u/Beautiful_Cell_3185

I'm considering developing an app focused on gut health - having massively overhauled my diet in the last couple of years i want to provide an app that makes this much easier and more accessible for busy people

my question is: what sort of features/elements would you want to see in a gut health app?

some ideas so far:

• Tracker for fibre intake; habit (eg. water, exercise, oral health)/symptom tracking
• Recipes which can be used to add healthy shopping ingredients into an integrated shopping list - these could be filtered based on cook time, dietary requirements
• Personalised advice on diet (potential AI feature but unsure on this)
• Articles and guidance around different elements of gut health, the microbiome, how prioritising whole foods can help manage certain medical conditions etc.

I graduated with a BSc in pharmacology last year so don’t have computational experience - I recently got a position as an RA at a really prestigious university (UK) but it’s all wet-lab based. I like wet lab stuff so don’t mind but am thinking of moving towards bioinformatics in the future.

I was considering doing an MSc in cancer genomics but am now debating if paying all the money for a master’s in general is necessary for a PhD if I’m already getting a lot of academic research experience - I know some PhDs will accept people without an MSc so don’t want to waste time & money.

equally, I need a way of developing computational experience in order to do a PhD & an MSc feels like the simplest way of doing that. however, I see some bioinformaticians on social media who only started coding/programming at PhD level - can anyone recommend this as a potential pathway into the discipline, esp if I was to find a PhD project that also leaned on wet lab research?

I was diagnosed through PUK in 2021 but discharged once I reached the top of the titration waitlist as I’d suffered a mental breakdown at uni (mainly due to unmedicated adhd). this culminated in 3 years of significant mental health issues and time out of both work and university

as my mental health is more stable now, I requested my GP re-refer me to PUK in october. they’d said that I would need to have a review with a psychiatrist before I could join the titration waitlist (which i’m hoping can be expedited). I was told by PUK the ICB had run out of money but should make some available in the 26/27 tax year. However, on the 1st of April the Greater Manchester ICB announced significant changes & said they’d start prioritising RTC funding based on severity & urgency. PUK are still saying they’ve heard nothing and can’t do anything until the ICB will fund me - I’m aware this is true but feeling very anxious about it now

essentially I’m stuck in complete limbo - I’m diagnosed but the NHS can’t medicate me and my RTC provider can’t either until the ICB decides to fund a psychiatrist review.

can anyone advise who/how I can chase this? my executive function is just horrible and I feel like i’ve exhausted all options, medication was a last resort for me tbh and now I feel like I can’t even get any help with that :(