Symposia overview
The next Frontiers symposium "Catalysing global healthcare: innovations and strategies for scalable impact" took place from 5 to 7 February 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with Strathmore University and Jaza Rift. By bringing together leading experts in healthcare, technology, policy, and investment, the symposium developed actionable strategies for global healthcare scaling. Moving beyond identifying barriers, it focused on actionable strategies to overcome them, creating a roadmap for innovations that can effectively serve diverse communities across the globe.
The event offered a unique opportunity for delegates to connect and network with fellow experts from across the globe and engage with cross-cutting issues through three themes:
- Scaling innovations and strategies for a diverse healthcare landscape
- Innovative funding models for healthcare scale-up
- Collaborative ecosystems: partnerships for catalysing healthcare
Symposium format
- Event structure: at the core of the event there were three cross-cutting, challenge-led sessions that bridge different disciplines.
- Participants arrived: 4 February, the evening before the event, with a welcome dinner and networking.
- Participants were: from all disciplines (i.e. not just for engineers!) and sectors, and from all around the world.
Post-event funding
Seed funding grants worth £20,000 over one year were awarded to successful collaborations developed via the symposium.
Chairs
Professor Alicia El Haj FREng - Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham
Professor Alicia is an academic innovator translating novel cell based therapies to the clinic. She is the founder of a spin out company MICA Biosystems Ltd involved in translating innovative regenerative therapies. Professor Alicia was awarded a Royal Society Merit Award and is a Fellow of the Academy. She was awarded the Midlands Women in Tech Award, the IOM3 Chapman medal for major contribution towards translation of biomedical materials into healthcare and the TERMIS Career Achievement Award for discovery and translation of regenerative medicine into the clinic.
Eng. Dr. Julius Butime - Strathmore University
Dr Julius is an electrical engineer with over 16 years experience in engineering education focusing on areas such as spectrum management, computer vision, wireless communication, and curriculum development. Dr Julius has been engaged in research in engineering training, data protection policy development, renewable energy business incubation and implementation of the SDGs in engineering practice. Dr Julius is interested in fostering partnerships across the public, private and NGO sectors in international engineering practice and training.