Invited Speaker: John Vardakis, Co-Founder & CSO at Science Card

May 23, 2024

We are thrilled to invite John Vardakis to speak at our EPSRC DRIVE-Health CDT's summer symposium next month. John joins us from Science Card to talk about "Exploring the Frontier: The future of GenAI Investments and Collaborations in Industry and Academia."

John Vardakis, PhD, has a diverse work experience, primarily in the field of scientific research. John is currently serving as the Head of Science Card Investment Group at Science Card, where they are involved in innovative banking. Previously, they worked as a Research Scientist at the University of Glasgow, where they focused on simulation-driven microelectromechanical systems design. John also worked as a Research Scientist at INSERM, investigating tumor mechanics and vascular fractality quantification. At the Center for Computational Imaging & Simulation Technologies in Biomedicine (CISTIB), they conducted research in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular biomechanics. Their work at UCL involved computational modeling of dementia and image-guided neurosurgery for epilepsy. John completed their DPhil in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford, where their research focused on fluid transport in the brain. John also gained experience in the fields of vascular diagnosis and market research at the University of Heidelberg and P2i, respectively. Additionally, they worked as a Mechanical Engineer at Enactus and completed a placement at King's College London's Centre for Robotics Research.


John Vardakis, PhD has a strong educational background in engineering and innovation. John obtained their Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree in Mechanical Engineering from King's College London in the years 2005 to 2008. John then pursued further education at the University of Oxford, where they completed the Centre for Doctoral Training in Healthcare Innovation from 2009 to 2010. Following this, they earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from the University of Oxford from 2010 to 2014. During their time at Oxford, they also pursued a diploma in Strategy & Innovation (Science Innovation Plus programme) from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, from 2011 to 2012.


In addition to their academic degrees, John Vardakis has obtained additional certifications. In December 2010, they received a Mathwork Training Certificate for completing the "Deploying MATLAB Based Applications - .NET Edition" course. John also obtained another Mathwork Training Certificate in December 2010 for completing the "MATLAB Programming Techniques" course.


Registration is required, please email drivecdt@kcl.ac.uk for further event details.


Our annual Symposium is a one-day face-to-face event for all DRIVE-Health students, academic supervisors, stakeholders and partners.  Our aim is to discuss translating scientific and technological innovations in AI and data science, from research to clinical practice and commercial enterprise.


The symposium will feature keynote talks, panel discussions, and poster presentations showcasing cutting-edge research and successful case studies. We will also celebrate our coming together with networking drinks at the end of the symposium.


The EPSRC DRIVE-Health Centre for Doctoral Training is training the next generation of PhD health data scientists to become the innovation leaders of tomorrow. Our students work within an active NHS environment, and develop new models of data-driven care, whilst leveraging significant recent investment and infrastructure in Health Data Research within the UK.


By registering for this event, you give consent to provide your name, e-mail address and registration information with King's College London for the purposes of managing the EPSRC DRIVE-Health CDT's Summer Symposium. Your personal data will be managed by those organisations and by Eventbrite according to their published privacy policies.



Share

February 10, 2026
We are pleased to welcome Dr Antonio de Marvao - Clinical Senior Lecturer at King's College London, and Consultant Cardiologist and Obstetric Physician at GSTT and KCH - who will deliver his talk “Detecting the Rare, Managing the Common: AI-Driven Cardiovascular Care Using EHR Data" as part of our Seminar Series. Abstract: Cardiovascular disease encompasses rare inherited conditions and highly prevalent disorders such as hypertension and cardiometabolic disease. Despite differing epidemiology, both require accurate, dynamic and scalable risk stratification. Electronic health records provide longitudinal, multimodal data at population scale. However, their heterogeneity and fragmentation demand advanced artificial intelligence methods to generate clinically actionable insight. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of NHS data exists in unstructured free text, rendering much of the clinically relevant signal inaccessible to conventional analytics without natural language processing or large language models. To address this challenge, we have been developing an AI-enabled framework for real-world cardiovascular risk prediction using integrated EHR data. The approach brings together structured clinical variables, imaging outputs and free-text documentation within secure hospital environments. Natural language processing and large language models are used to transform narrative records into computable features, while chain-of-thought reasoning architectures extract guideline-defined risk parameters directly from routine documentation. This enables automated calculation of established risk scores and dynamic longitudinal reassessment within an agentic workflow. Local, open-source models are evaluated across parameter scales to ensure an appropriate balance between accuracy, safety and computational efficiency for clinical deployment. In inherited cardiac conditions, this approach enables automated extraction of echocardiographic and clinical features required for sudden cardiac death risk prediction, reducing manual burden and supporting real-time monitoring. The same principles extend to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, facilitating earlier detection, structured surveillance and stratification of long-term cardiovascular risk. Integration of high-resolution EHR-derived phenotypes with genomic and multi-omics datasets further supports progression from risk prediction to biological insight and therapeutic target discovery. Applied rigorously, AI methodologies operating on routine healthcare data provide a scalable foundation for precision cardiovascular care across the life course. Seminar Series Event : “Detecting the Rare, Managing the Common: AI-Driven Cardiovascular Care Using EHR Data" Date and Time: Tuesday 24 February 2026, 15:30 – 16.30 hrs (GMT) Location: IoPPN Seminar 1 & 2, Denmark Hill Campus Attendance: Mandatory for all DRIVE-Health students; a calendar invitation has already been sent. Registration: Alumni and wider King's College London research community all welcome - please email drive-health-cdt@kcl.ac.uk to let us know if you would like to attend. Biography Antonio de Marvao is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at KCL, and a Consultant Cardiologist and Obstetric Physician at GSTT and KCH, specialising in inherited cardiac conditions, maternal cardiology, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. His research sits at the intersection of electronic health records (EHR) derived phenotyping, genomics/multi-omics, and cardiovascular imaging, using machine learning to improve risk prediction modelling and personalise care, across the reproductive continuum - from pregnancy to postpartum - and long-term cardiovascular prevention. He leads work within the NHS England Genomic AI Network, applying natural language processing, large language models and multimodal EHR integration to identify patients with inherited cardiovascular disease, streamline specialist review, and improve access to genetic testing and family screening. In parallel, his group also uses AI and EHR data to better define and detect hypertensive disorders of pregnancy at scale, quantify disparities, and enable earlier, more targeted intervention.
December 17, 2025
We were pleased to welcome Dr Jacqueline Matthew - Clinical Research Fellow/Sonographer at King's College London - who delivered her talk “From Noise to Signal: A Clinical Researcher's Perspective on Translating Advances in Prenatal imaging into Practice" as part of our Seminar Series. Abstract: Over the past decade, machine learning approaches in prenatal imaging has advanced from exploratory academic prototypes to clinically usable, real-time tools, but the path between those two endpoints is rarely straightforward. In this talk, Jacqueline offered a clinical researcher’s perspective on translating biomedical engineering innovations into real-world impact, tracing the journey from the iFIND project’s early breakthroughs in automated fetal imaging to the creation of Fraiya, an AI-driven ultrasound platform now entering clinical deployment. She unpacked the technical, clinical, and regulatory hurdles that shape this trajectory: data acquisition at scale, annotation complexity, model robustness, pipeline optimisation for real-time use, clinical safety engineering, regulatory strategy, and integration with NHS digital ecosystems. Beyond the technical achievements, the session reflected honestly on the innovation “gaps” that researchers and engineers encounter when stepping into entrepreneurship. From productising research outputs, building 'with' clinicians and service users not just 'for' them, securing buy-in, navigating procurement, and proving value in operationally stretched healthcare services. The aim was to provide a pragmatic and motivating roadmap for researchers and innovators seeking to turn biomedical AI research into deployable, sustainable solutions in healthcare. Seminar Series Event : “From Noise to Signal: A Clinical Researcher's Perspective on Translating Advances in Prenatal imaging into Practice. Date and Time: Thursday 22 January 2026, 15:00 – 16.00 hrs (GMT) Location: K39, King's Building, Strand Campus Attendance: Mandatory for all DRIVE-Health students, therefore please accept the calendar invitation. Registration: Alumni and wider King's College London research community all welcome - please email drive-health-cdt@kcl.ac.uk to let us know if you would like to attend. Biography Jacqueline is a clinical academic, sonographer, and MedTech entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in advancing pregnancy care through compassionate, technology-driven solutions. Specialising in ultrasound and fetal MRI, Jacqueline’s work focuses on leveraging cutting-edge imaging technologies to improve screening, diagnosis, and care for pregnant women. With a PhD in advanced 3D ultrasound and fetal MRI, Jacqueline uses machine learning to refine diagnostic pathways, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in prenatal care. As Clinical Lead and Chief Medical Officer at an early-stage health tech startup, she has been at the forefront of developing a real-time AI-powered pregnancy ultrasound platform, with ambitions to transform how scans are performed, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, and empowering healthcare professionals to deliver more informed and compassionate care. Jacqueline’s work has earned her widespread recognition, including being named one of the inaugural winners of the NHS England CAHPO Gold Award for Excellence, which celebrates health professionals who exemplify exceptional contributions to healthcare and the NHS values.