On 1st May, Midlands Innovation Health (MI Health) partners and ecosystem leaders in the East Midlands welcomed Dace Dimza-Jones, National Life Sciences Inward Investment Specialist at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), and James Silverward, Regional Manager – East Midlands for Innovate UK, to the region to showcase the health and life science translational research excellence which is driving investment into the sector.
The one-day event, coordinated by MI Health, aimed to deliver a clear overview of regional capabilities and connect the visitors with key contacts. The visit was split into two sessions: Innovation, commercialisation and investment (morning) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) clinical research landscape (afternoon).
Co-Chaired by Professor Mark Lewis, MI Health Convenor and Loughborough University Academic Lead for Strategic Partnerships, and Professor John Hunt, Head of NTU Strategic Research Theme, session one demonstrated the East Midlands’ seamlessly integrated, cross-organisational translational research capabilities and the assets that support them. Welcoming attendees, Professor Chris Denning set the scene by presenting the region’s strengths, showcasing the Biodiscovery Institute and spinout capabilities at the University of Nottingham, and discussing the need for a Translational Hub. This was followed by a showcase of the East Midlands Freeport (Jon Rawcliffe), the UK’s National Facility for Ultra-High Field Human Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Professor Richard Bowtell), Charnwood Campus (Dr Lucy Alexander), and the Nottingham Trent-led East Midlands Emerging RehabTech Growth Enterprise and Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (Professor John Hunt).
Session one also featured a rapid-fire session from University of Nottingham colleagues covering Nottingham Technology Ventures Ltd (Dr Alice MacGowan), Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (Matthew Piggott), Deep Seq (Professor Matthew Loose), Cancer (Professor Srinivasan Madhusudan) and Optics and Photonics (Professor Amanda Wright). This part of the event closed on a discussion on what opportunities are there are to expand the commercial activity being generated by the R&I landscape in the East Midlands.
Lunch was hosted by Tom Smith, Head of Research & Innovation at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and showcased the exceptional work being done to set-up and deliver innovative clinical trials in the city and beyond, as well as the soon-to-open National Rehabilitation Centre.
In the afternoon, chaired by Bernie Stribling, Assistant Director of International and External Business Development Leicester Diabetes Centre (a collaboration between the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust), session two delved into the specific offers available from the world-leading clinical trials and research infrastructure in the region. The strengths linked to each of the East Midlands’ Biomedical Research Centres (Leicester and Nottingham) were presented by James Finney and Professor Phil Quinlan, including the need for data federation and the Multiple Long-Term Conditions Cross-NIHR Collaboration respectively. This was followed by Harriet Savage presenting the work of the East Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network, Professor Fehmidah Munir highlighting Loughborough University’s leading capabilities, Nicole McGlennon highlighting the critical activity of Health Innovation East Midlands and closed with Professor Dan Clark demonstrating the wealth of rehabilitation assets available including the Centre for Healthcare Equipment and Technology Adoption (CHEATA), the Centre for Healthcare Technologies and the NIHR Rehabilitation HRC.
Throughout the day, colleagues from DBT and Innovate UK engaged with stakeholders and gained a detailed and up-to-date understanding of the opportunities available for companies and those looking to deliver research/clinical trials in the region.
Reflecting on the event, Dace Dimza-Jones said: “I want to thank everyone who dedicated their time to see me. This was one of my favourite university visits in my DBT career. The amount of knowledge, expertise and experience truly impressed me, but most of all the emphatic approach and human touch will stay with me for a long time. I am looking forward to visiting the East Midlands soon again.”
James Silverward emphasised: “It was great to join partners from across the Midlands and demonstrate the importance of the region in addressing national priorities. The fantastic innovation ecosystem that has been built here is instrumental to building an NHS fit for the future and driving economic growth, and present hugely exciting opportunities for the future.”
Highlighting the importance of shouting loudly and in a single voice, Professor Mark Lewis noted: “This event demonstrated how clearly communicating the integrated innovation offers of each of our power-house research organisations when working with the wider ecosystem the East Midlands positions us in a way that is both nationally and internationally attractive.”
Looking forwards, Professor Chris Denning, Director of the University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, said: “Our region has truly impressive breadth and depth of capabilities and assets in life sciences and healthcare technologies, spanning public and private enterprise. These assets, and the opportunities they present, are often underappreciated and so showcase events are critical. By bringing together our ample desire to collaborate, a clear output of the event will be to create digestible packages that include case studies, which speak with one voice to attract inward investment from across the world.”
Closing out the visit, Alex Archibald, Project Manager Midlands Innovation Health, said: “This informative and engaging event is testimony to the collaborative nature of the East Midlands research ecosystem. I would like to thank everyone who was involved, especially Dace Dimza-Jones and James Silverward for being such insightful guests, and to give special thanks to Professor Chris Denning and Elizabeth Hufton from the University of Nottingham, without which this event would not have been possible.”
Published 7 May 2025
