NICOLA FILZMOSER
Closing the gap between unmet health needs and innovation.
I work at the intersection of health innovation, paediatric solutions and programme design, connecting clinical research with technology and innovation excellence.
7+ years
experience in health innovation & digital health
£250k
public money secured for paediatric digital health
500+
(health) founders coached & mentored
ABOUT
Where clinical research meets real-world innovation for children.
I work at the intersection of paediatric health innovation and programme design, leading health tech incubation at Vision Health Pioneers and bringing that same perspective to speaking, mentorship, and collaboration with clinical and innovation teams working in the general health & also paediatric space.
My path here is not accidental. I co-founded Happyr Health to build something that did not exist: a clinically grounded digital tool for children and young people living with chronic pain and migraine. Over four years I led product development end to end, co-designed with clinical teams at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, secured over £250K in public grant funding, and published research alongside clinical partners.
That work was grounded in an MSc in Healthcare and Design from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art, and postgraduate studies in Entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge. And it was personal. I grew up with migraine, which is why building a future where children get the right support early, before their condition has had years to shape how they see themselves, is not just a professional interest. It is the reason I do this work.
MSc Healthcare & Design, Imperial College London & RCA
“Most digital health tools built for children fail not because the clinical content is wrong, but because they were never truly designed for children in the first place.”
WORKED WITH
HOW I CAN HELP
Collaboration is key for health innovation & paediatrics.
Coaching & mentorship for health tech startups
Hands-on support for founders building in health innovations in e.g. paediatrics, from clinical partnership strategy to product validation and go-to-market. Especially valuable for teams navigating hospital partnerships for the first time.
Collaboration with hospital innovation teams
Working with paediatric departments and innovation managers to bridge clinical expertise and health tech. From pilot design to programme development, I bring the founder’s perspective into the room.
Innovation program & hackathon design
Designing and facilitating innovation programs, workshops, ideation sprints, and hackathons for health tech teams, accelerators, and academic programmes. Built on 3+ years of experience with leading institutions.
Speaking & jury membership
Available for conferences, panels, and pitch events at the intersection of paediatric health, digital health innovation, and entrepreneurship. Bringing an innovators voice to conversations that need it.
WHO I WORK WITH
Clinicians & paediatricians
Translating between clinical expertise and innovation without competing with either.
Hospital innovation teams
Bridging the gap between clinical needs and the startups trying to address them.
Corporate partners
A realistic, evidence-grounded view of what works in health innovation.
Startups in healthcare
Practical guidance from someone who has been on the same journey and learned from it.
SPEAKING
Bringing the innovator’s & patient’s voice to the right rooms.
Frontiers Health 2026 (upcoming)
Making the case for why paediatric-first design is not a niche concern but a systemic responsibility
INNOVA EUROPE 2025
Moderator for INNOVA, a European wide competition on responsible entrepreneurship
Frontiers Health 2025
Session lead on Green Health: innovations for a sustainable healthcare industry
University of Cambridge 2024
Guest lecture on rapid ideation and innovation
Spanish Pain Congress 2022
How to design digital tools for paediatric pain
University lectures
Lecturer Master’s programme: Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Business Model Design






RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS
Evidence-based work in paediatric health and migraine.
Research conducted in collaboration with clinical partners at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and the University of Stirling, among others.
2026 Frontiers in Pain Research
“Too little, too late”: a qualitative exploration of the unique pain management unmet needs of young adults with migraine
Caes Dr Line, Drüeke Meilissa, Jordan Abbie, Burr Charlotte, Nicola Filzmoser (DOI: 10.3389/fpain.2026.1783714)
2024 BMC Neurology
Exploring the link between self-management of migraine and emotional wellbeing: a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling migraine sufferers
Nicola Filzmoser, Iman Maryam Webber, Gabriele Kerr et al. (DOI: 10.1186/s12883-024-03535-0)
2023 Preprint
2022 Poster
Happyr Health’s App Co-Design: A report In collaboration with the Young Persons’ Advisory Group (YPAG) for Research and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
Nicola Filzmoser et al. (DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20732.00642)