Collaborating on new technologies for better healthcare: Digital Health Asia 2025 at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)

HONG KONG (18 August 2025) —The health-related needs of an ageing population, bio-tech innovations, leveraging health data, ethics and AI in healthcare, nurturing start-ups, and investor insights—these are just a few of the topics to be featured at Digital Health Asia 2025 from 8 to 10 September at CityUHK. 

This unprecedented summit, held in partnership with Times Higher Education (THE) and co-organised by CityUHK and its Institute of Digital Medicine (IDM), brings together a stellar cast of renowned scholars, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and industry innovators working at the technological interface of digital health.

“This premier event offers a unique platform for industry leaders, policy makers, researchers, and healthcare professionals to exchange ideas and explore strategies for harnessing digital technologies to improve elderly care across the continent,” said Professor Freddy Boey, President and University Distinguished Professor at CityUHK.

In addition to CityUHK faculty experts in the digital health and AI fields, speakers at the conference come from the University of Cambridge, United Nations Development Programme, National University of Singapore, DEFTA Partners, Stanford University, AstraZeneca and Huawei, to name but a few.

The unifying link between speakers is a deep concern for the myriad of social and health-related challenges facing the global community, and a steadfast belief that technological solutions are at hand. 

For example, one of the key panels will explore the impact of biotechnology in digital health, how to integrate digital technology into healthcare solutions, and explore ethical and regulatory challenges in biotechnology.

“Biotechnology harnesses the power of living organisms and their components to yield valuable products and processes, while digital health leverages digital technologies to enhance health and healthcare delivery,” said the panel moderator, Professor Michael Yang Mengsu, Senior Vice-President of Innovation and Enterprise at CityUHK.

Another key topic of discussion is the ageing population in some parts of the world. According to the United Nations, Asia is home to more than half of the world’s elderly, and this number is expected to grow exponentially in the coming decades. As Asia faces an unprecedented demographic shift, the importance of digital health solutions in managing the issue has never been more critical. 

However, digital health technologies—ranging from telemedicine and wearable devices to artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics—are transforming the landscape of gerontology, opening new horizons for enhancing elderly care and improving quality of life.

To simulate discussion and share knowledge, Professor Dean Ho, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore, will deliver a keynote address on how the emergence of digital health is paving the way towards digital longevity medicine. 

Additionally, the complexities and opportunities associated with collecting, managing and utilising health data will feature in a panel on unlocking the potential of health data, moderated by Professor Jianping Wang, Dean of the College of Computing at CityUHK. 

She will also moderate a session on ethical considerations for AI implementation in healthcare, featuring Professor Fatima Rodriguez, Associate Director of Stanford University’s Centre for Digital Health and an expert in this field and in preventive cardiology. 

Entrepreneurship and investment are vital to innovation in health care, and Digital Health Asia  2025 will benefit enormously from talks by leading experts in the field, such as Sir Mark Welland, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge, who will deliver a talk on innovating science for technology exploitation and economic growth. 

Mr George Hara, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DEFTA Partners, will discuss the importance of building a tech-based industry that fuels a sustainable economy and creates a healthy and well-educated middle class globally.

The business aspects of Digital Health evolution will be explored by speakers such as Ms Anna Kudryavtseva, an expert in healthcare digital transformation strategy, hospital management consultancy, healthcare system improvement and population health programmes. 

In addition, Ms Shan Wu, the General Manager of AstraZeneca Hong Kong and Macau. She brings her expertise on the digital health ecosystem to determine the key criteria for building successful collaborations, research partnerships, data sharing and accelerating innovation. 

Adding to the spotlight in entrepreneurship, the Digital Health Start-up Showcase will give voice to several successful start-ups working on digital health-related initiatives with support from HK Tech 300, CityUHK’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme. 

Each nascent company will outline its journey from concept to full company launch, share its successes and challenges, and outline how HK Tech 300 has supported its growth and helped turn its vision into reality.

Find out more about Digital Health Asia Asia 2025 here!

Speakers

Please click here for the list of speakers. This is a selection of 5 speakers:


Ms Heather Doyle is a public health and human rights expert with more than 20 years of experience in managing large-scale efforts to address health inequities. As Team Lead in Health for the Asia-Pacific region at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she supports countries in strengthening health and community systems.

Professor Ma Wei-Ying is a Huiyan Chair Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, the Chief Scientist at the Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR) and the Director of the Hong Kong Institute of AI for Science of City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on generative AI for Biology and Life Sciences.


Professor Tuomas Knowles is the 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and Co-Director of the Centre for Protein Misfolding Diseases. He has a track record in developing new physical technologies for use in healthcare applications and has co-founded several biotech companies.


Professor Eleni Linos is the Director of the Stanford Center for Digital Health. Her research focuses on the use of technology in health, dermatology, public health, cancer prevention and the care of older adults.