On March 26, at the Francis Crick Institute research centre in London, WIRED Editor Greg Williams kicked off WIRED Health 2019. The event, in its sixth edition, features talks, interviews and panel discussions with the world’s most inspiring healthcare innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers, in order to shed light on what lies ahead for the medicine and healthcare sectors.
“We wanted to bring together some amazing innovators in the worlds of healthcare, pharma and technology to look at what the future looks like for health in the age of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, big data and genomics,” Williams said in his opening remarks on the main stage. Over the following hours, the speakers took the floor, bringing to life an impressive collection of eye-opening stories about what it takes to make innovation happen.
“Discovery research is going to create the future,” said Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute. He recounted how his academic career started with research on yeast: “Who wants to study yeast?” Nurse laughed. Yet, for him, studying yeast paved the way to a better understanding of how cells divide – a discovery that earned him a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2001.
Nurse isn’t the only one to have found amazing solutions in unusual places. Professor Ann Cheeptham, a specialist in antibiotic resistance, had to spelunk the caves of British Columbia to get a sample of extremophiles – hardy, cave-dwelling bacteria that might hold the key to producing new antibiotics.
Noor Shaker, a computer scientist and co-founder of medical company GTN, decided to combine quantum science and artificial intelligence to discover new drugs at a fraction of the current cost and time.
Mary Lou Jepsen, the founder of medical imaging firm OpenWater, came up with the idea that focusing infrared light – from a wearable device – through a patient’s body or brain could be used to map and monitor their health. Building on that intuition, OpenWater released its prototype of a light-based diagnostic device in 2018. “Three quarters of humanity lack access to medical imaging. It’s expensive but essential to detect cancer and other diseases,” Jepsen said onstage. “What [OpenWater technology] could mean is detection everywhere: in ambulances, in a doctor’s office, in the pharmacy.”
Sometimes the urge to innovate springs from adverse personal circumstances: Jepsen first started thinking about innovating medical imaging after being diagnosed with brain cancer; Shaker’s resolve in finding new life-saving drugs was strengthened by the fact that some of her family members suffered from cancer. And Samiya Parvez, the co-founder of Andiamo – a company building affordable, 3D printed ortheses for disabled children – launched her business to address a problem she had encountered first-hand while caring for her son Diamo, who had cerebral palsy.
Other times, the eureka moment comes while casually paging through a magazine. Pearse Keane, an ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, first thought that the tools developed by Alphabet-owned DeepMind could help diagnose eye disease after reading a profile of the company in WIRED. He got a LinkedIn premium account and got in touch with the firm. Now, DeepMind Health and Moorfields are using AI technology to spot early signs of age-related macular degeneration in patients.
“As an ophthalmologist, it’s jaw-dropping that you can do this,” Keane said on stage, during a joint presentation with DeepMind Health’s Alan Karthikesalingam.
The potential of emerging technologies to disrupt healthcare and medicine is indeed mind-boggling – be it through the use of GMO mosquitoes to eradicate malaria, as explained by Imperial College’s geneticist Austin Burt; through stem cell research spearheaded by the Francis Crick Institute’s Paola Bonfanti; through the myriad innovations heralding the “neobiological revolution” expounded by NEO.LIFE’s Jane Metcalfe; or through the weaponisation of our own immune system to fight cancer, as explained by Daniel Davis, a professor at the University of Manchester and author of The Beautiful Cure. (Even the good old placebo effect might make a comeback now that there is good evidence of its effectiveness, according to Rory Sutherland.)
But all these new tools need to be harnessed and channelled into serving the common good.
“What we mustn't do is to discover [innovative healthcare techniques] and let others reap the advantage,” said England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, in a fireside chat with Jack Kreindler. In some cases, the breakneck pace of technological innovation can present unforeseen pitfalls – for instance, according to Davies, the spread of anti-vaccination “false news” on social media.
Similarly, our devices and handsets can be used to glean invaluable insights about our health, helping us intervene before a condition becomes too serious.
As Dolby Laboratories’ chief scientist Poppy Crum said: “Consumer technology will know more about our mental and physical wellness than many physical visits.” But we will also need the certainty that our health data are reasonably safe from prying eyes.
The key pieces of the future of healthcare’s puzzle can be summarised in “community” and “co-operation”. Shafi Ahmed, a surgeon and VR pioneer, has now embarked on an effort to build high-tech hospitals in developing countries – such as Bolivia, where he has earned a rockstar’s reputation. Karyn McCluskey, erstwhile director of Glasgow’s Violence Reduction Unit, succeeded in eradicating the scourge of violent crime by involving the whole city in a collective public health effort. And UCL professor Dean Mohamedally – who gave a talk in a Microsoft partner session – has devised a new initiative, the Industry Exchange Network, that brings together healthcare professionals and computer science students to jointly devise healthcare innovation.
Innovation was indeed in full display at WIRED Health’s Test Lab this year. Exhibitors included brain-training app Peak, AR- and VR-powered medical animation developer Random42, surgery simulator Digital Surgery and Seedpod – a moveable shelter that fosters relaxation and focus.
A VR experience, designed by pharmaceutical company Bayer, allowed for users to navigate a human body’s veins while dodging stylised junk food and wine bottles. The game was a vivid way to illustrate a point made on stage by Martin Cowie, a cardiologist at Imperial College: once you hit forty, you’d better watch your diet and exercise, or resign to the inevitability of cholesterol clogging your blood vessels. In the VR game as in real life, eschewing all the bottles and the pizza slices was daunting, and most players ended up sailing through ill-boding, cholesterol-caked veins. Grim – but still fun. Partner Microsoft Surface had their devices on-hand to further the collaboration Dean Mohamedally talked about earlier.
What is the future of healthcare? New technologies, cutting-edge science, and even AI-discovered medicines. But, first of all, inspiring individuals with inspiring ideas.
View the highlights reel for WIRED Health 2019.
WIRED Health will return to London on March 25 and 26, 2020. Visit wired.uk/health-event for more details.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
