#DHA2025London
DHA 2025
Scaling Emerging Healthcare Technologies for Social Good
Global Business School for Health, UCL, London
28-30 August, 2025
Conference Inaugural Speakers
Professor Nora Colton
Director, Global Business School for Health, University College London
Professor Nora Colton is Director of the UCL Global Business School of Health and a health-and-development economist specialising in change management and strategy. Formerly UCL Pro-Vice-Provost (Postgraduate Education) and Joint Director of Education at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology / Moorfields Eye Hospital, she has also served as Dean of Business and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of East London and Professor of International Economics at Drew University (USA). She earned her DPhil at the University of Oxford and holds a Cornell certificate in Change Management.
A serial Fulbright and Carnegie grantee, Professor Colton has taught at Harvard, Arizona State, American University in Cairo and Beirut, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. She has authored numerous articles on Middle-East economics and politics, co-written Middle East Finance: Missed Opportunities or Future Prospects, and is completing a Palgrave-Macmillan volume on Yemen’s political economy. Her current research focuses on healthcare management and strategic leadership, and she designs postgraduate and executive programmes that apply change-management principles to the health sector.
Professor Fraser McLeay
Dean, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield
Professor Fraser McLeay is Dean of Sheffield University Management School, having joined in 2018 as Professor and Chair in Marketing. He has held senior roles including Associate Dean Education and Head of Marketing, Creative and Cultural Industries, and Marketing, International Enterprise, and Strategy.
Fraser’s interdisciplinary research covers barriers and enablers of innovative products such as service robots and driverless cars, along with sustainability, hedonic consumption, digital marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, innovation, and co-creativity. His work has been funded by the EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC, and external businesses. Notably, he received a Wiley Top Cited Paper Award in 2023 from the British Journal of Management, the 2019 Martin Oppermann Article of the Year Award, and a 2017 Emerald Citations of Excellence Award.
With over ten years of global industry experience, he has supported more than 250 businesses across 60 countries in strategic planning, commercialization, branding, and market entry. His client portfolio includes major corporations like Nestlé, Sage, Greggs, and institutions such as the World Bank and EU. Fraser has previously held academic positions internationally, including in New Zealand, Australia, the US, and Russia.
Conference Keynote Speakers
Dr. Sikhululiwe Ngwenya
Chief Medical Officer, Virtual Hospital Africa
Keynote Topic: Reimagining Care in Africa: The development and validation of Virtual Hospitals Africa, a digital health platform using structured health data for transformed health services at all levels of care
Abstract: Digital health technologies are reshaping care delivery, yet systemic gaps persist in accessibility, coordination, and outcomes—particularly across Africa. Virtual Hospitals Africa is a co-designed, data-driven digital health platform that integrates patients, providers, and systems to enhance triage, referrals, and collaborative care. It supports learning health systems, real-time evidence generation, and continuous service improvement. By building a Consortium of innovative practitioners, we aim to overcome infrastructure, policy, and socio-cultural barriers while advancing education, equity, and economic sustainability. We recognize that technology alone is insufficient without inclusive design, professional capacity-building, and cultural relevance. This initiative reimagines care by combining connected platforms, artificial intelligence, structured data, and human-centered innovation to strengthen healthcare delivery at all levels.
Dr. Indra Joshi
Director of Strategic Engagement, Optum UK
Keynote Topic: From data to impact.
Bio: Dr. Indra Joshi is a global leader in digital health and AI, with a unique portfolio spanning data strategy, AI implementation, and healthcare transformation. She has extensive experience advising governments, public sector organizations, and industry leaders on the responsible and effective use of emerging technologies to improve health and care. Currently, she is the Director of Strategic Engagement at Optum UK, working across initiatives that foster innovation, strategic partnerships, and data-driven solutions within the healthcare ecosystem.
Previously, at Palantir Technologies, she worked across the global health and life sciences portfolio, enabling better use of data to improve health outcomes. Prior to that, she founded and led the NHS AI Lab, securing £250 million in investment and overseeing the development and deployment of over 100 AI technologies into the UK health and care system. She also played a key role in shaping ethical AI regulations and governance frameworks to ensure patient safety.
Beyond her executive roles, Indra is deeply committed to driving systemic change in healthcare. She serves on the Upliift Healthcare Advisory Board, is a Board Trustee for Lift Schools and Wellbeing of Women, and a Founding Member of One HealthTech, advocating for greater inclusivity in health technology. She is also an Associate Editor for BMJ Leader and a consultant for WHO SPI-DDH.
Prof. Suraksha Gupta
Professor in Marketing University of the Arts, London
Keynote Topic: The Double-Edged Scalpel: Balancing Innovation and Risk in AI-Driven Healthcare
Bio:
Prof Suraksha Gupta’s research focuses on finding solutions for global challenges within market penetration strategies of international companies, in resource-constrained but competitive markets. Her recent research includes strategizing for Netzero, Circularity and Sustainable Development Goals with responsible use of Artificial Intelligence. She has published using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in high ranked academic journals. Her long standing research experience on global challenges like access to medicine and access to energy have been funded by the EU, as an FP7 project. She enjoys working and publishing with people from different disciplines.
Her work can be accessed on following link: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Rm2cLdcAAAAJ&hl=en