ALUMNI LEADING RESEARCH
Transforming healthcare delivery
How our Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies is pioneering partnerships to deliver innovation
Through leading research and innovative solutions, Heriot-Watt University is working to tackle some of the most pressing health challenges of our time, including cancer, chronic diseases, mental health, healthy ageing, and global health threats, with a particular focus on improving patient care and health outcomes.
“We have united our campuses in Scotland, Dubai and Malaysia under a single global vision – to deliver use-inspired solutions,” explains Professor Robert Thomson, academic co-lead of the Global Research Institute (GRI) in Health and Care Technologies. “With a community of over 300 researchers and academics operating at the intersection of healthcare, engineering, and social sciences, we are co-developing innovations, with patients at the heart of what we do.”
Co-lead, Professor Yuhang Chen, adds: “Over 100 research projects are currently on-going in the institute involving a wide range of partners and focused on enhancing patient outcomes, supporting earlier diagnoses, and delivering more precise therapies.”
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researchers and academics
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research projects
We have united our campuses in Scotland, Dubai and Malaysia under a single global vision – to deliver use-inspired solutions”
Professor Robert Thomson
Accelerating innovation through partnership
We will only achieve this by harnessing the power of partnership and accelerating innovation through a wide range of strategic and robust alliances.”
Hazel Matthews
Hazel Matthews is Head of Operations for the GRI in Health and Care Technologies. Her role is to help build a truly interdisciplinary ecosystem, where industry, clinicians, engineers, designers and patients work side by side to co-design solutions. “Our mission is ambitious,” she explains. “We want to see three Heriot-Watt technologies in routine clinical care and twenty in clinical trials within ten years. We will only achieve this by harnessing the power of partnership and accelerating innovation through a wide range of strategic and robust alliances.”
The GRI’s wider network boasts around 150 project partners and nearly 50 different funders spanning the NHS, charities, industry and global stakeholders. It is supported by leading centres at the University including the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre – a multi-university consortium that translates innovative medical concepts from Scottish companies into commercial prototypes – and interdisciplinary collaboration with the National Robotarium. From AI diagnostics and disease prevention to advanced modelling, simulated environments, haptics, remote care and robotic surgery, the GRI is expanding networks and partnerships to evolve applications across the future of health and care.
“Our partnership focus extends to our alumni too,” Hazel adds. “We are keen to create pathways that facilitate technology development in the real world and believe our alumni network can play a crucial role in this.” Heriot-Watt’s global alumni community has experience across different contexts and in-country knowledge that could be incredibly useful and support greater impact. “Everything we create needs to be responsive to global needs and collaborating with our alumni can help us to tailor healthcare solutions more effectively,” comments Hazel.
project partners
different funders
Innovation is fostered by bringing together researchers, clinicians, industry and patients.
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RecoverPX, a spin out company from Heriot-Watt, is developing a next-generation water sampling platform to improve the detection of pathogens.
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A snapshot of some of our diverse and powerful partnerships includes:
- The Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) and the NHS through which we are rapidly translating engineering and digital breakthroughs into routine clinical care.
- Leading a new technology network, CONSOLIDATE, with the University of Strathclyde and Age Scotland, that is supporting the social, mental and physical wellbeing of people living with dementia in Scotland, and helping them stay at home as long as possible.
- Our strategic alliance with Charles River Laboratories, a global leader in preclinical and clinical research, to advance bioscience innovation and develop talent pipelines.
- Developing Vision-RF with NHS partners, a privacy-preserving radar system that monitors vital signs without physical contact.
- A first-of-its-kind research collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University to bring together engineering and nursing students to develop cutting-edge health technologies tailored to real clinical needs.
Scaling impact
Securing sustainable funding and develop funding streams, as well as investigating opportunities for consultancy, contract research, and philanthropy will be important aspects of how the GRI in Health and Care Technologies will scale its impact.
“Our next phase for the institute is focused on building momentum,” explains Hazel. “More resource means we can do more,” adds Professor Thomson. “We are really keen to recruit new academics, particularly those who have significant experience in industry or entrepreneurship in the health and care technologies area to help us scale are impact. Bringing these sorts of people in would be a game changer for our GRI and for the University as a whole.”
Developing the University’s portfolio of health and care courses, continuing professional development and knowledge sharing will also underpin momentum. “It's about upskilling the workforce, employability, and making sure that what we learn doesn’t just stay in the lab,” Hazel explains.
It's about upskilling the workforce, employability, and making sure that what we learn doesn’t just stay in the lab.”
Hazel Matthews
UroFlo
A clinically validated digital technology to revolutionise how poor urinary flow is diagnosed and monitored for various urological diseases. Embedded in a smartphone or low-cost physical device setup, Uroflo makes accurate flow measurement both affordable and widely accessible, and will reduce the need for hospital visits, allowing community-based triaging and monitoring for millions of patients in the UK.
Tissue Metrics
Through the creation of innovative acoustic sensing technology that measures mechanical changes inside each skin layer, TissueMetrics supports people with inflammatory skin diseases through dermatologist-quality assessments and personalised treatments. This revolutionary approach has received an exceptional response from the NHS and patients. The company aims to spinout in 2026 and to bring specialist dermatology assessment into community pharmacies.
Optoloc
Nasogastric feeding tubes (NGTs) are used to provide nutrition and drugs to millions of patients per year. NGTS are small flexible tubes passed through the nostril and down the oesophagus into the stomach, but in 2% of cases misplacement into the lungs causes serious issues. Optoloc, an innovative imaging device, prevents misplacements, ensuring faster and safer tube placement into the stomach to improve patient outcomes.
Microtex
Lung inflammation and infection are one of the world’s leading causes of illness and death. Drug development for these diseases tends to be slow and expensive. A potential solution exists in the form of Intra Target Microdosing (ITM), an approach which involves administering tiny amounts of multiple drugs to a microscopically small part of the lung. Microtex is advancing technologies that enable ITM, which could transform therapy development.
SMILE project
Making mental health care more accessible, engaging, and effective through the potential of digital games to enhance wellbeing. At the heart of the SMILE Project is a carefully designed digital game drawing on the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and combining elements of gaming, challenges, and self-reflection through which users can develop strategies for managing stress, building resilience, and improving emotional regulation.
A call to alumni
Healthcare is an expansive field, and health information can come from a variety of sources, not just health professionals but from those with lived experience of healthcare systems, engineering, innovation, hospitals, being a patient or supporting family members who may have been or currently are patients.
“If you are working in healthcare or are affiliated to people who are working in healthcare, or have experience of it, we would welcome your input to help us better refine our understanding of what's actually going on, where the problems are, the sticking points, and what people really need,” Hazel comments.
Sharing expertise with our early career researchers and students is also hugely beneficial. “Giving a talk or providing mentorship, are ways we would greatly value alumni input,” Hazel explains. “Spreading the word about what we’re doing, and helping us to access support, are also activities we would greatly value,” she adds.
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