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Staff Profile

Professor Edward Meinert

Professor of Digital Health and Clinical Artificial Intelligence

Background

Edward studied Software Engineering at the University of Oxford (Exeter College). Subsequently, he became a technology consultant advising a global portfolio of companies implementing complex information systems, including John Hancock Financial Services, MetLife, Dimension Data, BG Group and Scottish Southern Energy. In 2009, Edward returned to Oxford to complete a Master of Business Administration. He then began consulting for the public sector, including projects with NHS Professionals, the General Medical Council, Civil Service Learning and The Salvation Army. Following further study for a Bachelor of Arts (reading Theology and Religious Studies) at the University of Cambridge (Hughes Hall) and a Master of Public Administration at the London School of Economics, he earned a PhD (reading Clinical Medicine Research) from the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London. Edward was supervised by Professor Josip Car and Professor Azeem Majeed, investigating factors impacting cost measurements of online learning in health professions education. In August 2017, he was appointed Sir David Cooksey Fellow in Healthcare Translation at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, where his research focused on digital health in child health. Edward took his first tenured appointment at the Centre for Health Technology, University of Plymouth, as an Associate Professor of eHealth in September 2020. He later earned a Master of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University. In February 2023, Edward was appointed NU Futures Professor of Digital Health and Clinical Artificial Intelligence at the Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University where he is Principal Investigator of the DEPTH AI Lab. He is also Editor in Chief at JMIRx Medicine and an Editorial Board Member of Sage Digital Health and Nature Scientific Reports. Edward is an author of over 100 publications and a patent application and has been awarded nine prizes.

Research

Professor Edward Meinert is a Chartered Engineer with extensive experience implementing complex information systems. Prof. Meinert's research is centred on software engineering and evaluating digital technology in healthcare. His primary research interests include clinical artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and digital health, aiming to enhance population health insight. He is particularly interested in applications to novel regulatory and therapeutic contexts, such as adaptive and long-term trials focused on preventive medicine, where there are significant opportunities to derive insight from improved data analytics and where standards are emerging.


The use of health information technologies (HITs) has been associated with positive benefits, such as improved health outcomes and enhanced health services. Results from empirical studies report the potential benefits of HITs in preventive medicine measures such as primary prevention. While significant efforts are underway to establish frameworks to manage digital services, much work is required to determine how these technologies can improve health outcomes sustainably. Prof. Meinert aims to develop evidence to inform improvement in the design of technologies and to influence policy to promote the adoption of systems that achieve positive health impact.


Teaching

Prospective PhD Students

I am accepting home (UK) and international PhD students from MSc-trained: health and social care professionals, engineers or psychology specialists keen to change the world by using technology to enable health and care. My interests include clinical artificial intelligence, digital health, child health, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, preventive medicine and public health. My expertise in research design is in implementation science and mixed methods. 


Contact me if you are interested in doctoral study and need support in finding funding for a PhD scholarship. If you have funding, contact me to start your PhD journey. When emailing me, please review my publication history closely and prepare a one-page research abstract for your proposed PhD project.

Publications