Title: Autonomous Systems in Healthcare: a Clinician-Scientist’s Perspective
Abstract: Healthcare systems the world over are facing increasing challenges including escalating costs, rising patient demand and clinician burnout.
In an attempt to address some of these challenges we are seeing autonomous systems being deployed in a variety of healthcare settings with varying degrees of effectiveness and acceptance.
In the clinical setting these systems are designed to improve patient pathways and make the delivery of healthcare more efficient. However, both clinician and patient trust are factors that need to be addressed, for greater uptake.
In my talk I will cover some of the autonomous systems currently being deployed clinically, in surgical training and in assisted living, as well as the pipeline of developments in these fields. I will also share my personal perspective on the opportunities these systems afford alongside the challenges they pose.
Professor Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam (BSc, MBBS, MD, FRCSEd, FRCS) is an internationally renowned clinician-scientist who is currently a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Founding Professor of Surgery at the University of Warwick Medical School & University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, and Professor of Engineering & Surgery at University College London.
She has published over 190 papers and book chapters (H index 57; citations >9000), delivered more than 300 presentations, and has a significant research grant portfolio with an outstanding track record of national and international collaborations. She is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, the Yeoh Ghim Seng Visiting Professor of Surgery at the National University of Singapore and the Brahm Prakash Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Science.
A strategic and intuitive thinker, Professor Homer-Vanniasinkam has actively engaged in clinical/translational research for over two decades. She has played key roles in taking bio- and med-tech products from concept through to clinic, gaining regulatory approval, and actively participating in industry funding rounds. She has also contributed significantly to educating generations of doctors, scientists and engineers, and maintains a keen interest in embracing and applying educational technologies in relevant spheres.
Through her innovative and cross-disciplinary leadership, coupled with her passionate mentorship, Professor Homer-Vanniasinkam has led the way in assembling and leading diverse teams, with a gift to inspire, recruit and retain, talent.