Kainos and Our Future Health advance UK’s largest health research programme

Tech firm Kainos and Our Future Healthare extending their digital delivery partnership to advance the UK’s largest health research programme.

They describe the collaboration as “a groundbreaking effort to revolutionise disease prevention, early detection, and treatment, with a focus on improving the health and well-being of millions across the UK.”

 Our Future Health’s goal is to build a cohort of five million volunteers from diverse backgrounds. Our Future Health aims to develop an understanding of what makes certain people more likely to develop a disease, paving the way for more effective prevention, detection and treatment of diseases.

Volunteers complete a questionnaire, and provide a blood sample and some physical measurements, and consent to Our Future Health securely linking to their health records. Volunteers are also offered information about their own health, including their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

As of November 2023, more than one million volunteers have consented to participate. Based on the success of the partnership to date, Our Future Health has contracted Kainos to be its digital delivery partner for another year. Kainos will continue to facilitate the programme’s portal for registering and onboarding volunteers, providing access to digital applications for clinicians.

“Kainos is a great digital partner for us,” said Marko Balabanovic, CTO, Our Future Health. “With a successful track record in secure, data-centric health projects, including the NHS App in England and Wales, the team’s digital expertise has truly been invaluable. The commitment and understanding of our unique requirements that they’ve shown have been pivotal to the success of this groundbreaking project, and we’re delighted to extend our partnership.”

The partnership started in 2021 when Our Future Health engaged Kainos to develop, trial and launch the participant portal, applications for clinical staff and support services using a combination of Microsoft Azure Cloud services and Dynamics CRM. In 2023, the programme’s reach was further extended following the integration of a scalable solution that allows blood donors to participate as part of their regular appointments with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), making it easier for people to take part.

“Our Future Health is a leader in health research, and we are thrilled to continue our strategic partnership with them as they shape the future of disease prevention and treatment. We’re also proud to be part of a programme that so clearly demonstrates how the delivery of digital services is transforming healthcare and having a meaningful impact to the lives of millions across the UK,” said John Smith, head of healthcare, Kainos.