Naevi, a digital health company developing a precision mole monitoring app to support earlier identification of skin cancer, has joined the PHTA community as it prepares to move into clinical validation.
More than 16,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the UK each year. Survival is strongly linked to stage at diagnosis, meaning earlier identification of concerning changes is critical. Naevi’s approach focuses on monitoring how individual lesions change over time, rather than assessing a single image in isolation – focusing on patterns, rather than snapshots.
Founded by a clinical pathology researcher and software engineer, Naevi’s technology is designed to reliably track subtle, slow-moving changes in lesions over time, and flag those that would benefit from clinical review.
By working with PHTA, Naevi will be able to connect with consultant dermatologists from across Birmingham’s health and life sciences district to support its clinical validation phase to advance equitable, AI-assisted dermatology.
The collaboration will also support Naevi’s patient and public involvement and engagement activity, helping the team gather valuable feedback from patients and carers of those affected by skin cancer, people monitoring moles or lesions, and anyone with concerns about changes in their skin.
Founder Angel Yao said: “Naevi is developed with accuracy and data security at its core. Our mission is to give clinicians and patients the tools for earlier skin cancer detection, and a faster route to answers while navigating long NHS specialist wait times.
“Every feature is informed by real clinical practice and will be validated against rigorous standards. Being based at PHTA gives us deeper access to an innovation community with links into the right clinical expertise, and this support is helping us take the next important steps towards validation while also ensuring patient voices are part of how the technology develops.”
Professor Gino Martini, PHTA’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Naevi has all the elements in place to become a game-changer in dermatology – it is highly clinically relevant, rooted in genuine patient need, and being developed with robust evidence and validation in mind. As a University of Birmingham graduate, PHTA was the logical next step for Angel as its founder.
“By helping Naevi connect with dermatology expertise and Birmingham’s wider health innovation ecosystem, we hope to support the development of a technology that could make a meaningful contribution to the future of skin cancer monitoring and patient care.”
Naevi is holding the first of its patient and public involvement and engagement events at PHTA on Thursday 16 July, 6-7.30pm. People based in the West Midlands of any age, skin tone and background are invited to attend – click or tap here to sign up.
