EPSRC Northern Health Futures Digital Health Hub

The NortHFutures Hubis envisioned as a world-leading innovation ecosystem that will facilitate the research, development, and acceleration of responsibly designed, human-centred, and data-rich health-tech to cultivate an entrepreneurial and vibrant community that addresses regional healthcare needs and promotes leadership in Digital Health.

The Hub combines the complementary strengths and resources of over 50 partners: six universities – Newcastle, Cumbria, Durham; Northumbria, Sunderland, and Teesside; seven NHS Trusts; regional, national and global industry partners; health and care providers; local authorities; innovation accelerators; plus voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector organisations. Through an integrated, regional approach uniting this consortium for the first time, the aspiration is for NortHFutures to establish global leadership in Digital Health.

Across the North East and North Cumbria

The NortHFutures consortium has a shared agenda to address unmet health needs, inequalities, and digital exclusion in the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) region where there is proportionately high deprivation, child poverty, mental health challenges and a high percentage of people in the population living with multiple long-term conditions.

Hub Activities

The NortHFutures consortium aims to humanise health-tech through equity, participation, and investment in people.

• Establish the hub as a world-leading research centre that is people-powered and provides opportunities for all to engage in digital health and health-tech initiatives;
• Enhance digital skills training provision for stakeholders in multiple sectors: Health and Care; Industry; Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise; Local Government; Academia; and in diverse learning and training environments across the region;
• Collaboratively create a supportive community of people and organisations working across health and care and in digital technology innovation;
• Fund scoping research in the field of Digital Health that addresses regional unmet health and care needs, health inequalities, and digital exclusion;
• Create opportunities for engagement, networking and entrepreneurship.

We will:

• Deliver and evaluate digital skills training and development initiatives;
• Develop new community services and technical infrastructure for collaborative data work and for connecting people working in Digital Health in our region and beyond;
• Commission and evaluate scoping research studies that support new collaborations;
• Hold networking events and provide access to resources supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and routes to commercialisation.
• Through our joined-up approach, we unite to build ways for populations of all ages to thrive and invest in their possible futures.

Hub Research Themes

The hub activities are mobilised around four themes that are grounded in evidenced need voiced by our stakeholders:

• Promoting Health & Nutrition for Children & Young People;
• Developing Digital Surgical Pathways;
• Supporting Mental Health & Wellbeing;
• Living & Ageing Well with Multiple Long-term Conditions.

Join the NortHFutures Network

We start work on 1st November 2023 for a 3-Year Pilot Phase. Please join the network, which is open to all, to be kept updated about upcoming events:

#NortHFutures

Join the mailing list

Leadership

NortHFutures Co-Directors are Prof. Abigail Durrant at Open Lab, Newcastle University, and Prof. Naeem Soomro, Consultant Urologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The directors are supported by a wider leadership team with representation from across the partnership and hub consortium.

Contact

NortHFutures Co-Director Abigail Durrant will be happy to address any queries about the hub and how to get involved: abigail.durrant@newcastle.ac.uk.