Young entrepreneur Bhavagaya Bhakshi has received the WISE Tech Engineering in Health Award for her app to detect early signs of cancer at a special awards ceremony in London last Friday. Dr Bhakshi, 30, has developed a special app and website – C the Signs – using artificial intelligence (AI) to help doctors spot the early warning signs of 200 types of cancer at the press of a button.
Discussing the reasons behind the new tool, Bhavagaya, a doctor from Watford, said, “Diagnosing cancer is challenging – there is no single identifiable symptom and with over 200 different types, early warning signs can often be vague or confusing which means diagnosis can often come later. “Late diagnosis costs lives and is more expensive to treat so we’ve developed C the Signs app and website to help GPs. Our AI system can help speed up the process of spotting cancer, the tool is currently being used in the NHS in three health authorities with the plan to disseminate it widely.”
WISE Technology & Engineering in Health Award is sponsored by Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer at NHS England, to encourage more women to go into healthcare science and start businesses – research shows fewer than five per cent of new businesses in the UK are started by women.
The annual WISE Awards, now in their 17th year, are part of a national campaign backed by business and royalty to recognise inspiring organisations and individuals promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to girls and women.WISE Chief Executive Helen Wollaston described Bhavagaya “an inspiring woman integrating her passion for tech with her profession, forging her own path as a clinical entrepreneur. She shows that science and technology can help solve our biggest health challenges in society.”
Also honoured on the night was Bath-based chemist Asel Sartbaeva who received the WISE World Award for her pioneering technology allowing vaccines to be stored and transported without refrigeration – saving lives in parts of the world without electricity. Dr Sartbaeva was originally from Kyrgystan where she was the only woman studying chemistry at university. She is now a Royal Society Research Fellow and Lecturer in the department of chemistry at the University of Bath. She said: “I’m using my skills as a scientist to try and help save lives.”
One in five children around the world do not receive vaccines and seven million people worldwide die from vaccine-preventable diseases every year. WISE believes schools and employers can do more to encourage girls with the help of role models like Asel. More women are working in STEM than ever before – the number has grown by 230,000 in the last five yearsand women now make up 23% of the core STEM workforce. To see photos from the night and for more information visit www.wisecampaign.org.uk
