Speakers
Keynote Speaker - Sir Tony Kouzarides
Sir Tony Kouzarides is a Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Cambridge. He has spent his career at the intersection of discovery, innovation, and mentorship. Starting his journey as a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, he spent time at the Cambridge MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and New York University Medical Centre, before setting up his lab in the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge.
His lab works on epigenetic modifications and cancer. Recognizing the need for industry collaborations in translating scientific discoveries into real-world applications, he founded and directs the Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge. His belief in the power of industry led him to co-found several companies: Abcam plc, STORM Therapeutics, Chroma Therapeutics and Vellos. He is currently CEO of Vellos and a Partner at the San Francisco-based venture firm Fifty Years.
Keynote Speaker - Dr Charlie Mayor
Head of MVLS Trusted Research Environment Service at University of Glasgow
Dr Charlie Mayor is Head of the MVLS Trusted Research Environment Service at the University of Glasgow and formerly Senior Programme Manager at Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), where he supported the coordination of HDR UK’s Research Driver portfolio.
He also spent five years leading the West of Scotland Safe Haven at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, one of Scotland’s four regional Safe Havens enabling secure health data research.
Opening Talk - Professor Jesse Dawson
Director of Research and Innovation in NHSGGC | Professor of Stroke Medicine at University of Glasgow
Professor Dawson is Director of Research and Innovation in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and a Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Glasgow.
His research portfolio includes clinical trials in prevention and rehabilitation in stroke survivors. His main interest is in improving the long-term outcome after stroke. He also currently serves as the Treasurer of the European Stroke Organisation.
Panel 1 - From idea to impact: Creating and Positioning Healthcare Innovations for Success
Nicola McMillan
High Growth Company Creation Team Lead at Scottish Enterprise
Nicola McMillan leads the High Growth Company Creation Team which delivers the High Growth Spin Out Programme at Scottish Enterprise, supporting the commercialisation of world class research from Scotland’s Universities, Research Institutions, and the NHS. The programme supports academics to develop their commercial proposition, spin out and raise investment with the ambition to become internationally competitive scaling businesses. Previously Nicola managed a portfolio of Scottish Enterprise’s High growth Venture’s clients, supporting Scotland’s ambitious start-ups and early-stage scale ups raise significant equity investment.
Nicola has worked in Economic Development, with a specific focus on Innovation and the early stage high growth sectors for the last 15 years in a range of positions nationally and internationally.
Becky Cotton
Co-founder of Lumino
Becky is passionate about using digital innovation to create meaningful social change. She believes technology should make care more accessible, equitable, and human. In 2020, she co-founded Lumino, a UK-based digital therapeutics company developing regulated, evidence-based tools to support better care for all. With support from Innovate UK, NIHR, Bayer, the Scottish Government and SBRI Wales, Becky has led Lumino in taking its first product — Seren, a CBT-based digital therapeutic for menopause — from concept to its first NHS contracts.
Lumino is part of Cambridge University’s Social Ventures Incubator and Accelerate Cambridge, and the Scottish Government's CivTech Accelerator. The company’s mission now extends beyond women’s health to address one of digital care’s biggest challenges: ensuring equitable access for everyone.
Before founding Lumino, Becky spent over 15 years in healthcare leadership. As Director of Mental Health Policy at the NHS Confederation, she chaired the UK’s Mental Health Policy Group — a coalition of six national organisations including Mind, Rethink Mental Illness and the Royal College of Psychiatrists — influencing national policy and investment in mental health.
Becky is a Churchill Fellow and holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, where she received the Sainsbury Scholarship, the Director’s Award, and multiple academic prizes. She also mentors emerging entrepreneurs through the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and EnterpriseTECH STAR Programme at the University of Cambridge. She is a 2023 winner of Innovate UK's Women in Innovation Award.
Dr Stuart Hannah
Co-founder and CEO at Microplate Dx
Dr Stuart Hannah is a health technology entrepreneur on a mission to transform the lives of patients globally by developing rapid diagnostic tests to tackle antimicrobial resistance. He co-founded Microplate Dx with the vision to become the leading provider of platform diagnostics to tackle the major global healthcare challenge of antimicrobial resistance in a rapid, scalable and inclusive manner.
Dr Hannah has a PhD in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and has 10+ years’ academic and industrial experience in developing biosensors and diagnostics for healthcare. Since forming the company in 2021 and being awarded a prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship, Stuart has already raised substantial equity investment and grant funding for Microplate Dx and won several significant awards for his work.
Dr Laurence Tan
Senior Associate at Praetura Ventures
Laurence Tan is a Senior Associate at venture capital firm Praetura Ventures and is responsible for identifying investment opportunities for the GMC Life Science Fund By Praetura. Laurence has an extensive background in life sciences and pharmacy, having completed a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, where he researched novel biomaterials as local drug delivery vehicles in gynaecological cancers.
Prior to joining Praetura, Laurence worked as a clinical pharmacist and completed his Masters of Pharmacy at the University of Manchester.
Dr Christopher Walsh
CEO of TileBio
Dr Christopher Walsh is the CEO of TileBio, a Scottish company developing advanced AI methods for analysing whole slide pathology images. With a background spanning computer science and biomedical research, his work explores how large-scale deep learning can reveal new insights from complex tissue data.
Christopher’s recent research focuses on self-supervised approaches that learn directly from unlabelled clinical images, aiming to build interpretable and scalable systems for a range of future applications in diagnostics and biomedical research. He has worked across academic and healthcare settings, with a commitment to advancing technologies that support both scientific discovery and improved patient care.
Panel 2 - Global Gains, Local Impact: Unlocking transatlantic HealthTech Value
Professor Ross Cagan
Regius Professor of Precision Medicine | Royal Society Wohl Fellow | Scientific Director of the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre at University of Glasgow
Dr Cagan's laboratory has been at the forefront of developing complex, whole-animal models for studying cancer and genetic diseases, contributing to the approval of the first FDA-approved treatment for Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma. He also led the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapeutics team, which developed a personalised fly-to-bedside, open label clinical trial for thyroid and colorectal cancer patients.
As a leading expert in personalised treatment, Dr Cagan serves as the Academic Lead of the Living Laboratory programme. He is integral to the large-scale effort to develop a thriving healthcare innovation ecosystem in Glasgow, focusing on expanding the city’s existing leadership and infrastructure in precision medicine.
Dr Katriona Brooksbank
R&I Innovation Lead at West of Scotland Innovation Hub
Dr Katriona Brooksbank has worked in academia, industry and the health service in the UK and globally. During this time Katriona has taken her experience in the ethical design and successful delivery of observational health research and clinical trials of new drugs to innovation and technology evidence generation in healthcare.
Katriona joined UofG in 2014 as Senior Clinical Research Manager and was appointed Head of Clinical Trials for the Heart Failure Group in 2021. Katriona is currently the R&I Innovation Lead, West of Scotland Innovation Hub (core CSO funded) – supporting end to end innovation in across the healthboards in the west of Scotland. Katriona is also Chair, Health Research Authority Research Ethics Committee, providing independent ethical review of research involving NHS patients and facilities. Katriona completed a Master of Laws in Medical Law and Ethics, University of Edinburgh in 2023 and is a current masters student at Edinburgh Futures Institute, UofEd studying Data, AI and Ethics (2024-2027).
As the Programme proposer and lead for the new MSc in MedTech Innovation at University of Glasgow, and course advisor for MSc Clinical Trials at University of Glasgow, Katriona continues to contribute to teaching and ensure courses on offer are relevant to healthcare requirements for developing new solutions for patients and the workforce.
Dr Derek Gilchrist
Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Causeway Therapeutics
Derek graduated in Molecular Biology from the University of Glasgow, followed by a PhD at the University of Liverpool and postdoctoral research at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.
Derek co-founded Causeway Therapeutics, joining the company as CEO taking the lead asset TenoMiR from concept through Phase 2 PoC for the treatment of tendinopathy. Derek currently leads Causeway’s pre-clinical programmes in the role of CSO.
Dr Pari Datta
Head of Technology Strategy for Healthtech at CPI
Dr Pari Datta and his team spearhead transformative strategies to accelerate innovation across diagnostics, life sciences, and medical technologies. His work bridges the gap between academia, industry, SMEs, and government, creating platforms for collaboration and innovation on key industry and healthcare challenges.
With over 15 years of experience spanning consulting, industry, and national technology strategy, Pari has guided many of the world’s leading companies and national bodies on innovation, technology and market direction, including eight of the top twenty global leaders in medical technology. His focus on innovation and business strategy has helped shape investment priorities and major UK initiatives, across the industry and nationally.
A geneticist by training, Pari has a key interest in the advancement of cutting-edge and early-stage technologies into IVD solutions which drive industry growth and answer unmet clinical needs, significantly improve healthcare, patient outcomes and experiences.
Adam Isaacs Rae
Medical Device Quality and Regulatory Consultant, Managing Director at The Other Consultants
Adam Isascs Rae is a medical device quality and regulatory consultant. With a 10 year experience, he delivers pragmatic and risk-based advice to enable organisations place safe and effective devices on the market, while considering their business goals.
He provides work as a medical device consultant, but he is also a qualified lead auditor who works with certification bodies. This gives him a unique view to understand the perspective of both sides of the table – the auditor and the auditee.
Panel 3 - From Bench to Bedside: How Clinical Roles Drive Real-world Innovation
Dr Claire Higgs-McCallum
Portfolio Manager at Digital Health Validation Lab
Claire holds a PhD in digital health evaluation methods and trial designs that inform product development, optimisation and real-world deployment. Following academic roles, including working as a postdoctoral researcher co-designing, developing and evaluating a self-management app for autoimmune rheumatic disease and serving as a Responsible Innovation Lecturer in Digital Health and Care, Claire transitioned to industry and programme management.
Prior to joining the Digital Health Validation Lab, Claire was Research and Impact Manager at VC in London. There, she managed Innovation Fellows working across a portfolio of health tech ventures and supported founders in product development and evidence generation.
Dr Robert Sykes
Clinical Lecturer in Ischaemic Heart Disease at University of Glasgow | Specialty Registrar in Cardiology and General Internal Medicine in the West of Scotland
Dr Robert Sykes' work spans clinical care, academic research, and innovation—focused on improving outcomes for people with heart disease. His research explores mechanisms of myocardial injury and ischaemia without obstructive coronary disease, using advanced diagnostics such as coronary physiology, intravascular imaging, and cardiovascular MRI. He now combines this foundation with emerging technologies in AI, machine learning, and digital twin platforms to develop new tools for personalised care and population-scale discovery.
Dr Sykes is committed to bridging the gap between bedside practice and data-driven innovation, transforming routine imaging into insights that enhance patient care today while unlocking breakthroughs for tomorrow.
Dr Dervla Carroll
Clinical Innovation Fellow at Digital Health Validation Lab
Dr Dervla Carroll is a Clinical Innovation Fellow at the Digital Health Validation Lab. Having graduated from the University of Oxford in 2021, she has been working as a resident doctor within Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Dervla has been involved in a number of projects evaluating new medical devices within the NHS, including algorithms to detect rare diseases from electronic health records and to interpret chest x-rays within the Emergency Department. She continues to engage with commercial partners as part of the DHVL team, and is presently pursuing an MD at the University of Glasgow with a focus on the evaluation of AI in healthcare.
Rachael Ellis
Deputy Head of the West of Scotland Centre for Genomic Medicine (WOSCGM)
Rachael Ellis is Deputy Head of the WOSCGM, which aims to provide the highest quality genomic services to NHS Scotland patients as part of the wider Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine (SSNGM). Central to this leadership is a strong passion for developing services, embracing automation, and adopting new technologies. This focus has shaped a specialist interest in rapidly translating research findings into diagnostic applications, ensuring that health outcomes are improved for patients in the most efficient manner possible.
Panel 4 - Translating Emerging Technologies: Building Patient Trust and Real-World Impact
Professor Nigel Jamieson
Professor of hepatobiliary and pancreatic Surgery at University of Glasgow | Consultant HPB surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Nigel Jamieson is Professor of hepatobiliary and pancreatic Surgery within the University of Glasgow School of Cancer Sciences and Consultant HPB surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He manages the Jamieson Spatial Laboratory, a spatial transcriptomic facility in the UofG characterising multiple malignancies, premalignant lesions, and inflammatory conditions across an international collaborative network deploying various regional and single-cell spatial technologies on large academic and industry led projects. Within the Living Lab he coordinates the CYGNUS project, deploying spatial biology technologies across a number of health condition.
Ron Alfa
Co-Founder and CEO of Noetik
Ron Alfa is a physician scientist at the forefront of leveraging technology to tackle unmet therapeutic needs in medicine. He is Co-Founder and CEO of Noetik, a next generation precision oncology company using multimodal foundation models pre-trained on large-scale human tumor data to discover cancer therapeutics.
Prior to Noetik, Ron was SVP, Head of Research (acting-CSO) at Recursion (RXRX) and an early founding employee where he led the company’s scientific and portfolio strategy from pre-Series A through IPO. He has led research programs across rare disease, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology, that have advanced molecules from discovery to clinical development. Ron holds an MD and PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine, where he completed his doctoral work in Neuroscience, and has a MA in History of Medicine from UCL.
Professor Joanne Edwards
Professor of Translational Cancer Pathology and Principal Investigator at the School of Cancer Sciences | Lead of the Colorectal Cancer Theme for the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre | Director of the Glasgow Tissue Research Facility
Professor Edwards has developed unique patient tissue cohorts with extensive linked clinical data across a breadth of solid tumours, which she utilises for developing biomarkers for personalised patient care.
She leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists and surgeons and has supervised over 20 PhD students. As a mentor, she strives to support the next generation of cancer researchers and inspire them through their educational careers as PhD students and post-doctoral scientists.
Dr Emma Parsons
Research Assistant at University of Glasgow | Glasgow Colorectal PPIE Group Lead
Emma completed her PhD in Precision Medicine at the University of Glasgow in 2024 and was awarded the School of Cancer Sciences’ Accomplishment in Academic Postgraduate Research Training Prize. Since then, she have worked as a postgraduate researcher at the University of Glasgow, supporting several projects related to bowel cancer. Her current research explores why people from more deprived areas are less likely to participate in bowel surveillance.
She leads the Glasgow Colorectal Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Group, which brings together patient advocates, public contributors, a charity representative, clinicians and researchers. Its primary aim is to ensure that patient interests are prioritised throughout bowel cancer research - with the group providing support for research projects involving industry, academia and the NHS.
Fireside Chat - Translating Innovation in Impact: How Strategic Partnerships are Shaping the Future of Health
Dr Ruth McLaughlin
Living Laboratory Programme Director at University of Glasgow
Dr Ruth McLaughlin is Programme Director for the University of Glasgow’s Living Laboratory for Precision Medicine and has a strong track record in life sciences innovation, with experience across both industry and academia. She has been key in advancing the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences' industry engagement efforts, including the development of the award-winning Clinical Innovation Zone and the delivery of multi-stakeholder initiatives to translate research into practical applications.
Ruth played a vital role in securing £60 million in funding for the Living Laboratory programme, which is dedicated to strengthening Glasgow’s position as a leader in healthcare innovation. She was also instrumental in establishing the Lighthouse Laboratory, one of the UK's largest COVID-19 testing facilities.
Her work continues to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, driving economic and social impact through the integration of clinical innovation projects centred around the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and the development of a thriving healthcare innovation cluster.
Professor Iain McInnes
Head of College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, and Vice Principal, University of Glasgow
Professor McInnes also serves also as the Muirhead Professor of Medicine and Versus Arthritis Professor of Rheumatology in the University. He is Director of the Versus Arthritis Centre of Excellence for Inflammatory Arthritis, lead from the University of Glasgow that includes Universities of Oxford, Newcastle and Birmingham. He serves as a member of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. He is a Trustee on the Board of Versus Arthritis. He is past chairman of the Foreum (Foundation for European Rheumatology Research) Scientific Committee, lead the European Roadmap programme that is defining the research agenda for European rheumatology for the next decade and is Past-President of the European Alliance of Rheumatology Asssociations (EULAR).
Under these auspices he led the creation of the first pan-European Rheumatology Research Centre launched in 2021. His work is mainly focused upon the understanding of the pathogenesis of immune mediated inflammatory diseases and encompasses basic discovery immunology through phase 1 and proof of concept experimental medicine clinical trials to leadership of pivotal phase 3 trials in the area of immune biology.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019 by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Dr Sandy (Alexander) Weir
Global Healthcare Informatics Technology Senior Program Manager at Canon Medical Research Europe
A Global HealthTech Executive specialising in AI innovation and digital transformation, Dr Alexander (Sandy) Weir brings over 25 years of experience leading cutting-edge initiatives across public and private sectors. His leadership has spanned start-ups and enterprise environments, positioning him as a key figure in scaling AI-driven platforms, modernising healthcare systems, and aligning technology with strategic business goals. As a Global Senior Program Manager at Canon Medical Research Europe, Sandy has directed multi-million-pound global programs in AI and precision informatics, helping to establish Canon’s AI Centre of Excellence and steering complex product development lifecycles.
He also led health IT governance frameworks, integrating next-gen diagnostics, NLP, and bioinformatics across global R&D teams. Sandy holds an Eng.D in Applied Photonics and a B.Eng. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, both from Heriot-Watt University. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and research committee member with the Scottish Funding Council, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow.
Professor Jesse Dawson
Director of Research and Innovation in NHSGGC | Professor of Stroke Medicine at University of Glasgow
Professor Dawson is Director of Research and Innovation in NHSGGC and a Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Glasgow.
His research portfolio includes clinical trials in prevention and rehabilitation in stroke survivors. His main interest is in improving the long-term outcome after stroke. He also currently serves as the Treasurer of the European Stroke Organisation.