Google invests in research, apprenticeships and digital skills across South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are working with Google to invest in research, apprenticeships and digital skills training across the South Yorkshire region. 

These academic, medical, and local government institutions have come together to form the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub, a digital innovation centre that will use this investment to help tackle the health inequalities in the region and drive economic growth.  
 
As part of this, the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub will work with Google on a series of pioneering research opportunities. 

The first of these, the PUMAS study, aims to understand whether Pixel smartphone sensors that detect light, radar, and electrical signals from the heart could aid the detection of common conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol and chronic kidney disease. 

Early detection of these conditions could help people to make informed lifestyle choices which could slow down, and even in some cases prevent their progression. 

The ‘first of its kind’ study, which looks at how digital technologies could transform the way that people interact with their health, has the potential to save lives, improve health outcomes and alleviate NHS pressures. Google will also provide 500 Fitbits for a separate study on post-surgical rehabilitation. 
  
Tim Chico, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Sheffield and Director of South Yorkshire’s Digital Health Hub, commented: “We launched this health hub because we know that the more information we have about patients’ health as early as possible, the more opportunities we will have to make a difference.  

“With partners like Google, we are able to look at how we harness technology to support that information gathering to support patients and medical professionals to make decisions together earlier leading to better outcomes. Bringing together patients, healthcare professionals, researchers and companies creates a community of practice - it’s the future”. 
 
The research will take place through the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub, a £4m partnership led by the two universities alongside partners in health and business, to drive the development of innovative digital technologies to improve the way diseases are diagnosed and treated.   

The Hub is hosted at Sheffield Hallam’s world-leading Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC), which is dedicated to improving health and wellbeing through innovations that help people move.

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