Shaping the Future of Healthcare through the Responsible Adoption of AI, Precision Medicine and Healthy Longevity Innovation
Richard Barker
Prof, MA, DPhil (Oxon), FRSM, HonFBPS, MFPM(Hon), OBE
Professor Richard Barker works at the intersection of healthcare innovation, precision medicine, and regulatory science, with a particular focus on translating emerging technologies into real-world clinical impact. Over a 40-year career, he has held senior leadership roles across industry, policy, and consulting, including at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), IBM, and McKinsey.
His current work centres on the responsible adoption of AI-enabled medical decision-making, precision population health, and the system-level challenges of extending healthspan in an equitable and evidence-based way. Richard advises governments, health systems, and global organisations on navigating the regulatory, clinical, and organisational barriers to innovation.
Richard is Visiting Professor in Precision Population Health at King’s College London and Co-Founder and Chairman of Metadvice, an AI-powered clinical decision support platform. He also supports several international not-for-profit initiatives, including programmes focused on ethical AI development and digital mental health for displaced communities.
Outside his professional work, Richard is a keen mountain hiker and traveller, with a long-standing interest in how culture, systems, and environments shape health outcomes.
Books
2030 The Future of Medicine: Avoiding a Medical Meltdown
Healthcare stands at a crossroads. '2030 - The Future of Medicine' explores the current era, where technology reshapes healthcare and raises tough questions about affordability and access. It offers ten strategies to bridge supply and demand, urging a fresh perspective from leaders. Through fictional healthcare journeys, the book provides a glimpse into the healthcare challenges of 2030.
“This book is an absolutely essential read for anyone who is seriously concerned about the future of medicine and agrees that ignoring the warning signs is simply not an option.”
- Suzan C, Amazon Review
Bioscience - Lost in Translation? - How Precision Medicine Closes The Innovation Gap
In medical innovation, a gap exists between research and patient impact. 'Bioscience - Lost in Translation?' explores this issue, using real-world cases to highlight challenges and breakthroughs. The book emphasizes precision medicine's promise and the role of genomics and digital health tools in advancing innovation and shaping the future of healthcare.
“Incredibly insightful commentary on challenges and opportunities in Bioscience translation - well worth a read.”
- CM, Amazon Review
“Academia, clinicians and industry all now recognise the power of AI in precision medicine. It is time to bring in longevity science to make precision prevention a reality - to relieve individuals and health systems of the burden of preventable disease.”
- PROF RICHARD BARKER
Services
-
Richard Barker is a Healthcare Futurist who brings to the stage a rare combination: academic rigour from Oxford and King's College London, strategic depth from McKinsey, and decades of hands-on leadership across biopharma, precision medicine and AI. He speaks not only to what is happening in healthy longevity and healthcare, but to what it means for the organisations and leaders navigating it.
Whether addressing a global conference or a senior leadership team, Richard tailors each engagement to the audience's context and priorities, drawing on a body of original frameworks and real-world experience.
See the Bookings page for a full overview of conference and corporate formats.
-
Richard advises organisations at the intersection of longevity science, precision medicine and artificial intelligence, from academic institutions and healthcare systems to life sciences companies and investors.
His advisory work spans strategy development, technology appraisal, business planning and stakeholder engagement. Where projects benefit from multidisciplinary expertise, Richard brings in complementary specialists through New Medicine Partners, his consulting practice.
Areas of focus: Healthy longevity strategy and implementation / AI-driven clinical decision-making and health system optimisation / Precision medicine and personalised health programmes / Longevity technology appraisal and commercialisation / Regulatory strategy and policy engagement
-
As an experienced board member and chair, Richard brings scientific credibility and strategic perspective to boards operating in biotech, digital health and the broader life sciences ecosystem. He helps boards navigate the opportunities and challenges created by AI, longevity science and precision medicine, not as an outside commentator, but as a practitioner with deep sector knowledge.
Richard currently holds and has previously held board and advisory positions across leading companies in the field.
-
Substantive consulting and advisory projects are delivered through New Medicine Partners, Richard's consulting practice, which brings together specialists with complementary expertise across science, strategy and policy.
Richard is also co-founder of Metadvice, a clinical decision intelligence company applying AI to improve outcomes in patients with multiple chronic conditions, one of the most complex and costly challenges in modern healthcare.
Newsletter
Subscribe
I look forward to sharing this journey of discovery with you, one on which your insights and contributions will come together with those of many colleagues. My newsletters will feature others’ ideas, not just my own.
Speaking Calendar