient responses and guide treatment decisions for targeted inhibitors, immunotherapies, and other emerging therapeutic classes. Luka oversees internal R&D and external partner p

This episode of Faces of Digital Health explores how digital health solutions can be evaluated for quality and reliability. Tjasa Zajc speaks with Vice President of Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) Doug Mirsky and Boston Children’s Hospital SVP and Chief Innovation Officer John Brownstein about the DIME Seal, a certification designed to help hospitals and clinicians identify trustworthy digital health software. John discusses the challenges hospitals face in selecting and implementing digital tools, emphasizing the resource-intensive nature of evaluation. The DIME Seal aims to reduce this burden by setting a baseline quality standard across evidence, usability, privacy, security, and equity. The conversation also touches on the challenges facing digital health startups, including funding shifts, AI competition, and sustainability concerns. Doug highlights the early success of the Seal and the role it plays in helping both adopters and developers navigate the digital health landscape. The discussion closes with

OneLondon—an ambitious project working to provide a single patient care record for 10 million people across London. Since its inception in 2018, OneLondon has evolved, connecting more healthcare providers, expanding patient access, and tackling critical challenges like end-of-life care, sickle cell disease management, and mental health crisis response. In this episode, Luke Readman, Director of Digital Transformation for NHS England and CEO of One London talks about how the project is transforming care coordination, building public trust, and navigating the complexities of integrating 24 different EHR systems. Three Key Points: Evolution of OneLondon's Shared Care Record – The initiative has expanded significantly since its inception, with increased connectivity, new patient groups being included, and a strong focus on trust and public engagement. Targeted Digital Health Solutions – OneLondon is taking a phased approach to integrating patient groups, such as those with sickle cell disease and those recei

The discussion explores the current landscape of healthcare digitalization in Italy, emphasizing the fragmented regional approach, challenges with interoperability, and the recent strides toward a unified electronic health record (EHR). The guest, Marco Foracchia, CIO of Local Health Unit in Emilia Region, IRCCS sheds light on regional disparities, opportunities for improvement, and strategies for vendors seeking to enter the Italian healthcare market. Challenges in Digitalization: Regional Fragmentation: Northern regions like Lombardy are advanced, while southern areas lag behind. Interoperability Issues: Patients face hurdles when seeking care across regions due to inconsistent systems and processes. Resource and Capacity Gaps: Many organizations lack the expertise to implement complex projects despite funding. Vendor Role: Vendors often sell solutions without assessing if organizations are ready for implementation, leading to underutilized technology. Opportunities and Progress: The EU’s Resilience and R

David Buller is a Founding Partner at Ascension Life Fund and exited founder of Avantec Healthcare. With his extensive experience of both raising and investing money in digital health he shared insights into:

In this special holiday edition of Faces of Digital Health, healthcare futurist and strategist Zayna Khayat, futurist and founder of NextMed Health Daniel Kraft and digital health expert, CEO of Transform.health Lucien Engelen discuss key trends in digital health and AI. The panel also touches on the role of new players in the health space like supermarkets and tech giants, the importance of prevention in healthcare, and the promising technologies poised to revolutionize the industry.  Topics include: Key Trends in Digital Health in 2024 European Perspective on Digital Health AI's Impact on Healthcare Costs Future of Digital Health and AI Challenges in Healthcare Implementation Exciting Innovations in Digital Health The Role of Technology in Preventive Health Food, Health, and Corporate Responsibility Policy and Legislation in Healthcare See the video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hwexC4heHGU?si=ut-V9rqx4yvh1V-X www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/