OLATHE, Kan. Garmin ( today announced an exclusive collaboration with King’s College London during the Garmin Health Summit at the New York Stock Exchange. Under the agreement, Garmin will serve as the exclusive smartwatch provider for the Enhanced Maternal and Baby Results with AI-supported Care and Empowerment (EMBRACE) program — a global research initiative expected to gather data from up to 40,000 adult participants (women and their partners) worldwide¹. This marks Garmin’s largest partnership with a research institution to date.
“King’s College London — a world leader in life sciences and medicine — is pioneering the use of wearables in research, and Garmin Health is proud to support the EMBRACE program and other groundbreaking initiatives,” said Jörn Watzke, Senior Director of Garmin Health. “This collaboration underscores Garmin’s commitment to data quality, integration and privacy, while advancing the role of smartwatches in health monitoring.”
Wearables Powering Maternal and Infant Health
Through EMBRACE, participants will receive Garmin smartwatches or fitness trackers capable of monitoring key physiological data, including:
- Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV)
- Sleep patterns and physical activity
- Energy expenditure and Body Battery™
- Beat-to-beat heart intervals
With participant consent, this information will be integrated into AI-driven clinical studies aimed at addressing major health challenges during and after pregnancy — including gestational diabetes, pregnancy hypertension, and perinatal depression.
Data from Garmin devices, smartphones, and self-reported inputs will feed into a machine learning algorithm designed to identify digital biomarkers. These insights are expected to enable personalized interventions and improve outcomes for mothers, partners, and babies — the core mission of EMBRACE.
Academic and Philanthropic Support
“At King’s, we are committed to harnessing technologies like AI and wearables to not only advance academic research but also solve real-world healthcare challenges,” said Josip Car, Professor of Population and Digital Health Sciences, King’s College London. “The EMBRACE program has the potential to transform maternal and infant health outcomes, and we are delighted to collaborate with Garmin on this vital work.”
The EMBRACE initiative is made possible by Inkfish, a philanthropic research organization that earlier this year made the largest single-donor gift in King’s College history to advance maternal, child, and lifelong health through AI-powered personalized care.
Garmin Health: Enabling Digital Health Innovation
Garmin Health empowers third-party digital health solutions through its Garmin Health Ecosystem, combining a robust product portfolio with flexible data integration services. Using the Garmin Health API and SDKs, organizations can securely access real-time or historical biometric data at customizable levels of detail in alignment with their privacy policies.
Garmin Health collaborates globally across healthcare, research, insurance, employee wellness, fitness, and defense. Learn more at garmin.com/health or connect with Garmin Health on LinkedIn.
¹ Activity tracking accuracy may vary. The EMBRACE program will collect data from up to 40,000 adults using Garmin devices and up to 20,000 infants (without devices), for a total of 60,000 participants.
About Garmin International, Inc.
Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin is a registered trademark.
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About King’s College London
King’s College London is amongst the top 35 universities in the world, 11th for Life Sciences and Medicine, and 5th best in the UK (QS World University Rankings 2026), and one of England’s oldest and most prestigious universities. With an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research, King’s maintained its sixth position for ‘research power’ in the UK (2021 Research Excellence Framework).
King’s has more than 33,000 students (including more than 12,800 postgraduates) from some 150 countries worldwide, and 8,500 staff.
For nearly 200 years, King’s students and staff have used their knowledge and insight to make a positive impact on people, society and the planet. Focused on delivering positive change at home in London, across the UK and around the world, King’s is building on its history of addressing the world’s most urgent challenges head on to accelerate progress, make discoveries and pioneer innovation. Visit the website to find out more about Vision 2029, which sets out bold ambitions for the future of King’s as we look towards our 200th anniversary.
