On 28th January 2026, the TARGET Project convened a high-level expert roundtable in Liverpool to accelerate the translation of research on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins in healthcare into policy and clinical practice. The event took place at Liverpool John Moores University, bringing together specialists from academia, regulation, industry, and ethics. The roundtable was supported by Liverpool John Moores University through funding from the Research England Policy Support Fund (PSF) 2025–26, which aims to enhance the impact of research by facilitating engagement with policymakers, stakeholders, and wider communities. This support enabled the organisation of a structured programme of policy engagement activities, including the roundtable, to strengthen the translation of the TARGET project’s findings into practical health policy and clinical practice. 

The roundtable was organised by Sandra Ortega-Martorell, Professor of Data Science at Liverpool John Moores University and scientific coordinator of the TARGET project. The session aimed to identify practical pathways for translating research results into health policy, regulatory frameworks, and real-world implementation. 

Among the invited experts was Catherine Hale from University of Warwick, a specialist in medical law and ethics and member of the TARGET Expert Advisory Board. Her work focuses on informed consent, data protection, regulatory compliance, and patient rights, with particular emphasis on building trust, transparency, and ethical integrity in healthcare innovation. 

The roundtable gathered contributors from several TARGET work packages alongside representatives from industry and regulatory expertise, including medical device regulation specialist Dimitriya Bozukova, member of Moverim Srl, the partner responsible for exploitation activities in the TARGET project. 

The closed expert discussion focused on three key areas: 

• Ethics-by-design and regulatory readiness for AI-based healthcare technologies, including a strong focus on ethical alignment, as well as medical standards certification requirements to ensure compliance, safety, and trust in emerging AI solutions.

• Implementation pathways for integrating digital twin solutions into health systems, covering practical considerations such as intellectual property management, strategies for publishing outputs while safeguarding core design principles, and the development of commercialisation frameworks and pathways to support sustainable deployment.

• Stakeholder engagement strategies to ensure policy uptake and responsible innovation, emphasising the importance of collaboration across academia, industry, regulators, clinicians, and patient communities to support acceptance, co-design, and real-world impact.

Participants explored how ethical, regulatory, and implementation requirements can be aligned early in the development process, helping ensure that emerging AI technologies meet real healthcare needs and regulatory expectations. 

The meeting concluded with the identification of priority actions, the allocation of responsibilities, and the planning of follow-up activities. These include additional stakeholder engagement and a larger workshop later in the year focused on policy translation, regulatory engagement, and responsible innovation. 

Future TARGET activities will broaden participation to include clinicians, patient organisations, and healthcare system representatives, enabling co-design of practical pathways for responsible AI adoption—particularly in areas such as stroke care and digital health monitoring.