smart technology

World-renowned sexual health experts are behind a new NHS digital revolution for people with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) using a new automated online consultation giving patients 24-hour access to medical care.

A team of scientists, led by Glasgow Caledonian University Prof of HIV and Sexual Health, and i-sense member, Prof Claudia Estcourt, have launched an ambitious five-year research project to develop a new NHS digital platform to improve care for people with STIs.

A Nature Medicine review, led by researchers in the EPSRC funded i-sense project, looks at how digital technologies have been mobilised for a global public health response to COVID-19 and the associated concerns with privacy and efficacy in an evolving digital world.

Lead author and Director of i-sense EPSRC IRC at UCL, Prof Rachel McKendry said: “Our review shows that digital technologies have an important role in a comprehensive response to the pandemic, alongside conventional measures.”

In response to the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), i-sense researchers have been working collaboratively to rapidly adapt our tools and technologies to support development of emergency diagnostics and surveillance to assess the prevalence of the virus.

Recent research from i-sense members at UCL seeks to understand whether currently available digital health technologies and online information related to HIV offers adequate emotional support.

The combination of mobile devices with diagnostic tools offers new possibilities to test, track and treat infectious diseases as well as improve health systems, according to a new review published today in Nature.