The Healthtech Podcast #430 How NICE finds startups, with Tharni, Horizon Scanning Lead
Jan 21, 2026
Tharni Vasavan, Horizon Scanning Senior Health Technology Lead at NICE, shares her journey from women's health research to healthtech innovation. She discusses the crucial role NICE plays in evaluating emerging technologies for the NHS and explains Early Value Assessment for promising solutions. Tharni highlights the importance of horizon scanning to identify disruptive technologies and underscores the exciting opportunities in femtech to address health data gaps. Her advice for innovators emphasizes early engagement with NICE for successful evidence planning.
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From Near-Fail To IVF Clinic Spark
- Tharni started in neuroscience but nearly failed and found purpose working part-time in an IVF clinic which sparked her interest in infertility.
- She then transitioned into maternity support work and found the clinical, high-stakes environment deeply motivating.
Lab Work Led To A PhD And Tech Projects
- Tharni worked as an embryology assistant and lab tech studying intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy and gestational diabetes.
- Her lab role led to a PhD and hands-on projects like developing a bile-acid biosensor and fetal ECG monitoring trials.
Joining A Femtech Startup Early
- Tharni joined Hertility pre-seed and built the scientific product research function, automating finger-prick blood test results into bespoke reports.
- She designed concordance trials comparing finger-prick and venous blood and iterated product questionnaires and reports.