The Healthtech Podcast

Hosted by Dr. James Somauroo

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470

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

The Healthtech Podcast covers the latest in health and technology through interviews with disruptive healthtech startups and leaders. Whether you’re a patient, founder, investor or simply interested in healthtech, The Healthtech Podcast has it covered. 🌍 Listeners in over 150 countries. 🎙 New episode every week. 🗣 Hosted by Dr James Somauroo. www.thehealthtechpodcast.com | www.somx.health | www.jamessomauroo.com

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60 recent

August 5, 202656 min

#458: Fat loss or weight loss? The number one GLP-1 question

This week, James is joined by Dr Kapil Savania, Medical Lead at Voy (formerly Manual) and a practising NHS GP, for a candid look at the fast-blurring line between healthcare and wellness. They dig into who should own preventative medicine, what TRT actually is — and where it gets abused — and why "fat loss," not weight loss, has to be the goal in the GLP-1 era. It's an honest conversation about holding both hats: the NHS clinician and the industry medical lead. Connect with Kapil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksavania/ Learn more about Voy: https://www.joinvoy.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX .

July 29, 20261 hr 12 min

#457: Should medical education let AI in?

This week, James is joined by Yasir Sacranie, pharmacist, content creator and founder of MicroPharm, the education platform helping thousands of trainee pharmacists pass their registration exam. Yasir talks candidly about bootstrapping a healthcare education business alongside a demanding NHS role, the family moment that finally pushed him to leave the NHS for good, and why he's deliberately keeping AI at arm's length in his business. They also get into why he still works one day a week as a barista — and what that teaches him about craft. Connect with Yasir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasir-sacranie/ Learn more about MicroPharm: https://www.micropharm.uk/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

July 22, 20261 hr 2 min

#456: Half of babies with heart problems are missed - AI in ultrasound is changing that

In this episode of The Healthtech Podcast, James is joined by Professor Reza Razavi, Professor of Paediatric Cardiovascular Science at King's College London and CEO of Fraiya, an AI ultrasound software company. Reza shares the deeply personal story behind Fraiya — including his own daughter's near-fatal undiagnosed heart condition as a newborn — and explains how AI applied to the routine 20-week anomaly scan could close the gap between the 50% of congenital heart defects currently missed and a detection rate approaching 97-98%. They get into what it actually takes to build AI that clinicians trust, why the NHS financial environment makes or breaks adoption, and how a team of 14 people is on the verge of launching across six European countries. Connect with Reza: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reza-razavi-a50967265/ Learn more about Fraiya: https://www.fraiya.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

July 15, 202651 min

#455: Is animal testing in drug development on its way out?

In this episode of The Healthtech Podcast, James is joined by Steve Bulera, Chief Scientific Officer for Safety Assessment and Toxicology at Charles River Laboratories — one of the world's largest CROs, and a company that almost every new drug passes through on its way from lab to human trials. They dig into one of the most significant shifts in preclinical drug development: the move away from traditional animal testing towards virtual control groups, AI-assisted decision-making, and what Steve calls "new approach methodologies." It's a candid conversation about where the science is, why the regulators are cautious, and what it actually takes to change a decades-old industry from within. Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-bulera-245234a9/ Learn more about Charles River Laboratories: https://www.criver.com Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

July 8, 20261 hr 6 min

#454: Slow regulation is killing health tech innovation

In this episode of The Healthtech Podcast, James is joined by Jamie Cox, Co-Founder and CTO of Scarlet — Europe's only notified body specialised in software and AI medical devices. Jamie shares how a frustrating experience building AI triage software at Babylon Health led him and co-founder James Dewar to a radical idea: build a notified body from the ground up, designed specifically for iterative software development. They explore why the current regulatory system creates artificial bottlenecks for health tech founders, what it actually means to regulate an LLM as a medical device, and why making certification faster and cheaper could fundamentally reshape who gets to bring products to market. Connect with Jamie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-cox-01458b3a/ Learn more about Scarlet: https://www.scarlet.cc/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

July 1, 20261 hr 44 min

#453: Why "can AI replace doctors?" is the wrong question. Shravan Nageswaran, Atman Labs

This week, James is joined by Shravan Nageswaran, co-founder and CEO of Atman Labs, the London applied-AI research company building diagnostic AI that reasons like a doctor — without relying on large language models. They dig into why LLMs fall short on real clinical reasoning, what "safety" actually means when a system takes a patient history, and how reinforcement learning over a medical knowledge graph could reshape primary care. A genuinely different take on the "can AI be a doctor?" question. Connect with Shravan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shravan-nageswaran-8961801a1 Learn more about Atman Labs: https://atmanlabs.ai Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

June 24, 202637 min

#452: Uncovering the objective truth in health tech journalism

In this episode, James is joined by Cate Lawrence, Senior Journalist at Tech.eu, to explore what the European healthtech ecosystem actually looks like from the press box, how stories get chosen, what makes a startup worth covering, and why the data gap between innovation and clinical impact remains so wide. Cate brings a decade of cross-sector reporting to the conversation, from wearable tech and women's health data to Ukrainian healthtech and the growing push for European digital sovereignty. Connect with Cate: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catelawrence1/ Learn more about Cate's work: https://tech.eu/authors/catelawrence Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

June 17, 20261 hr 0 min

#451: A new biomarker for depression?

This week, James is joined by Ben Finlay, Partner at Stratt and Advisor to Ranvier.ai, to dig into why mental health is still diagnosed by questionnaire - and what a taste test, a blood biomarker and a continuum view of neurological wellness could change. Ben shares the science behind Ranvier's objective mood measurement, the journey from early intervention in depression through to staving off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and a candid look at where pharma, policy and AI are heading next. Connect with Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfinlay/ Learn more: https://www.ranvier.ai/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX .

June 10, 20261 hr 17 min

#450 : What it takes to get a "yes" inside the NHS

This week, James is joined by Professor Shafi Ahmed — Consultant Surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, futurist, and author of Intelligent: The Evolution of AI Transforming Healthcare — for a candid look at what it actually takes to innovate inside a system designed to resist change. From streaming a live colectomy on Google Glass to 14,500 students in 118 countries, to walking away from 80% of his pay at the peak of his clinical career, Shafi shares the relationships, leadership and reflection that sit behind a decade of firsts in surgical innovation. Connect with Shafi: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/professorshafiahmed Learn more about Shafi's work and book Intelligent : https://www.profshafi.com Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

June 3, 20261 hr 4 min

#449: 9.2 million people can't sleep... and the NHS isn't ready

This week, James is joined by Dr Tom Chambers, anaesthetist and Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of Theta Sleep, to unpack why an estimated 9.2 million people in the UK are living with undiagnosed sleep apnoea. They get into why sleep medicine is so fragmented, why CPAP has an image problem, and how shifting diagnosis and treatment into the home could fix a supply-and-demand crisis the NHS isn't built for. A candid look at building a clinical business while still working as an NHS doctor. Connect with Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-tomchambers-/ Learn more about Theta Sleep: https://www.thetasleep.com Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX .