Public lecture explores the use of ‘big data’ in healthcare

The use of IT systems and ‘big data’ in healthcare is the subject of a public lecture at the University of Leicester on Monday 25 November.

Professor Andrew Morris CBE, Director of Health Data Research UK, will deliver the University’s annual Clinical Sciences lecture on the topic of ‘Options and Opportunities for Health Data Science’.

Healthcare is arguably the last major industry to be transformed by the information age. Deployments of information technology have only scratched the surface of possibilities for the potential influence of information and computer science on the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare.

In this talk, the vision, objectives and scientific strategy of HDR UK will be discussed; specifically, the opportunities provided by computer science and ‘big data’ to transform health care delivery models. Professor Morris will offer examples from nationwide research and development programmes that integrate electronic patient records with biologic and health system data.

Health Data Research UK is the multi-funder UK Institute for health and biomedical informatics research. It was set up in 2017 to capitalise on the UK’s renowned data resources and research strengths to transform lives through health data science.

Professor Andrew Morris is the inaugural Director of HDR UK, on secondment from his position as Professor of Medicine, and Vice Principal of Data Science at the University of Edinburgh. He was Chief Scientist at the Scottish Government Health Directorate (2012-2017) and has served and chaired numerous national and international grant committees and Governmental bodies. He was awarded a CBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honour’s List.

The talk, which is free and open to all, takes place in the University’s Henry Wellcome Building on Lancaster Road on 25 November, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm. Places can be booked via Eventbrite.