Zoë Tieges

Zoë is a research psychologist by training, and now works as a lecturer and researcher at the intersection of data science, psychology, and health. With over 12 years of experience in applied health research, primarily within acute hospital settings, her work explores how advanced analytics and AI can transform healthcare delivery and outcomes. Zoë's current projects involve large-scale health data and AI across several domains, including multiple sclerosis and physical activity.

Achievements include

• MRC funded programme of work around diagnostic test development, including a smartphone app for delirium detection and monitoring in hospitals
• Skilled in AI-driven clinical decision-making
• Applied advanced analysis of accelerometer data to uncover patterns of sedentary behaviour and recovery following stroke.
• Population-level data analysis linking environmental regeneration to long-term health outcomes.

In my own words… 

Rebooting data science means ensuring the people most affected by health decisions have a voice in how AI systems are built and used. Rebooting means moving beyond algorithms that simply predict outcomes, toward systems that explain their reasoning in plain language, respect patient dignity and privacy, and work alongside clinicians rather than replacing human judgment. It means asking not just "can we build this?" but "should we build this, and for whose benefit?"

I hope we leave behind a blueprint showing that when communities, healthcare practitioners, and data scientists work as equal partners, we can create technology that genuinely improves lives while respecting human dignity and autonomy.