Sarah Abdi

Brief biography

Sarah Abdi is a Research Fellow at the UCL Interaction Centre. She is currently working on the HERMES project with Prof Ann Blandford and Dr Konstantinos Balaskas. In this project she will use a Human-Computer Interaction approach to assess patient and healthcare professional acceptability as well as the barriers and enablers for the adoption of two innovative digital technologies (Tele-ophthalmology and the Moorfields-DeepMind AI) in the context of referral pathways between community optometry and secondary healthcare.

Sarah completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Prof Mark Hawley and Prof Luc de Witte. In her PhD, she investigated the potential of emerging digital technologies to meet the health and social care needs of older people living at home with long-term conditions.

Sarah is an Interdisciplinary Researcher and Dietitian who combines more than 14 years of experience in healthcare and research to guide the development of new and innovative approaches to complex problems. In her research career, Sarah worked on a range of studies including user-centred design studies, evidence syntheses, qualitative research, and mixed methods research. As a dietitian, Sarah worked closely with patients with long-term conditions to develop individualised dietary plans. She was also involved in designing, developing and delivering group behavioural lifestyle interventions to patients with diabetes and obesity.