This is a FREE event which will bring together academics, clinicians, businesses and funders to showcase how the University of Leicester and Leicester Academic Health Partners enable health innovation using proof-of-concept funding throughout the pipeline of basic research through to clinical implementation. The first half of the day will focus on academic research collaborations, and the second half of the day will focus on driving those collaborations into NHS research partnerships.

This activity is enabled by our UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded Impact Accelerator Accounts (IAAs) and in partnership with Medilink Midlands.

The event is OPEN TO ALL. To enable networking opportunities, we invite industry, SMEs, funders, enterprise enablers, UoL and UHL groups to take advantage of having a free stall/stand to encourage further partnership conversations. There are limited numbers available, so please email IPH@le.ac.uk to reserve a spot. 

Throughout the day there will be time to talk to University representatives about potential collaborations, business support and funding initiatives.

• Attendees will be able to chat to the following funders: MRC, BBSRC, Innovate, ICURe and NIHR.

• Business enablers in the Life Sciences and Healthtech space include: Medilink Midlands, Health Innovation East Midlands and Charnwood Campus Science and Technology park.

• University Teams will include the Institute for Precision Health, Institute for Structural and Chemical Biology, Biomedical Engineering Team, Commercial and Business teams and College of Social Sciences Arts and Humanities (CSSAH)  reps.

A follow-up event is planned to provide dedicated time to partners wishing to explore these opportunities to engage with the University and access funding in greater depth.

Agenda

08.15 – 09.30 Registration, stall set-up and networking

09.45 – 10.00 Introduction and Welcome to the day + funding landscape. Prof Don Jones

10.00 – 10.05 Introduction from Will Wells – Working with the University

10.05 – 10.20 Medilink Midlands – Partnership working

10.20 – 10.30 Introduction to the Institute for Structural and Chemical Biology – Prof John Schwabe

10.30 – 10.45 Dr Luca Mureddu - Empowering academic and industrial collaborations in the development of NMR data analysis tools for medical and pharmaceutical applications (Omnium AI collaboration – BBSRC IAA)  

10.45 – 11.00 Dr Harvinder Virk (joint BBSRC/MRC Only Good Antibodies collaborative)

11.00 – 11.30 Break and networking

11.30 – 11.40 Introduction to the Institute for Precision Health – Prof Chris Brightling

11.40 – 11.55 Prof Martin Dyer - Personalised cancer medicine using bispecific antibody constructs (MRC - Isogenica collaboration)

11.55 – 12.10 Dr Natalie Garton - Accelerating bacterial antibiotic susceptibility testing using bacterial electrophysiology (MRC - Cytecom collaboration)

12.10 – 12.25 Dr Mervyn Thomas - Precision medicine enabled by retinal imaging (MRC IAA - Leica collaboration)

12.25 - 13.20 Lunch and networking

13.20 – 13.30 Introduction to Leicester Academic Health Partners – Prof Nigel Brunskill

13.30 – 13.45 Dr Ruw Abeyratne - Datasets for Health Inequalities

13.45 – 14.00 Health Innovation East Midlands: Supporting the adoption of innovation

14.00 – 14.15 Dr Wen Wang and Professor Maria Karanika-Murray - Sustain NHS Trainee Doctors through Collaboration (ESRC – Healthcare Professionals collaboration)

14.15 – 14.30 Dr Lizelle Bernhardt - Cardio-Respiratory Rehabilitation in Multi-Morbid Patients.

14.30 – 14.45 Accessing Funding and Partnership Opportunities – Will Wells

14.45 – 15.00 End of talks – intro to open discussion session. Prof Don Jones

15:00 – 16:00 Stakeholder collaboration development planning – time to talk!

16:00 CLOSE

Speaker Biographies

Professor Don Jones’ research involves discovering and implementing novel biomarkers of disease using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques. His group are establishing targeted assays for biomarkers and working with pathology colleagues to validate and achieve clinical accreditation. Professor Jones co-directs the van Geest Multi-OMICS facility, Institute for Precision Health, Leicester Drug Discovery and Diagnostics team and the MRC Impact Accelerator Account, all of which helps to coalesce collaborative precision health activities across the University, NHS and commercial partners.

Mr William Wells is the University of Leicester’s Commercial Director. His activity covers a wide range of commercial activities, developing commercial/collaborative partnerships with industry; developing commercial propositions and business plans; developing products and services; and delivering a strategy to support sustained research and enterprise growth within the University. Will has an extensive knowledge of the pathways into collaboration, and will be on hand during the day to talk to prospective business partners.

Ms Victoria Patel joined the Medilink team in 2019. She has extensive experience with ERDF funded projects from her previous roles, delivering business and funding support to Leicestershire businesses at the Growth Hub and Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP). Victoria has a BA from Leicester University and also has hands-on experience of growing a successful, innovative business. We are delighted that she will be on hand to advise on opportunities on growth and commercialisation of Health and Life Science-related research.

Professor John Schwabe’s world-leading research comprises understanding enzymes inside the cell nucleus that assemble into large complex molecular machines to regulate genes. His group has led the field in how these complexes are assembled, how they act together with other proteins to control physiology and how this mechanism is affected by disease. Prof Schwabe directs the Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology which houses the state-of-the-art £6 million Regional Cryo-Electron Microscopy facility, and the BBSRC Impact Accelerator Account which is a key facilitator of academic and commercial collaborations.

Dr Luca Moreddu is a senior software developer at the Collaborative Computational Project for NMR (CCPN), a project funded by the MRC. His research focuses on the development of software tools for Fragment Based Drug Discovery by NMR, and tools for studying the dynamics of large-molecule interactions and behaviours. Luca has also a key role in fostering and maintaining collaborations with industrial stakeholders, which drive the development of novel and strategic solutions for both parties in the NMR data analysis context. Luca and his colleagues have recently established partnerships with OmniumAI, an AI-specialised enterprise, funded through the BBSRC Impact Accelerator Account.

Dr Harvinder Virk is an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in respiratory medicine, and co-founder of the Only Good Antibodies community. Harvinder has brought together a diverse and effective collaborative partnership between basic, clinical, and behavioural scientists from academia, industry, and non-profit organisations. The Only Good Antibodies community has had support from both BBSRC and MRC Impact Accelerator Accounts, helping to realise their ambition of facilitating reliable and reproducible antibody-based research.

Professor Chris Brightling’s research focusses on improving the clinical management and understanding mechanisms of airway diseases such as asthma, chronic coughs and COPD. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator, Respiratory Theme Lead for Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Director Institute for Lung Health, Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician, is the national lead for the post-COVID consortium PHOSP-COVID, and the lead for precision medicine in airways disease for the 3TR EU-IMI consortium. Prof Brightling is the Clinical Director for the Institute for Precision Health, and is on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Midlands Mindforge – a patient capital investment company, co-founded by eight research-intensive universities in the Midlands, including the University of Leicester.

Professor Martin Dyer is a Haemato-Oncologist, establishing lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia clinics in the Leicester Royal Infirmary and then developing early phase and first-in-man clinical studies on the Hope Clinical Trials Unit. He is currently working on novel antibodies in collaboration with a number of pharma companies, as well as studies on targeted small molecules for lymphoid malignancies. Funding via the MRC Impact Accelerator Account has helped to establish a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the biotech company, Isogenica, investigating novel VHH antibody approaches to create bispecific and multi-specific biotherapeutics against B cell malignancies.

Dr Natalie Garton is a Lecturer in Microbiology with an interest in mycobacterial physiology, lipid metabolism and the impact on response to antimicrobial agents. This may open up new opportunities for predicting tuberculosis treatment response, drug development and infection control. Industry exchange funding via the MRC Impact Accelerator facilitated interactions with Cytecom Ltd to investigate the potential of their novel technology for assessment of growing and inhibited mycobacteria. This led to a partnership with Cytecom Ltd and involvement as a co-investigator in an NIHR Invention for Innovation Product Development Award aimed to develop their technology for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing of blood stream infection.

Dr Mervyn Thomas is a Clinical Associate Professor, Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Clinical lead of the Ulverscroft Eye Unit at the University of Leicester. He has worked extensively on foveal hypoplasia and is a scientific advisor for Nystagmus Network and the Global Albinism Alliance Scientific Committee. Dr Thomas has developed a successful collaboration with Leica to improve diagnosis and management of retinal disease, funded through the MRC Impact Accelerator Account.

Professor Nigel Brunskill Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Leicester and an honorary consultant nephrologist at UHL since 1997 where he remains clinically active and jointly leads the Renal Obstetrics service. He has been active in clinical research for over 30 years. He is Director of the NIHR Leicester CRF, Director of Research and Innovation for UHL NHS Trust, Director of Clinical Research for the University of Leicester College of Life Sciences, and Director of the Leicestershire Academic Health Partners.

Dr Ruw Abeyratne is Director of Health Equality and Inclusion at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, leading on the trust’s approach to understanding and addressing health inequalities. Ruw is also a consultant in Geriatric and General Medicine with clinical interests in frailty, ‘front door’ geriatrics and surgical liaison. Funding through the Leicestershire Academic Health Partnership is enabling a data-driven approach to tackle health inequalities, addressing inequitable access to care, and differential experiences and outcomes for underserved groups.

Ms Nicole McGlennon is the accountable officer for Health Innovation East Midlands. She has a wealth of experience working in diagnostics, medical technology and pharmaceutical industries, building relationships between industry, academia and health and care stakeholders both in the UK and internationally. She has significant experience in all aspects of commercialising innovations and focusing on the outcomes required, and we are delighted that she will be available to advise on aspects of the commercialisation and implementation process.

Dr Wen Wang is progressing workplace changes aimed at improving productivity and staff wellbeing, through practices that facilitate the flourishing of a diverse workforce. As a quantitative researcher, she endeavours to capture the 'pulse of change' at the workplace through innovative research methods. She has particular interest in understanding how to support junior doctors in their career journeys, with her research supported partly through the University’s ESRC Impact Accelerator Account.

Professor Maria Karanika-Murray's work focuses on understanding how work-related well-being and performance can be managed in tandem. As part of that, she does research on a range of topics, such as organisational interventions, presenteeism, and sustainable work. Her work has been funded by a range of UK, EU, and industry funders, and she has published widely for a range of audiences.

Dr Lizelle Bernhardt is the Head of Nursing and Allied Health Professions Research in Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and an NIHR Senior Research Leader for Nursing and Midwifery. Lizelle has an extensive clinical background in critical care and cardiovascular nursing. She is the current British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care (BANCC) Research Forum Chair and an early career post-doctoral nurse researcher. Funding through the Leicestershire Academic Health Partnership has enabled a collaboration to investigate inequalities in access to and outcomes of cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation in multi-morbid patients.