Programme 2024 – Collaborate Conference

14:15

Doors Open

14:30

Arrival

Please arrive in good time to take your seat before the first presentation

Theatre

The Theatre is the Royal Institution's main auditorium, where the Christmas Lectures are held.

15:00

Introduction and Welcome

Lord David Prior of Brampton

Chair

Lord Prior is Deputy Chairman UK and Global Senior Advisor at Lazard. He is currently Chair of Protas, a not-for-profit clinical trials business, Chair of the Cambridge Life Sciences Council, Chair of Science Capital Imperial, a venture fund aligned with Imperial College, and a member of the Novo Nordisk Sustainability Advisory Council.

15:05

Origin Sciences

Origin Sciences is a privately funded medical technology company based in Cambridge, UK. The innovative work carried out by Origin is focused on the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract with an early focus on colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnostics – set to satisfy a desperate unmet need globally.

A novel approach to colorectal cancer diagnostics

Hugo Lywood

CEO

Hugo is passionate about discovery, innovation and commercial conversion. He has worked in a diverse range of fields including scientific education (retail), healthcare (delivery), property (enviro-friendly and affordable), hospitality and latterly primary care investigative and diagnostic solutions (ongoing).

15:20

Shrewsbury & Telford

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of district general hospital services for nearly half a million people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales. Our main service locations are the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shrewsbury.

Keele University School of Medicine is ranked in the top 5 Medical Schools in the country, providing its students with the skills and experiences to work in increasingly complex health and social care settings.

CDC Infrastructure & Clinical Trials

Jon Lacy-Colson

Consultant Surgeon and Hon Clinical Senior Lecturer

Jon is a Consultant Surgeon at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust. Jon has research experience across a range of colorectal diseases, he is involved in undergraduate and post graduate medical education, recently being appointed as an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Keele University.

15:35

Imperial College London

NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in In Vitro Diagnostics is a partnership between Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. We are one of 14 NIHR centres in England that generate evidence to support technology development. We achieve this by developing research methods for evidence generation and collaborate with various stakeholders to support this process. We work with clinicians to identify unmet needs for diagnostics and with diagnostic test developers to explore the utility of specific tests within UK NHS settings. By facilitating the adoption of new, improved tests into clinical practice we hope to improve the quality of patient care within the NHS.

99.9% of Academic Biomarker research is a waste of time. We need to do better.

Christopher Peters

Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant Upper Gi Surgeon

Christopher Peters is an Imperial College academic surgeon with a specialist interest in transitioning new technologies to the patient. As the Biomarker lead for the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC)- In-vitro Diagnostics he has a research programme built around trying to better understand which Biomarkers are likely to achieve clinical adoption- aiming to bridge the gap between the millions spent on Biomarker discovery and validation and the handful that achieve clinical success.

15:45

Almac

Almac Group is a global leader in providing a range of expert services and support across the drug development lifecycle. We are trusted experts in R&D, diagnostic services, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply services and technologies through to commercial-scale manufacture and distribution. We are recognised as an industry leader in client service, providing understanding, experience and knowledge to our clients as we work together to advance human health. Almac is trusted by the leading global biopharma companies to provide crucial services across their drug development projects. In the last 5 years alone, we have contributed to over 50% of all FDA approved New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and are currently supporting 30% of EU approved /pre-registered Gene therapy products. A privately owned organisation, Almac has grown organically over the past five decades, employing over 7,500 highly skilled employees across 18 facilities in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Sample processing and biobanking

Professor Paul Harkin

President & Managing Director, Almac Diagnostic Services

Professor Paul Harkin is the Co-Founder and President of Almac Diagnostic Services and a member of the Executive Team of the Almac Group. In 2004 Almac Diagnostic Services was incorporated as a Division of the Almac Group and Professor Harkin was appointed as President and Managing Director with overall responsibility for the strategic, financial and operational leadership of the company. Paul was previously a Professor in Molecular Oncology within the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen’s University Belfast where his research focused on the role played by BRCA1 mutation in the development of hereditary breast cancer. His research has been published in the many of the leading scientific journals including Cell, Science, Nature Genetics, Molecular Cell, The Lancet and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Prior to this appointment he had been a Research Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital where he developed his interest in the emerging field of precision medicine.

15:55

Novacyt

Novacyt is an international molecular diagnostics company providing a broad portfolio of integrated technologies and services, primarily focused on the delivery of genomic medicine. The Company develops, manufactures, and commercialises a range of molecular assays and instrumentation to deliver workflows and services that enable seamless end-to-end solutions from sample to result across multiple sectors including human health, animal health and environmental.

Development of custom DNA extraction technology

Dr Joanne Mason

Chief Scientific Officr

Dr Jo Mason has championed diagnostics with the use of genomic technologies, having previously held positions as VP Biodiscovery with Cambridge Epigenetix, Director of Sequencing for Genomics England (100,000 Genomes Project) and established NGS Core facilities in Oxford and Malaysia.

16:05

Illumina

We develop DNA sequencing and array-based life sciences technologies to enable boundless research discovery and personalized health. Our products help pioneer advances in oncology, genetic and infectious diseases, reproductive health, and beyond. Our technology empowers continued innovation towards positive and impactful people- and planet-healing solutions.

Illumina overview with collaborations

Jason Betley

VP of Sequencing Chemistry

More information about this person is coming soon.

16:15

Earlham Institute

The Earlham Institute is a hub of life science research, training, and innovation focused on understanding the natural world through the lens of genomics. Our scientists specialise in technology development, multidisciplinary research, and data-intensive bioscience - building and testing tools needed to decode living systems and make predictions about biology. The Institute is based within the Norwich Research Park and one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, as well as support from other research funders.

Epigenetic profiling

Professor Neil Hall

Director

Professor Neil Hall is the Director of the Earlham Institute and Co-Head of Node for ELIXIR-UK. Neil has been working in genomics for over 15 years. He has previously led research groups at the Sanger Institute, The Institute for Genomic Research, and The University of Liverpool. His research focuses on comparative and evolutionary genomics in pathogens (particularly parasitic protists) to understand the molecular basis of important phenotypes such as virulence and host specificity. Neil’s group also apply genomics to the analysis of microbial communities in order to understand how they may influence health or respond to changing environments.

16:25

Break and Refreshments

16:45

Science Magician – First Act

17:00

Quadram Institute

Quadram Institute brings together researchers and NHS clinicians to create new interfaces between food science, gut biology, human health and disease, capitalising on the world-class bioscience cluster based at the Norwich Research Park. It works closely with major national and international funding bodies and charities, collaborators and investors to innovate in gut health, microbiology and food thus translating fundamental science to benefit patients, consumers and wider society.

Delivering healthier lives

Professor Ian Charles, OBE

Institute Director & Chief Executive Officer

Ian is an internationally recognised scientist with over 30 years’ experience in academic and commercial research, with expertise in infectious diseases, the microbiome, and its impact on health and wellbeing, genomics and metagenomics.

17:10

Azenta Biosciences

Azenta, Inc. is a leading provider of solutions enabling breakthroughs and therapies to market faster. Azenta Life Sciences provides cold-chain sample management solutions and multiomics services across drug development, clinical research and advanced cell therapies for top pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and healthcare institutions globally.

Our industry-leading brands include GENEWIZ, FluidX, Ziath, 4titude, Limfinity, Freezer Pro, Barkey, and B Medical Systems.

Enabling Biomarker Discovery

David Buck

Director of Operations

David Buck, Director of Operations at Azenta Life Sciences in the UK, brings over three decades of leadership in molecular biology teams. His expertise spans complex restructuring, expanding globally, and pioneering DNA sequencing technology. His dedication to elevating scientific performance, productivity, and internal controls shines through his accomplished career in high throughput genomics at the Oxford Genomics Centre.

17:20

IBM

More information about this collaborator is coming soon.

IBM Research: from Weighing Scales to Quantum Computing

Mark Goossens

Technology Managing Director: Head of Public Sector

Mark Goossens is the Managing Director leading Public Sector for IBM Technology. He leads a team that is responsible for joining together all aspects of IBM’s Technology engagements with Public Sector clients across the UK and started this role in January 2021. IBM are a significant supplier to Public Sector in the UK, who spend over £500,000 with IBM annually. Today, IBM is a Hybrid Cloud company recognising that clients will have IT in various clouds and their own data centres. They then layer this with Data, Automation and Security technologies, all infused with AI and all underpinned by Sustainability.

Alongside this work at IBM, Mark is a member of the Central Government Committee at techUK, the body representing the industry to Public Sector. He has been elected to various roles on techUK Committees over the last 8 years, including leading the UK industry initiative to create an open API economy to help make it far simpler for Public Sector systems to share data and avoid re-keying between different solutions.

His current role is something that he is genuinely passionate about and feels that IBM can enable real change across government by helping to join up data and then use AI to significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Public Sector employees and organisations. IBM has a number of skills and enabling technologies in this space and it is the application of IBM’s open watsonx AI, data and importantly governance, that is allowing Public sector to work in ways that produce better outcomes and drive huge efficiencies.

Mark has been with IBM since 1999 in a number of roles across Public Sector, Prior to that he worked for 3 other international IT suppliers in various roles including Public Sector Sales Director and as part of the country management team.

Mark holds a BSc Honors Degree in Electrical &Electronic Engineering. He enjoys family life; he and his wife, who hails from the Kingdom of Kerry, have four children (young adults), who they hope will soon stop treating them as cash dispensers. His hobbies include motorsport and photography.

17:30

CSI

More information about this collaborator is coming soon.

How to Survive AI

Sandip Channa

Chief Technology Officer

Sandip has held technical positions in IT for over 20 years and leads the technical functions within CSI.

17:40

Theiagen Genomics

Theiagen Genomics is a data analysis company staffed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics, cloud computing and public health experts, committed to improving infectious disease control, food safety, molecular diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. Our academic, governmental, and industry expertise contributes knowledge from a diverse range of projects including infectious disease surveillance, cancer research, biofuel developments, and microbial strain engineering.

Using microbial bioinformatics to understand the hidden world inside us all

Professor Andrew Page

Director of Technical Innovation

Andrew has a PhD in computer science specialising in high performance computing with over 15 years experience in microbial bioinformatics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Quadram Institute. He has over 150 publications and co-hosts the Micro Binfie Podcast.

17:50

ABHI

ABHI is the UK’s leading industry association for health technology (HealthTech).

ABHI supports the HealthTech community to save and enhance lives. Members, including both multinationals and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), supply products from syringes and wound dressings to surgical robots, diagnostics and digitally enhanced technologies. We represent the industry to stakeholders, such as the government, NHS and regulators. ABHI’s 400 members account for approximately 80% of the sector by value.

Regulation change and opportunity in the UK

Stephen Lee

Director, Diagnostics & Digital Regulation

Steve joined ABHI as Director of Diagnostics Regulation in 2020.

After completing his degree in Biochemistry and Biology at Aston University, Steve trained as a Biomedical Scientist, working in hospital microbiology before moving to industry to work as company microbiologist. Steve joined MHRA in 1996 when it was still the Medical Devices Agency and when the IVD Directive had yet to be implemented.

While at MHRA, Steve worked with manufacturers, Notified Bodies, other Competent Authorities, Trade Associations, standards bodies and government departments. Steve was Chair of the European Commission’s IVD working group when the IVD regulations where being developed.

In 2019, Steve was presented with the TOPRA award for regulatory excellence.

18:05

Science Magician – Second Act

18:20

Concluding Remarks

Lord David Prior of Brampton

Chair

Conversation Room

All are welcome to join us after the main event for refreshments and networking.

Programme

4th September 2024