Big data and mHealth combine to track & test ‘flu (UK event)

What looks to be a really fascinating event is being held on Thursday 26th  June 2014 in The Council Room, The Institute of Materials, 1 Carlton House  Terrace, London SW1Y 5DB entitled “New Frontiers in Digital  Technologies for Influenza:  Big data and Mobile-­‐Phone  Connected Diagnostic Tests“. Entry is £70 for delegates, less for students.

This event brings together leading experts in the field of big data and mobile diagnostics to discuss the latest technologies to track and test influenza. This includes recent developments in mobile connected tests such as microfluidic chips, advanced nano materials and optics and surface-acoustic wave devices and the use of online sources (e.g. Google search engine queries, Twitter) to identify disease outbreaks much earlier than current healthcare systems.

Pandemic influenza is rated as one of the top threats to global health on the UK Government National Risk Register. Early detection and vigilant monitoring of serious flu epidemics is crucial to controlling outbreaks and supporting effective follow-up care. Researchers across the globe have turned to innovative digital technologies to address this global challenge. A successful early warning system using big data and mobile-phone connected tests could predict a pandemic even before people attend clinics or in parts of the world that lack the resources for traditional public health surveillance.

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