Share your research and innovation at the no.1 conference on health data science in the UK, taking place on 15-16 October 2025.

Our call for abstract submissions

We are looking for presentations on the full range of advances underpinning progress in health data science: from advances in technologies ensuring secure and effective access to health data, to new insights offering meaningful improvements in patient care and healthcare delivery.

Submissions may include work that has not yet been shared publicly, alongside recent and timely research outputs, outcomes, and impacts.

For more information about submitting an abstract, please read our submission guidelines.

Submit your abstract online 

Timelines:

Abstracts open: Wednesday 12 March 2025, 09.00 am GMT

Abstracts close: Monday 12 May 2025, 11.59 pm BST

Abstract decision confirmation: Friday 20 June 2025, 11.59 pm BST

Abstract submitters acceptance confirmation: Friday 11 July 2025, 11.59 pm BST

Themes:

  1. Transforming healthcare with AI
  2. Data-driven solutions to NHS pressures
  3. Health insights from smart data
  4. Innovating the data infrastructure
  5. Addressing societal challenges by linking health and non-health records
  6. Public health and health inequalities
  7. Using genomics data to improve outcomes
  8. Routine healthcare data in clinical trials
  9. Public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE) throughout the research cycle
  10. Data access & information governance

Participants can submit an abstract for:

  • Oral presentation (15 minutes, including questions);
  • Lightning talk (4 minutes, no follow-up questions, early-career participants* only); or
  • Poster (displayed in the main hall, poster session on the first day).

Participants can submit more than one format. However, due to the number of anticipated submissions, you will only be selected to present in one format.

Presenting your abstract

Presentations will need to be in person. A limited number of bursaries for in-person attendance will be available, please take a look at our bursary information for more details. If selected, you will need to accept your invitation to present within three weeks and register as an abstract presenter on our registration platform.

Judging of abstract presentations

Lightning talk presentations will be judged by attendees at the conference via a live poll, with the winner announced at the end of the first day. Poster judging will also take place via a live poll, with results announced during the conference.

We will let everyone know the outcome of their submission by Friday 20 June 2025, after review by our Conference Committee.

Submit your abstract online 

For more information about submitting an abstract, please read our submission guidelines.

For further questions, please contact our events team.

*Early-career researchers are those within the first eight (full-time equivalent) years of their career (including post-graduate training, if relevant). We will take a flexible and inclusive approach to this calculation, taking into consideration career breaks, non-linear career paths, non-academic career paths, etc.

Selection criteria:

The HDR UK Conference Committee, consisting of academics, industry professionals, technical professionals and members of the public, across career stages, disciplines, and geographies will evaluate the abstracts.

We are looking for high-impact, innovative advances and new insights that align with our ethos (research quality, team science, scale, open science, patient and public involvement, and equality, diversity and inclusion).

In your application, provide clear evidence of several of the following selection criteria:

  • Scientific/technical quality and practical applications
  • Accelerating trustworthy use of health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives
  • Involvement and engagement of patients/service users, carers and the public at each appropriate stage of the research project life cycle
  • Evidence of recent impact, e.g. contributing to improving healthcare and patient benefit, or pathways to impact

Diversity:

Where all else is equal, the committee will also seek to ensure broad geographic representation and overall diversity of presentations among the speakers.

HDR UK Conference Committee:

Amy Tilbrook, University of Edinburgh
Anthony Wilson, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University of Manchester
Edith Milanzi, IQVIA
Farheen Yameen, Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast
Fatemeh Torabi, Cambridge University
Gordon Milligan, University of Dundee
Jan Speechley, Public Advisory Board, HDR UK
Jo Knight, Lancaster University
Karyn Mégy, AstraZeneca
Katie Wilde, Conference Committee Chair, University of Aberdeen and HDR UK Scotland
Ralph Akyea, University of Nottingham
Roger Gibb, Public Advisory Board, HDR UK
Xinchun Gu, University of Oxford