Daniela Mercado Beivide
Transforming health coaching through mindful eating technology.
Transforming health coaching through mindful eating technology
Daniela Mercado Beivide is Chief Science Officer at Holly Health, a health coaching platform that combines psychology, mindfulness, and technology to support sustainable health changes. Daniella has a background in clinical nutrition and a PhD in psychological medicine from King’s College London and is driven by a mission to stop weight stigma.
Nearly a third of people seeking weight management support struggle with problematic eating patterns that affect both their physical and mental health. Traditional approaches often neglect
psychological elements, leading to unsustainable results. Holly Health’s platform, already supporting over 30,000 people across 200 NHS GP practices, is developing a first-of-its-kind mindfulness-based feature that combines intelligent nudges with intuitive eating support.
“Weight is not a habit and it does not equal health. For sustainable health, we must focus on behaviours and pay attention to the psychological drivers and motivations for long-term behaviour change,” says Daniela.
Her achievements include securing multiple Innovate UK grants while expanding Holly Health’s reach. The company actively collaborates with women-founded organisations and targets diverse and deprived areas for service deployment.
“I feel honoured to be selected among the thousands of brilliant women who entered,” says Daniela of winning the Women in Innovation Award. “I want to inspire and support other innovators from minority backgrounds to develop their ideas and create change in important societal challenges.”
“As part of a women-founded and women-led company, the biggest barrier has been accessing funding and ‘convincing’ decision-makers, who tend to be men, that a kind and compassionate approach focusing on small steps is effective,” Daniela reflects. “The way to overcome this challenge is by gathering data that backs up our approach.”
Her advice to aspiring women innovators? “Be open and flexible to explore different avenues and opportunities. It’s rarely a straight road, but every step teaches you a valuable lesson.”
For more information on Women in Innovation
Find out more about the Women in Innovation Award and other support available across the Innovate UK ecosystem on the Women in Innovation programme page.