Designing for human health

I am a Melbourne-based designer of health technologies, systems and services, including wearable technologies for acute care, ageing and hearing loss; and the co-design of models and systems of care including for cancers, mental health and global health. This website is an archive of my wearable technology work, 2005-2020. For my Designing Health Systems work please visit my Besen Chair website here.

I hold the Eva and Marc Besen International Research Chair in Design in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University, lead the Health Futures research stream in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, and co-lead the Quantum Futures Collaboration and Victorian Heart Institute New Technologies Grand Challenge.

I have collaborated with the WHO (Science Division) since 2022, including bringing together 15 countries to develop the ‘WHO Design Principles and Tools to support use and impact of WHO Guidelines’, launched in 2024, and leading co-design with 500 people in 10 countries to understand regional barriers to implementation of the Hand Washing in Community Settings Guideline (launched 2025). Most recently Leah has led co-design processes in WPRO and SEARO to inform development of a Living Evidence Architecture with the Australian Living Evidence Collaboration.

My design work has been recognised with eleven Australian Good Design Awards (including the 2018 Australian Good Design Award, Australia’s peak design award) and the CSIRO Design Innovation Award and I was recently awarded the 2022 Australian Women in Design Award. Projects I has led have been presented to the Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health and informed the creation of Victoria, Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Guidelines. My design work is part of Australia’s heritage collections in Victoria and NSW and has been exhibited internationally to audiences exceeding 800,000 people.

Linked In

Designing Health Systems work 2021-present

Contact me: leahheissdesign(at)gmail.com