Dr Gareth Goodier Joins Sanius Health During Sickle Cell Awareness Month, in Bid to Accelerate Global SCD Clinical Research

After a tenure of leading UK Cambridge University Hospitals, major health systems, Royal Melbourne Health and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) into success, Dr. Gareth Goodier’s joining Sanius Health bodes well for rare disease clinical and research initiatives. He brings with him three decades worth of expertise in the advancing digital innovation in healthcare, patient safety, contemporary management – as well as a passion for helping patients with complex and rare diseases like SCD. On his appointment, Goodier comments:

“I’m excited about joining Sanius at this incredible time not only in the company’s growth but at a time when the entire industry is rethinking what it means to deliver high-value healthcare solutions for patients with rare diseases. Sanius Health is passionate about advancing research and ultimately better clinical outcomes for patients with sickle cell disease.”

Goodier’s appointment as sector strategic advisor is certainly well-timed. He has joined Sanius Health in the middle of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, one of the rare occasions in the year when the condition receives much needed attention. His taking on this role signals an overarching need for awareness and accelerated research for SCD, on which he comments:

“One of the problems associated with progress in recent years is a lack of awareness of those advances – not just by the patients themselves but also by some health professionals. That is why the current campaign to raise awareness of this disease is so important.”

“For so long, progress was glacial. Now, there is real hope for improvements, and it is important that both the people living with SCD, and the health professionals, are fully aware of the recent changes. Now, however, there is hope for a much brighter future for people living with SCD.”

One of Goodier’s core motivations for wanting to innovate SCD research is his drive to raise awareness on a condition that is often ignored and receives little airtime. His ambition to improve SCD care is compounded by compassion for the thousands who experience debilitating physical symptoms daily:

“For patients with SCD it not just about a painful crisis. It is the daily struggle with fatigue, jaundice and shortness of breath. Worse, even when patients are feeling well, they know that the disease may be causing damage and harm to their bodies.”

“This disease is very much associated with health inequality and raising awareness can only help the scientists, doctors, and technology/health informatic companies such as Sanius, in their endeavours to find solutions.”

For Gareth, innovating SCD care begins with a strong focus on community and technological advancement. He believes that platforms like Sanius Health, which partners clinical expertise with patient-focused analytics, will ultimately better rare disease care:

“For chronic conditions such as SCD I believe that a wearable, such as those used by Sanius Health, combined with genomic information and routine clinical data, gathered from all the different players within the health system, along with feedback from frequent patient health surveys, can only be beneficial.”

“Having all this information held together in one place will enable machine learning and AI to predict a deterioration of health status and flag the need for further intervention. This will ultimately improve quality of life and health outcomes for people living with SCD.

“I strongly believe that this approach, currently being developed by Sanius Health, will ultimately be used for many other chronic diseases.”

Orlando Agrippa, Chief Patient Officer  and founder of Sanius Health, comments on Dr. Gareth Goodier’s recent appointment:

“With more than 30 years working in healthcare in global systems, Gareth brings a wealth of experience that will be crucial to our success as we grow and expand internationally. I’m confident that he is the right leader to help guide and scale Sanius Health’s mission of creating a better and different healthcare experience for patients, clinicians, and the life science sector.”

Sanius Health is leading patient platform and clinical research firm in Europe, with a specialist focus on haematological malignancies and rare diseases. The work we have been doing includes using advanced technologies with patients living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) to improve outcomes, clinical research, and adherence.