Strengthening the Leeds and Nashville HealthTech Bridge – Barry Singleton’s visit to Nashville for ViVE Health

For over five decades, Nashville has led the way in healthcare innovation in the United States. With a $97 billion global economic impact and home to more than 900 healthcare companies, major research institutions and a thriving digital health community, Nashville is a powerhouse in provider services, value-based care and emerging digital health models.

While Nashville might be world-famous as “Music City,” its healthcare sector makes a far more significant economic impact, being five times bigger than its music industry!

The city’s health tech ecosystem is evolving fast, from its facility-first roots to a dynamic, tech-driven healthcare hub, with significant investments in AI, automation and digital health solutions.

Nashville’s rapid growth is further cemented by Oracle Corporation’s decision to relocate its world headquarters to the city, investing $1.2 billion in a new 65-acre campus that will create 8,500 jobs. This significant move emphasises Nashville’s increasing appeal as a centre for innovation.

Nashville and Leeds share lots of parallels. Both are university cities with strong engineering, medicine and digital health expertise, and both have diverse populations facing similar health challenges.

Leeds is already known as a leading digital health hub in the UK; this trip was a chance to strengthen its profile internationally and create mutually beneficial innovation opportunities with Nashville.

Despite the different funding models, similar healthcare challenges are present in both the UK and the US systems. Macro factors include workforce burnout, long waiting lists, hospital readmissions and inefficiencies in care coordination, showing the need for scalable, tech-driven interventions.

Beyond operational efficiencies, both regions face the same major health concerns, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity – highlighting the potential for global collaboration in digital health solutions to tackle these widespread public health challenges.

Despite the differences in healthcare funding and procurement models, the barriers to adopting innovation are strikingly similar in both countries.

“Clinicians are busy,” Barry explained. “They’re already stretched thin with patient care, admin work, and research commitments. Asking them to also take on innovation can feel overwhelming.”

The trip provided a valuable opportunity to connect with key figures in Nashville’s health ecosystem, including Lori Odom, who leads the MOU efforts at the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and Apryl Childs-Potter, President of the Nashville Healthcare Council. Barry also engaged with Olympic gold medalist and cancer survivor Scott Hamilton, who is actively involved in cancer innovation initiatives. Additionally, he was invited by the ECH Global Alliance to join a panel discussion on Global Health Tech Innovation Ecosystems alongside Orli Bilger, CEO of ARC Innovation, and Apryl Childs-Potter, exploring how international collaboration can drive health tech innovation and create new economic opportunities.

Potential collaboration opportunities have already begun to emerge. One particularly exciting startup from Nashville has developed a new approach to measuring malnourishment in ICU patients, an unmet need in the NHS that could lead to massive cost savings and better patient outcomes.

Similarly, Nexus member Atlas Endoscopy has been conducting in-human trials with Vanderbilt University, demonstrating how a UK-based innovation can gain traction in the US early on.

“Opportunities like this are exactly why this transatlantic connection is so valuable,” Barry said. “By building these bridges, we’re giving Nexus members access to global innovation that could address real challenges in the UK, and vice versa.”