Auckland University appoints “leading thinker in digital health”

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Picture: US cardiologist and expert on digital technologies Eric Topol

eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

An international expert on digital medicine and personalised health has taken up a position at The University of Auckland.

Eric Topol is a US cardiologist based at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego and the author of The Patient Will See You Now, published in 2015, which explores how smartphones, big data and technology are combining to democratise healthcare.

He also leads a significant part of the Precision Medicine Initiative, funded by the US National Institute of Health, that prospectively follows the impact of genomic and digital technologies on one million Americans.

Topol started a fractional appointment in the National Institute for Health Innovation at  Auckland University in July after visiting the faculty in February to present a public lecture on the impact of the digital age on personalised medicine.

NIHI director Professor Chris Bullen describes Topol as “undoubtedly the leading thinker in digital health today”.

Auckland University’s faculty of medical and health sciences dean John Fraser says Topol’s appointment links the university with his world-class expertise in digital medicine and the impact that digital medicine and personalised devices is already having on the US healthcare system.

“His experience will be invaluable to us in the faculty as we seek to understand how the same technologies and knowledge can be applied to the context of New Zealand’s health system, an area in which Topol has a real interest because of the differences in health systems in New Zealand and the US,” says Fraser.

Topol is also presenting at the HiNZ Conference 2018 in Wellington this November on the topic of precision medicine. There will be a pre-recorded 15 minute presentation, followed by a live question and answer session via videoconference.

To read more about the HiNZ Conference 2018 - click here >>

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