Hosted by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS) and run in partnership with the Dasman Diabetes Institute (a centre of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences) and the Gates Foundation, the Summer Academy for the Social Science of Health Innovation (SASHI) offered a rich programme of lectures, workshops and discussions designed to bridge disciplines and critique common approaches to health innovation.
Led by the MSc in Translational Health Sciences programme team (Professor Trish Greenhalgh, Dr Anne Ferrey and Dr Rachna Begh, SASHI opened with a warm welcome from NDPCHS Head of Department Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh, who highlighted the global nature of the gathering and the importance of learning from diverse perspectives. The welcome also recognised the efforts of an organising committee that included current students, alumni, administrators and long-term supporters of the MSc, reflecting the collaborative spirit of the programme. Sessions ranged from digital health inequalities to AI ethics in public health, healthcare innovation in resource-limited settings and policy advocacy. SASHI welcomed attendees from 26 number of countries, including a funded cohort from low- and middle-income countries, ensuring diverse perspectives and lowering barriers to participation.
Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh delivering the SASHI 2025 welcome
SASHI's programme: From critical conversations to practical solutions
The Summer Academy’s programme featured 15+ speakers of diverse backgrounds, including several AfOx scholars, MSc in Translational Health Sciences and MSc in Applied Digital Health alumni, senior researchers at the University of Oxford and a range of industry experts including Henry Austin (NBC News) and Nick Fahy (RAND Europe).
Two keynote talks offered fresh perspectives on the opportunities and pitfalls of health innovation. In one session, Professor Trish Greenhalgh examined the complexity of health systems and the risks digitalisation can pose to health equity. In another keynote session, Associate Professor Lennard Lee shared the story of the development ofinsights on cancer vaccines forand precision prevention. Participants also took part in hands-on workshops in design thinking and using behavioural science to createing digital interventions, in partnership with Global Initiative, who provided complimentary access to their intervention development software during the Summer Academy.
Professor Trish Greenhalgh delivering her keynote presentation titled, ‘Health Inequities in the Digital Age: Beyond Neoliberal Solutions’
Other highlights from the programme included a thought-provoking session with Dr Sanja Šćepanović (Nokia Bell Labs) and Dr Alberto Giubillini (Uehiro Oxford Institute) on the use of AI in public health, which examined both the risks and rewards of new technologies while offering a realistic view of the road ahead. Marcus Vass (Osborne Clarke) and Dr Pritesh Mistry (King’s Fund) led a discussion on Agentic AI, an artificial intelligence system that can accomplish a specific goal with limited human supervision, and its potential use in healthcare. Their session, titled ‘I want to see my doctor’, sparked interesting debates and reflections among participants.
‘Health innovation is not always straightforward,’ said Dr Anne Ferrey, Course Director for the MSc in Translational Health Sciences. ‘Some promising ideas fail to be widely adopted, while others can lead to unintended problems. SASHI gives us a way to bring together researchers, policymakers and industry practitioners to examine these challenges more critically...we can reduce wasted effort and focus on innovations that are more likely to make a meaningful difference in practice.’
An AfOx-led panel showcased perspectives from scholars across Africa, underlining the importance of locally grounded approaches to health innovation and the need to manage tensions among stakeholders to develop sustainable enterprises. Meanwhile Sally Charles, Enterprise Programme Manager at RisingWISE, facilitated a practical workshop on design thinking, integrating this with the NASSS (Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability) Framework to help participants leverage AI to explore problems in health innovation and generate solutions.
In addition to academic sessions, participants also enjoyed a range of social activities that complemented the programme. SASHI 2025 culminated in a poster prize presentation and networking session, enabling participants to showcase their own projects and forge connections that will continue beyond their time in Oxford.
Poster Prize Winners:
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1st Prize: Aisha Alsaqabi – Breaking Research Barriers: Childhood-Onset Diabetes e-Registry as a Model for Population Health Innovation.
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Runners-up:
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Durra Alsumaiti – Improving Diabetes Care in Kuwait: Comparing the Effects of a Low-Calorie Diet on Weight, HbA1c, and Medication Use in Adults with Overweight and Obesity
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Viktoria Jakubickova – Integration of Healthcare and Mobility Systems for Improving Healthcare Accessibility in the Netherlands
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Tanmay Kumar Das – Rapid Genomic Detection of Neonatal Bacterial Meningitis Pathogens.
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Looking ahead
SASHI’s inaugural year showed how bringing together diverse voices and examining the social side of health innovation can strengthen shared commitment to creating fairer, more effective solutions for global health. Building on this momentum, the MSc in Translational Health Sciences programme team aim to establish the academy as a regular forum for critical reflection, collaboration and perspective-taking across the global health community.
Thank you to all partners who contributed to making the event a success, including the Dasman Diabetes Institute, the Gates Foundation, V Partners and Calla Lily Clinical Care.