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Clinicians and Academics
Using our extensive knowledge of the healthtech innovation pipeline to validate needs and accelerate equitable access to healthcare technologies
Let's Work Together
What We Offer
We aim to develop technologies to assist people with long-term health conditions to live well for longer, maintaining independence and dignity and the ability to enjoy life fully.
Unmet Needs
- Patients and carers report frustration due to health professionals addressing their health problems out of context with other health issues and their lives overall
- Some people from minority ethnic communities and individuals who can't afford technology told us they have felt excluded from research and access to health technology
The HRC will therefore work jointly, to recognise the connections between peoples' physical, mental and social needs - and the interactions between these. This will be achieved through connected clinical and crosscutting support themes, developed in response to the linked challenges experienced by people we work with.
Awards
HeadUp Collar
Global Award for Patient Driven Research
CognoSpeak
Made with Patients Award
Devices4Dignity
Finalists in Excellence in PPIE- The Innovate Awards 2023
Our Impact
708
Collaboration requests
347
Grants
218
Projects
510
Events attended
£61M
Funding leveraged
Benefits of Collaborating With Us
By partnering with us our expertise in medtech innovation could benefit your technology development by:
- De-risking innovative projects
- Identifying and addressing barriers to medtech development and adoption
- Identifying the best people and organisations to work with
- Reducing timescales to market
- Access to large clinical expert network an the wider NHS
- Access to industry partners
- Access to community groups, charities, lived experience groups and underserved populations
- Ensuring that your innovation addresses a real health need
- Helping businesses to get more from their R&D spend
- Access to large clinical expert network an the wider NHS
- Access to industry partners
- Access to community groups, charities, lived experience groups and underserved populations
What We Offer
D4D is experienced in developing innovative products and services, and is uniquely positioned to access clinical and patient expertise to provide meaningful knowledge, tailored recommendations, and facilitation to technology development projects by offering:
- Project oversight and direction
- Establishment of project teams including clinical, patient, academic and design partners as required
- Concept validation and scoping of clinical 'fit'
- Clinical evidence planning, from proof of concept to large scale trials
- Regulatory guidance and strategy development
- Patient and public involvement and engagement
- Dissemination planning
- Support with funding applications
- Market analysis including proof of market
- Exploitation strategy development
- Adoption and implementation planning
- Relationship building and signposting within the NHS, health and social care, and technology sectors
- Intellectual Property guidance
- Access to NIHR funding calls
- Publication support
Our Vision
- Work to reduce inequalities in health and social care, ensuring end-user engagement is threaded throughout development to make technologies that are fit for purpose and widely used.
- Work with industry partners to safely but swiftly develop technologies that are easy for all to access and use. This will reduce the waiting period between identified need and available product.
- To build capacity into the NHS and industry, to train and support healthcare professionals and business partners in health technology co-production for mutual benefit.
- To build sustainability into technology development, reducing waste and protecting the environment.
Our Approach
We involve people regardless of age, ability, background, ethnicity or gender as fair and accurate representation is key to designing health technologies in partnership with future users. This ensures we understand clearly:
- Our collaborators and the issues they face
- What all future users (public and professional) of any technology feel are the unmet needs
- How devices should look, work and feel
- How to produce technology which is useful, usable and easy and available
We recognise that technologies must assist people to manage their health condition while dealing with many other challenges (including pain, difficulty doing everyday tasks, mental distress, stigma, deprivation and isolation). These challenges overlap and can compound each other, so the work we do will recognise and address these and other interactions.
Our Partners
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We are hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and officially partnered NHS Trusts include Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Partnered Universities include Leeds University, Coventry University, University of Sheffield, University of Cambridge, Sheffield Hallam University
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PhD Studentships
- 2021, Joint funded PhD with Coventry University, ‘The role of design and usability in the adoption of digital self-management technology’ by Rachel Hughson-Gill (Coventry woman dreams up clothing line for diabetics - BBC News)
- More joint PhDs with Coventry University in the process, starting at 2025
- Support with NIHR Fellowships projects
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Since 2021 we have hosted the Healthcare Science Innovation Fellowships, funded by NHS England
- Each year focused on different NHS priorities
- More information here
News and Events
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Date: 02/10/2026 - Former Healthcare Scientist Innovation Fellow Named as TechWomen100 Award Winner
Former Healthcare Scientist Innovation Fellow, Virginia Marin Anaya, has been named in the WeAreTechWomen’s TechWomen100 list.
Date: 23/09/2026 - Neurotech4All Shortlisted as Finalist for the HTN Health Tech Awards 2026: Improving Health Inequalities within Neurotechnology Research
The Neurotech4all project addressing the underrepresentation of minority communities in neurotechnology research, design and access to treatments has been shortlisted in the Health Tech Newspaper's (HTN) Health Tech Awards 2026.
Date: 22/09/2026 - An Interview with Dr. Rebecca Mawson, Our New Women’s Health Theme Co-Lead
Meet Dr Rebecca Mawson, our new Women's Health Theme Co-Lead. Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, NIHR Clinical Lecturer, active GP and champion of equal and inclusive research, Rebecca will add a wealth of expertise and experience.
Date: 03/09/2026 - The Voice App is Officially Live
Partners of Devices for Dignity, The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Long Term-conditions, Voice, have released a new exciting app to help people get involved with healthtech research and innovation.
Date: 07/07/2026 - Devices for Dignity Welcomes New NICE Guidance on Hybrid-Closed Loop Technology for Pregnancy in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)
D4D welcomes the publication of draft NICE guidance recommending pregnancy-specific hybrid closed-loop (HCL) systems for people with Type 1 Diabetes who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.
Date: 30/06/2026 - Have Your Say: Help Shape Future Research for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC)
A new public survey has been launched to identify the most important unanswered research questions about care for people living with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC).
Date: 05/03/2026 - Supporting NHS innovation: How Devices for Dignity helped shape the S-Press rehabilitation device
Sheffield's contribution to new technologies and treatments, celebrated through the “Shaped in Sheffield” campaign led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), highlighting how research organisations, universities and NHS partners across the region are transforming healthcare.
Date: 22/12/2025 - Inclusive Dementia Research Priorities Project
Article about the Inclusive Dementia Research Priorities Research Project that we are working alongside Becky Field, determining the top ten priority areas for brain health and dementia research, as identified by Somali community members.
Date: 10/07/2025 - Healthcare Science Innovation Fellows Present to Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber
Date: 09/05/2025 - Celebratory Event for the CognoSpeak Community Research Champions
Celebration of the Research Champions and the work carried out during the CognoSpeak project.