An International Research Network
Population Health Wearables Network
Wearable science
where it matters
most.
POWER connects researchers in low-resource settings with the tools, training, and partnerships needed to use wearable devices for population health research.
About Power
Closing the gap between technology and the people who need it most
Wearable devices have transformed population health research — but access to these technologies, and the expertise to use them well, remains deeply unequal. Researchers in low-resource settings across Africa, Asia, and Latin America face significant barriers: limited access to devices, gaps in training, and a lack of validated methodologies designed for their contexts.
POWER exists to change that. We advocate for and facilitate the use of wearable technologies in population health research and surveillance, with a particular focus on behavioural and environmental assessment.
Through leadership development, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships, we are building a global community of researchers equipped to generate high-quality, locally relevant health data.
4+
Continents with active POWER researchers and continuously expanding
1st
Global network focused on wearables in low-resource settings
Our Work
Four pillars driving meaningful change
Everything POWER does is guided by four core areas of activity — each designed to remove a real barrier that stands between researchers and the data their communities need.
01
Pillar One
Leadership Development
We support emerging research leaders from low-resource settings to gain the skills, confidence, and networks needed to deploy wearable technologies in population health studies. Our focus is on building lasting local capacity, not dependency.
Pillar Two
Data Quality
We enable the collection and harmonisation of data across diverse settings — ensuring that findings are valid, comparable, and contextually meaningful. Many wearable devices were designed and validated for Western populations; POWER works to change that.
02
03
Pillar Three
Knowledge Sharing
We facilitate the exchange of expertise between members and their networks, and provide open-access training resources for researchers at all levels. No one in the POWER community should have to solve a problem that someone else has already solved.
Pillar Four
Building Partnerships
We work to establish and maintain strategic partnerships across academia, industry and other relevant sectors to foster collaboration and leverage complementary expertise to ensure sustainable impact on research, policy and practice
04
News & Updates
Latest from the network
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Making Africa Visible in Physical Activity Research
Dr Chalchisa Abdeta: The global conversation on physical activity remains uneven. Although international guidelines are valuable, much of the evidence…
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Welcome to the POWER Network Website
We are delighted to launch the official home of the POWER Network online — a place to connect, share knowledge,…
Our Team
The people behind POWER
POWER was founded by leading researchers committed to making population health science more equitable. Our founding members bring together expertise from across behavioural and environmental epidemiology, public health and wearable technology.
Dr. Andrew Atkin
Professor Lisa Micklesfield
Dr. Alex Antonio Florindo
Dr. Areekul Amornsriwatanakul
Dr. Borja del Pozo Cruz
Dr. Chodziwadziwa Kabudula
Dr. Karen Milton
Dr. Kirsten Rennie
Dr. Omar Yaxmehen Bello-Chavolla
Prof. Aiden Doherty
Prof. Caradee Y Wright
Prof. Lauren B Sherar