The Healthtech Podcast covers the latest in health and technology through interviews with disruptive healthtech startups and leaders. Whether you’re a patient, founder, investor or simply interested in healthtech, The Healthtech Podcast has it covered.
🌍 Listeners in over 150 countries.
🎙 New episode every week.
🗣 Hosted by Dr James Somauroo.
www.thehealthtechpodcast.com | www.somx.health | www.jamessomauroo.com
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This week, James is joined by Dr Clare Palmer, Director of Evidence Generation at ieso Health, to explore what happens when AI is purpose-built for mental health care - and why that's worlds apart from people typing their problems into ChatGPT. They discuss ieso's safety-constrained AI architecture, the striking fact that only half of people with depression or anxiety recover, and how agentic AI systems could move us towards precision mental health care at scale. Connect with Clare: https://www....
This week, James is joined by Ahmed Binesmael, Senior Improvement Analyst at the Health Foundation, to dig into what the British public actually thinks about AI in healthcare - and why the people most likely to benefit from healthtech are often the most sceptical of it. They explore the Health Foundation's latest survey data on trust, the NHS app's "doctor in your pocket" function, and why meaningful public engagement is the missing piece in the UK's fragmented AI strategy. Connect with Ahmed : ...
In this episode, James is joined by Robert Bunn, Founder and President of Ultrasound AI, who shares an extraordinary story - from multiple failed startups and personal tragedy to building an AI that can predict actual delivery dates from standard ultrasound images. With a De Novo FDA clearance now in hand, Robert explains how the technology works, what the AI discovered that clinicians couldn't see, and why he's committed to making it available to every woman on earth regardless of ability to pa...
This week, James is joined by Dr Yath Prem, Medical Advisor at Flo Health and clinical product specialist, to talk about the growing wave of NHS doctors moving into healthtech - what's driving it, whether content creators are encouraging too many to leave, and what clinical product actually means in practice. They also dig into wearables, AI health assistants, and whether healthtech is genuinely solving problems or just adding to middle-class anxiety. Connect with Yath: https://www.linkedin.com/...
This week, James is joined by Dr David Neal, Assistant Professor at Amsterdam UMC and co-lead of the eHealth Living & Learning Lab (ELLLA), for a wide-ranging chat about what happens when technology disrupts a healing ritual that hasn't fundamentally changed since the 16th century. They explore why medicine is roughly 150 years behind in understanding the role of humans in healthcare, what that means for AI-driven care, and why the most effective healthtech products still fail if nobody thin...
James welcomes Declan Hadley, the healthcare lead at Cisco, who shares his extensive experience in the NHS and health informatics. The conversation explores the evolution of healthcare technology, the importance of digitisation, and the role of AI in improving patient outcomes. Declan emphasizes the need for collaboration between startups and healthcare organizations, the significance of local ownership of AI, and the challenges of ensuring safety in rapidly changing technologies. He also reflec...
This week, James is joined by Ian Wharton, the co-founder and CEO of Aide Health, a design-led chronic disease management platform with retention rates 20x the sector average. In this episode, Ian makes the case that design - not technology - is the missing ingredient in digital health, explaining why only 3–4% of patients stick with health apps after 30 days and what Aide does differently to hit 70% retention at three months. We get into the role of conversational AI in behaviour change, why me...
This week, James is joined by Dr. Elsa Zekeng, founder of SökerData who shares the story behind building a company tackling one of healthcare’s most persistent blind spots: biased and underrepresented clinical trial data. She discusses her journey from infectious disease research and frontline outbreak response during Ebola, to advising on COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and ultimately founding SökerData to aggregate more inclusive health datasets. Connect with Elsa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-elsa...
In this episode of The Healthtech Podcast, Dr James Somauroo speaks with T.N. Giridhar, Managing Director and CEO of SSG Capital, an investment banker and venture capital investor with nearly 30 years of experience spanning public markets, Goldman Sachs-level M&A and early-stage VC. Giridhar draws on a career managing over $17 billion in transactions to argue that the quality of an investment outcome is determined almost entirely by the quality of the people behind the company, not the metri...
This week, James is joined by Dr Saira Ghafur, respiratory consultant, health tech leader, and Co-Founder of Prova Health. She shares her journey from medical training in Scotland to NHS consultancy, policy fellowships at NHS England and in New York, and co-founding two health tech ventures. Saira discusses the realities of scaling digital health, generating credible evidence for innovation, and the challenges of regulating AI in healthcare. Connect with Saira: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sai...
In this episode of The Healthtech Podcast, we’re joined by Kang Hsu, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Canary Speech, to explore the emerging field of vocal biomarkers and what they could mean for earlier disease detection. Speech is more than language. It is airflow, vocal cord vibration, neuromuscular control and cognitive processing in motion. Subtle acoustic features such as pitch variation, jitter, shimmer and timing patterns can reflect underlying physiological and neurological change.Can those...
This week, James is joined by James Mishreki, founder of Skin + Me, who shares the story behind building one of the UK’s fastest-growing personalised healthcare brands. He discussed the challenges of scaling a regulated DTC business, and how Skin + Me is tackling the dermatology access gap with clinical-grade care delivered directly to consumers.Connect with James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmishreki/ Learn more about Skin + Me: https://www.skinandme.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealth...
This week, James is joined by Lawrie Kidd, Consultant Anaesthetist at Gloucestershire Hospitals and Clinical Product Lead at DrDoctor, who shares a candid look at the pressures facing frontline clinicians and how healthtech can help. Connect with Lawrie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrie-kidd/ Learn more about DrDoctor: https://www.drdoctor.co.uk/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomau...
This week, James is joined by Hjalmar Nilsonne, CEO and Co-Founder of Neko Health. With Hjalmar yielding the power to shape the future of healthcare, James asks all the big questions. Can Neko pull off their ambition? What will it take? What lessons have they learned along the way? What challenges lie in their way? Learn more about Neko: https://www.nekohealth.com/gb/en Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with...
In this episode, we're joined by Tharni Vasavan, Horizon Scanning Senior Health Technology Lead at NICE, about how emerging health technologies are identified, evaluated, and prepared for the NHS. From her journey through women’s health research and startup life at Hertility to shaping national foresight on healthtech disruption, Tharni offers an inside glimpse of how innovation meets evidence. If you're working with AI that you think will be applicable in healthcare within the next 10 years, yo...
This week James is joined by Jacob West, Managing Director for Healthcare and Life Sciences at Microsoft UK, who shares insights on how Microsoft is leveraging AI to enhance healthcare in the UK. Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-west-a519404/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX....
This week, James is joined on the podcast by Dr Madeleine Ballard, CEO of the Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC). CHIC is a global movement making professional community health workers the norm worldwide by changing guidelines, funding, and policy. Connect with Madeleine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleineballard/ Learn more about CHIC: https://joinchic.org/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with Ja...
James is joined by Rafaël Michali, co-founder and co-CEO of SAVA. SAVA is redefining the way people interact with their health by developing the most advanced biosensing technology science has to offer, capable of accessing bodily information in a painless, real-time and affordable way. Connect with Rafaël: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafa%C3%ABl-michali-656136101/ Learn more: https://www.sava.health/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.health...
Sam Winward, co-founder and CEO of Pastel Health, shares his career transition from medicine through roles at Candesic, Babylon, and Oviva. He details Pastel Health's mission to build a multi-specialty, NHS-focused outpatient clinic, starting with chronic pain to address long wait times and health inequalities. The discussion covers their hybrid care model, focus on clinician fulfillment, lean fundraising strategy, and leveraging AI for operational efficiency and future growth.
In the second episode of this two-part series, James is joined by Dr. Ross Harper, CEO and co-founder of Limbic. Limbic is developing clinical-grade AI tools for mental health care, designed to be deployed in clinical settings. Their goal is to enhance the capacity of trained professionals and help meet the overwhelming demand for mental health services. Listen to Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7wTwZ1SjfFsjy4IKkcOIzE Connect with Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/refharper/ Learn more:...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Oscar Ferguson, co-founder of Deaku. Oscar is a doctor-turned-founder and award-winning creator and content strategist on a mission to make every creator’s life better. Deaku are building a connected workspace where creators, marketers, and production teams plan, collaborate, and grow - all in one place. Connect with Oscar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-oscar-ferguson/ Learn more: https://www.deaku.app/home Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast...
Hannah Madan joins us to share a rollercoaster journey of co-founding Prima Mente— an AI-driven neuroscience company building foundations models for the brain. This episode is packed with thought-provoking insights, including: — The biological hypothesis behind Prima Mente that "No one believed was true" — How Hannah made it by doing "just enough", not by being a top student — A baptism by fire— landing her first role as Chief of Staff and flying out for a YC launch party on her 25th birthday — ...
This week, James is joined by Dr. Declan Kelly, founder of Eolas Medical, a platform tackling one of healthcare’s most overlooked problems: knowledge management. Eolas Medical helps clinicians access the right information instantly at the point of care. Used by NHS Trusts, clinical teams, and individual practitioners, the platform consolidates essential medical knowledge from trusted sources—guidelines, protocols, and internal documents—into one simple, intuitive system. Connect with Declan: htt...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Daniel Mansson, Chief Clinical Officer and founder of Flow Neuroscience. Flow Neuroscience is Europe and UK's only medically approved brain stimulation headset and therapy app home treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Connect with Daniel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielmanss/ Learn more: https://www.flowneuroscience.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touc...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Dan Jamieson, CEO and founder of Biorelate. Biorelate helps scientists solve the most difficult biomedical challenges of today. They achieve this by providing the most comprehensive knowledge graph in biopharma, enabling better knowledge review, target and biomarker discovery. Connect with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-jamieson-8498a33a/ Learn more: https://biorelate.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthte...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Professor Mark Kendall, biomedical engineer, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur and business-builder with more than 25 years of experience. Mark is now CEO and Founder of WearOptimo. With a vision to shift the focus of healthcare to early identification and intervention, WearOptimo’s sensors track real-time data from the body’s biomarkers to detect conditions ranging from dehydration to heart attacks. Connect with Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-a...
In this episode, James is joined by Dr. Sonia Szamocki - former A&E doctor, BCG consultant, and now founder & CEO of 32Co - to explore how healthcare can finally unlock the full potential of its clinical workforce. Sonia shares her journey from frontline medicine to building a platform that helps generalists deliver specialist-level care, starting with dentistry and now expanding into sleep medicine. Together, they dig into: Why modern treatments fail without the right flow of informatio...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Tomasz George, co-founder and CEO of Freyr Health. Freyr Health believe everyone should own, control, and benefit from their medical data. Their platform unlocks the value of fragmented health records, enabling individuals and organisations to securely manage, share, and monetise health data on their own terms. By bridging the gap between global health systems and personal data ownership, they are building a new health economy that rewards patients, acc...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Steve Roest, co-founder and CEO of PocDoc. PocDocis is on a mission to transform how we detect and prevent chronic diseases—bringing diagnostics out of the lab and into the hands of the public. By combining proprietary smartphone-based blood testing with their digital health platform, PocDoc enables anyone to screen for conditions like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease—all with just a fingerprick of blood. Connect with ...
In this week’s episode, James is joined by Rachel Murphy, founder of The Grafter, a consultancy that helps entrepreneurs maximise the value of their businesses ahead of an exit. Rachel shares her extensive experience in building and successfully exiting healthcare companies, offering practical insights on what founders should focus on. Connect with Rachel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachthegrafter/ Learn more: https://thegrafter.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe t...
