Date: Tuesday 13th January
Time: 10:00am – 12:15pm
Location: Online (Goto Webinar)
We’re excited to announce the third in a series of three WMHTIA Cluster Events taking place over the coming months. Focusing on helping innovators navigate digital transformation in alignment with the NHS 3 Radical Shifts 10 year plan.
WMHTIA Cluster Event – Prevention – Innovating for a Healthier Future – Helping innovators navigate digital transformation in light of the NHS 10-Year Plan
Event Agenda
10:00 AM – 10:05 AM
Welcome & Housekeeping
10:05 AM – 10:25 AM
Insight 1: Navigating Regulation Between Wellness and Medical Devices
Presented by SOTAS
Understand the blurred line between wellness products and regulated medical devices — including what innovators must know to avoid compliance risks and bring credible, safe products to market.
Q&A: 10:25 – 10:30
10:30 AM – 10:50 AM
Insight 2: Regional Perspectives on Preventive Innovation
Presented by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA)
Discover how the West Midlands region is driving efforts to build a healthier population, and the pivotal role local government plays in preventing disease before it arises. This session will explore regional priorities, opportunities for collaboration, and how innovators can align their solutions with place-based prevention strategies.
Q&A: 10:50 – 10:55
10:55 AM – 11:15 AM
Insight 3: Case Study – Advancing Prevention Through the Wellness and Mindfulness Market
Presented by QuietNote
This case study highlights a wellness innovation currently operating in the consumer wellbeing space. Through close collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the initiative is beginning to demonstrate measurable preventive benefits for mental wellbeing, showing how market-driven wellness solutions can support and align with emerging prevention strategies across the health system.
Q&A: 11:15 – 11:20
11:20 AM – 11:30 AM
Insight 4 – Using Data-Driven Solutions to Strengthen NHS Prevention Strategy and Value. Explain how BVI, developed in the West Midlands, is a new and valid measure of obesity and health risk prevention for the 21st Century.
Presented by Select Research Ltd
Q&A: 11:30 AM – 11:35 – AM
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Interactive Workshop: Overcoming Barriers in Preventive Health Innovation
Join a collaborative discussion to unpack common challenges, such as:
- Evidence & Evaluation: Proving value and impact of early-stage preventive solutions.
- User Engagement: Building lasting user adoption and trust in low-touch interventions.
- Funding & Commissioning: Finding sustainable business models for products that prevent rather than treat.
- Regulatory Ambiguity: Managing grey areas between consumer wellness and clinical claim
- Equity & Access: Ensuring solutions are inclusive and reach underserved populations.
12:00 PM – 12:15 PM
Reflections & Closing
Wrap-up of themes, key learnings, and how to continue the conversation beyond the event.
SPEAKER PROFILES
Will Crawford, Found and Director of Quiet Note
A UK based company pioneering the QuietNote approach – an innovative healthcare approach based on mindfulness and music. Will studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he came up with the idea for QuietNote as his final year dissertation. From 2024 – 2025 QuietNote were successful in receiving a £50,000 grant from Innovate UK which funded a world first clinical study into the QuietNote approach. Will is also the Vice President of the Future Faces Chamber of Commerce.
David Hawkins, CTO and Co-Founder of Sotas
David Hawkins is the CTO and Co-Founder of Sotas, a specialist consultancy delivering regulatory and compliance solutions to HealthTech and MedTech industries. With over 20 years of industry, David brings deep technical and regulatory insight, having worked engineering, quality, compliance, and regulatory affairs. He is a trusted expert in navigating regulatory pathways, often working with complex devices, software, and AI-driven technologies. David has supported clients through challenging MDR/IVDR and FDA submissions. His strength lies in bridging technical depth with regulatory clarity, making compliance achievable, understandable, and robust. David collaborates closely with manufacturers to ensure sustained regulatory performance in dynamic global markets.
Richard Barnes, CEO of Select Research
Based in Malvern, Worcs. Select have been pioneers in human body measurement in 3D for nearly 30 years.
Select developed the sizing standards for clothing retailers using their 3D technology, and since 2004 have developed the Body Volume Index (BVI) and other metrics measured digitally, from a smartphone.
The Body Mass Index (BMI) was invented in 1835. BVI was designed to be a better, and modern alternative, and has now been validated by Mayo Clinic as being a significant improvement on BMI for the prediction of metabolic risk.
This event forms part of the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA) event series. Medilink Midlands are one of a consortium of delivery partners for the WMHTIA, a project funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Innovate UK and West Midlands Combined Authority (part of City Regions).
