Luke Daines, GP and Senior Clinical Research Fellow, has been awarded a Wellcome Early-Career Award to explore how wearable technology could transform asthma monitoring and improve outcomes for patients following hospital discharge. The five-year fellowship will support research titled “Digital signatures of asthma: mechanisms and trajectories from multimodal wearable data” and will investigate how data collected through wearable devices can reveal digital signatures – or novel physiological patterns – that may help identify deterioration earlier and support more proactive, personalised monitoring of asthma.The work will focus on the high-risk period following discharge from hospital, a point when many people feel particularly vulnerable, but monitoring at home is often limited and still relies heavily on self‑reported symptoms. As a result, early signs that someone is getting worse can be missed, and can lead to poor or prolonged recovery, increased risk of further attacks and re-admission.The research aims to generate new insights by combining continuous wearable sensor data with clinical outcomes, using machine learning approaches to better understand asthma trajectories and recovery. These insights could help guide more personalised follow‑up, with the long‑term goal of reducing avoidable admissions and improving asthma care in the community. I’m absolutely delighted to receive a Wellcome Early-Career Award. This support will enable me to build an independent research programme at the Usher Institute, exploring how multimodal wearable data can reveal digital signatures of asthma. The aim is to lay the foundations for proactive monitoring, minimising the high-risk period following discharge from hospital into the community and reducing readmissions. I couldn’t have done this without the encouragement of my mentors, colleagues and collaborators. I look forward to the discoveries we’ll make together. Dr Luke Daines GP and Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Usher Institute The Wellcome Early-Career Awards scheme supports researchers who are ready to develop their research identity through innovative projects that advance understanding of human life, health and wellbeing. The awards are designed to help early-career researchers build collaborative networks, develop leadership skills and establish independent research programmes.Further informationEarly-Career Awards – Funding for Early-Career Researchers | Research Funding | WellcomeLuke Daines | The University of Edinburgh Publication date 14 May, 2026
