Medilink Midlands

Webinar: Is your Business Case NHS Ready?
2020-09-22 10:30 - 11:30 (Europe/London)
Join the second of our two-part CPD accredited virtual workshops, Is your Business Case NHS Ready?, delivered by the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN).
The challenge as innovators and companies selling to the NHS is often that when you have a product that improves patient outcomes and saves cost you still cannot get it adopted by the NHS. This is frequently because there isn’t a fully developed business case.
PART 1 is a pre-recorded 40 minute webinar that you can watch at a time convenient to you.
The webinar will cover:
– What a business case is, what is its purpose and why is it so important?
– Who reviews the business case and how are they evaluated?
– How to construct a good business case
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PART 2 is a live 1-hour Q&A session that will take place on Tuesday 22nd September.
In order to gain access to this live session, delegates are required to watch the pre-recorded webinar prior to attending.
The Q&A session will be held with a panel of experts from the EMAHSN and delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the team.
Upon registration you will be sent a link to the pre-recorded webinar by a member of the Medilink East Midlands events team. Joining details for the live Q&A session will be distributed separately once the webinar has been viewed.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Nicholas Brown, Commercial Manager, East Midlands Academic Health Science Network
Nick joined the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network as Commercial Manager in 2015. Prior to this, Nick has more than 20 years’ experience of the medical industry working with manufacturers, distributors and clinical staff from the UK and European health sectors, from both the sales and marketing side, as well as in a consulting and advisory role. His Commercial Manager role focuses on building closer links between healthcare and businesses; identifying new services and products that can be introduced for the benefit of patients throughout the region – as well as marketed throughout the UK and abroad, providing wealth creation opportunities across the East Midlands.

Webinar: Precision Imaging- transforming healthcare and nutrition with pioneering imaging
2020-09-23 11:00 - 12:00
Join this webinar with the University of Nottingham where they will showcase the latest developments and capabilities in precision imaging.
Topics will include innovations in the application of imaging tools to:
-Pharmaceuticals
-Nutrition in food and beverages
-Medical Devices
-Biomarkers for health
There will also be an opportunity to ask your questions directly to the presenters in a Q&A session.
A wide range of available expertise will be explored from medicine, physics, mathematics, psychology, life sciences and computer sciences. Information will also be presented on the facilities dedicated to research full time, so you can find facilities and expertise to help with your product development.
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:
Professor Dorothee Auer, Professor of Neuroimaging, MD, PhD
Director, Precision Imaging Beacon of Excellence, Imaging Theme Lead, NIHR ~Nottingham BRC
Dorothee’s research interest is to develop imaging biomarkers in Clinical Neurosciences using advanced MRI techniques. Aims are: (1)understand the pathophysiology of diseases/complex symptoms across diseases, (2)improve diagnostic accuracy, (3)predict and assess therapeutic interventions. Methods include MR proton spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging, perfusion, relaxometry, high resolution carotid imaging and combined electrophysiological/fMRI.
Professor Luca Marciani, Precision Imaging Beacon, Industrial Strategy and Business Engagement Lead, University of Nottingham
Luca’s expertise is in imaging the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract using MRI. His research focuses on GI physiology/pathology using MRI combined with other techniques. Luca is interested in in-body imaging of foods, beverages, dosage forms and formulations, intestinal fluid distribution and developing novel MRI tests for GI motility and transit.

WEBINAR: AI and Smart-Tech in the Home
2020-09-24 10:30 - 12:00
This webinar will explore AI and Smart-Tech in the Home, take the opportunity to hear from Research Associates and Industry on this topic. This event is in partnership with The Open University Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies.
The presenters will cover:
– The MK:Smart programme, a smart city initiative update and future directions for the smart city using the example of a hypothetical smart project using robots to encourage people to engage in active travel, supporting healthy ageing and reducing social isolation
– Hear from Pantri, a company who embed AI into home appliances
– Home assistance robots
– A brief historical overview of robotic assistants plus overview of ‘Gatekeeper’ project including details on the application and it’s functionalities
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the ACTIS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Gaynor Henry-Edwards, Research Manager, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies – The Open University
Gaynor manages the Health and Wellbeing Strategic Research Area at The Open University. The Strategic Research Area supports, coordinates and promotes health and wellbeing research across the university. Open University researchers conduct research in health and wellbeing across various disciplines and areas including healthcare management, ageing studies, reproductive and sexual rights, assistive technologies, patient data management, mental health and biological health sciences. The scope of University expertise ranges from the science underpinning health and disease through to the medical humanities. The Open University is committed to working towards social justice specialising in participative and inclusive research methods with marginalised and vulnerable communities.

Miguel Valdez, Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management, School of Engineering and Innovation – The Open University
Miguel began his career as a software engineer, went on to become a technology journalist and is currently working as a Research Associate in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University. His doctoral research interrogated sustainable transport pilots in Milton Keynes, with a particular focus on the sensemaking activities that took place in organisations. He further developed this understanding of cities as experimental spaces within the transport work package of MK:Smart, a £16 million smart city programme. Through his research, Miguel has explored the role of innovative technologies in envisioned and developing future urban environments. His research has drawn insights from urban geography and innovation studies to interrogate how the experimental spaces in cities may facilitate the development of new knowledge about sustainable innovation, and on how such knowledge coalesce and travel.

Tom Cooper, CEO, Pantri
Tom is the CEO and founder of Pantri – a new platform which aims to make the new breed of WiFi connected kitchen appliances shop for repeat purchases automatically. He is considered a thought leader in the smart kitchen industry, with regular appearances in industry publications where he shares his views on how over the next 10 years, a lot of the weekly shop is going to become a lot easier and automated thanks to exciting new IoT and AI breakthroughs.

Gianluca Bardaro, Research Associate, Knowledge Media Institute – The Open University
Gianluca’s area of research is robotic software development. In particular, he is interested in how to enhance the existing tools and approaches to streamline the development process and achieve more complex, robust and functionality-rich robot applications. Currently, he is involved in the GATEKEEPER European project, as a task leader. As part of this project, his aim is developing a robotic assistant which operates within a smart home environment and which is capable of addressing the healthcare needs of elderly people.

WEBINAR: Clinical Trial - Design or Disaster?
2020-09-30 11:00 - 12:00
Join this ‘Clinical Trial – Design or Disaster?’ webinar to hear from Afortori Development and Simplified Data. This one hour webinar will explore:
– Why is diligent and robust trial design needed?
– What does it need to prove?
– How complex does it need to be?
– What kind of analysis needs to be undertaken?
Attend to learn about the above and take the opportunity to get your questions answered by the experts.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Danielle Bodicoat, Medical Statistics & Writing Consultant, Simplified Data
Danielle has over 12 years of experience as a medical statistician and writer with extensive experience of designing, conducting and analysing clinical trials. She began her career researching the causes of breast cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research (University of London). She then went on to be a researcher and lecturer at the University of Leicester, with a focus on diabetes. After a period working at Walgreens Boots Alliance to gain industry experience, Danielle set up Simplified Data in 2019. Danielle has a wealth of research, statistics and writing experience. Danielle has particular expertise in diabetes and cardiovascular disease trials. Danielle has a PhD in Epidemiology, MSc in Medical Statistics (Distinction) and BSc in Mathematics with Statistics (1st Class).
Nicola Wall , along with Elizabeth Ralph founded Afortiori Development after long careers in clinical research within a variety of roles. Both bring a commitment to well designed and successfully executed clinical trials.

Dr Nicola Wall, Chief Executive Officer, Afortori Development

Elizabeth Ralph, Chief Operating Officer, Afortori Development

Charlotte Culver, Clinical Project Leader, Afortori Development
Charlotte has a strong project management background in clinical research Phases I-V while delivering both commercial and non-commercial research throughout her career to produce quality results.
She is experienced in both pharmaceutical and device trials across several disease areas throughout the lifecycle of the project, in collaboration with key pharmaceutical and device companies in the industry.
Her proven project management track record provides her with the tools to deliver excellence and detailed delivery in clinical, regulatory, and financial aspects of clinical research.
Throughout her research career, she has worked on projects internationally, as either multicentered or single-centre as lead.

Webinar: Commercial Applications for Next Generation Biomaterials
2020-10-01 10:00 - 11:30
This webinar with the University of Nottingham will look at Commercial Applications for Next Generation Biomaterials.
The biomaterials discovery programme at the University of Nottingham has been targeting novel polymers with application as coatings for existing medical devices to reduce infection rates and controlling foreign body reaction, cell culture consumables for expansion and differentiation of stem cells, particulates for targeting therapeutic delivery for cancer and infections and surfaces to control viral, fungal and bacterial attachment in a wide variety of industries. They are looking for industrial organisations to partner with in the exploitation of these materials.
Presentations will include:
– Controlling bacterial biofilms formation using polymers
– Controlling foreign body reaction to medical implants using coatings
– New materials for breast cancer therapies
– Technologies to control Fibrosis
There will be a Q&A session during the webinar. We have also created a facility post event (11.30am – 12.00pm) for you to join the presenters in a Microsoft Teams meeting to ask further questions directly to the presenters. Details of this meeting will be shared during the webinar.
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
The Biomaterials Discovery project at the University of Nottingham has funding available to partner with industrial partners that are keen to explore its emerging novel biomaterials and their potential in healthcare in short proof of concept studies. They encourage any companies that can see application of these technologies in their area to contact the panellists in the discussion session or send us an email. Please click here to contact the team.

SPEAKER PROFILES:

Professor Morgan Alexander, Professor of Biomedical Surfaces, University of Nottingham
Morgan Alexander is Professor of Biomedical Surfaces, the Director of the EPSRC Programme Grant in Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery and a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator based in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham. He received his BSc in Materials (1988) and his PhD from the same department at The University of Sheffield in 1992.
His work involves developing materials for application in human healthcare and characterising relationships between surface structure and biological properties. Understanding these relationships is critical to the development of next generation biomaterials and it is the theme running through his group’s work across a variety of areas spanning control of bacterial adhesion, to engineering cell response with applications in medical devices and cell manufacture.

Kiril Kalenderski, PhD Student, University of Nottingham
Kiril is a researcher at the University of Nottingham, studying biofilm formation on bio-material surfaces developed as medical device coatings. He has predominantly worked with indwelling urinary catheters, to determine the efficacy of bio-material coatings in reducing biofilm formation on these devices, within in vitro experiments and clinical settings.

Dr Robert Cavanagh, Research Fellow, University of Nottingham
Rob completed his PhD in Drug delivery in 2017 at the University of Nottingham and focused on investigating intestinal permeability enhancers for the delivery of biologics. He joined Professor Cameron Alexander’s group in December 2017 as a post-doctoral researcher studying chemotherapeutic delivery using novel polymeric nanoparticles.

Dr Patrícia Monteiro, Research Fellow, University of Nottingham
Patrícia received a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), Brazil. In 2019 she completed her Ph.D. in drug delivery at the University of Nottingham. She then joined the EPSRC Programme Grant in Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery as a post-doctoral researcher. Her current research is focused on the development of bioresponsive polymers for triple negative breast cancer therapy.

Dr Leanne Fisher, Research Fellow, University of Nottingham
School of Life Sciences, Immunology and Immuno-bioengineering Group
Leanne’s research has focussed on the design and development of antimicrobial/anti-fouling surfaces to prevent the formation of biofilms on medical devices. More recently, she has been studying the impact of surface engineering on immune modulation and prevention of the foreign body response. Alongside this, Leanne works in developing immune-competent biomimetic tissue models, specifically organ-on-a-chip models.

Dr Matthew Vassey, Research Fellow, University of Nottingham
Matthew received a B.Sc. in Microbiology and Cellular Biology in 2005 at the University of Nottingham. In 2014 he completed his Ph.D. in Cellular Microbiology also at the University of Nottingham. He joined the EPSRC Programme Grant in Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery as a post-doctoral researcher in November 2017. His current research is focused on cell biology, human iPSC derived cells, 3D biology, host-pathogen interactions and infection biology.

Arsalan Latif, PhD Student, University of Nottingham
Arsalan is a final year doctoral student researching in developing stromal instructive niches to promote healing and suppress fibrosis, at the University of Nottingham. Before which he did his master’s in biomedical engineering at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Besides science, he enjoys building Lego models in his spare time.

East Midlands Academic Health Science Network Virtual Coffee Break
2020-10-08 10:30 - 11:30
Join EMAHSN for a virtual coffee break on Thursday 8 October at 10.30am.
Networking opportunities are a key part of Medilink EM events and whilst the current COVID-19 crisis still restricts face to face events, this online opportunity enables the life sciences community to still connect with one another. In this informal gathering, hosted by Nick Brown, Commercial Manager at EMAHSN, you will have the opportunity to share your current challenges and experiences and find out how the EMAHSN can help.
The theme for this virtual coffee break will be Patient Public Involvement (PPI), Shahnaz Aziz, PPI and Inclusion Lead from the EMAHSN will be attending to explain the importance of PPI, how do do it well and the offers the AHSN have to support companies in this activity.
Grab a coffee, a biscuit and join us.
Joining details will provided to delegates by a member of the Medilink EM events team once the online registration form has been completed.
If you have any topics that you’d like to discuss in future AHSN coffee breaks, please feel free to email any suggestions to us by clicking here.
Chair and Panel details:
Nick Brown, Commercial Manager, EMAHSN

Shahnaz Aziz, PPI and Inclusion Lead, EMAHSN

Aisha Ajij, Project Support and Industry Liaison Officer, EMAHSN

WEBINAR: Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing Special Interest Group (SIG)
2020-10-14 10:00 - 11:30
The Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing Special Interest Group (SIG) is back and we have a great online event lined up for you on “Where are we now?”.
This event is in partnership with The University of Nottingham – Centre for Additive Manufacturing. The webinar will cover:
– “Where are we now?”
– The national additive manufacturing strategy: unleashing the potential in the medtech sector
– Regulatory considerations for Additive Manufactured Medical Devices
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles

Ruth Goodridge, Professor in Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing), The University of Nottingham
Ruth is Professor of Additive Manufacturing (3D-Printing) at the University of Nottingham. She is currently on secondment to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, based in Clinical Engineering. With a degree in Biomaterials and PhD in Bioengineering, she has a particular interest in the medical applications of Additive Manufacturing, including assistive and rehabilitation devices (inc. prosthetics), implants and diagnostics. She has 20 years experience in multidisciplinary research into Additive Manufacturing, including a 2-year JSPS fellowship held at NAIST, Japan. Her expertise lies in material development for AM and advancing understanding of coupled material-processing aspects, in particular for polymer and glass powder bed fusion.

Paul Unwin, Industrial Chair, Additive Manufacturing Strategy Steering Group (AM UK)
AM UK is an independent, government-backed collaboration, positioned to help drive the UK’s AM strategy. The national strategy published in September 2017 provides recommendations to enable UK industry to unlock the full commercial potential of additive manufacturing and presents the output of 5 years of work undertaken by the UK AM community.
Previously, Paul was the founding CEO of the Stanmore Implants Worldwide Ltd, who are a world renowned specialist orthopaedic implant service provider. Paul was the creator and architect of a ground-breaking patient-specific implant system that integrated patient imaging, implant design, implant manufacture utilising Additive Manufacturing and placing the implants with the aid of robotics, culminating in the successful surgical placement – a world first. Paul and his team began investigating additive manufacturing for orthopaedic implants in 2006 and after following an extensive development programme built and implanted one of the first additive manufactured mega bone replacements in 2011.

Ashley Stratton-Powell, Senior Medical Device Specialist, MHRA
Ashley is Technical Lead for Orthopaedics at Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). He leads a team of Medical Device Specialists who are responsible for investigating trends in adverse incident reports, issuing patient safety alerts and producing guidance on regulatory issues. He has a PhD in Medical Engineering from the University of Leeds and is a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

WEBINAR: Supply Chain - improving resilience and agility for challenging times
2020-10-20 14:00 - 15:00
This webinar alongside Mills & Reeve will consider how supply chains are evolving and adapting in these difficult times, and what you can do to improve your crisis-resilience.
For all businesses, the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis and the forthcoming end of the Brexit transition period present particular difficulties. For life sciences business, an additional set of considerations arise. With multinational clinical studies, complex global supply chains and multi-component products a well-planned approach is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought these issues into sharp focus, as countries battle for scarce supplies of active ingredients, medicines, reagents and equipment to enable them to support the effort to combat the outbreak.
Jayne Hussey and Stephanie Caird from Mills & Reeve will cover:
– How businesses can build supply chain resilience and agility
– Offer some tips on how to get ahead of a crisis before it happens
– How some businesses are adopting new ways of working to tackle some of the financial difficulties of disrupted supply chains
– How to build really effective relationships with your key suppliers
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Stephanie Caird, Principal Associate, commercial lawyer specialising in the life sciences sector, Mills & Reeve
Stephanie is a lawyer specialising in the life sciences practice with experience in intellectual property, data protection, commercial contracting and regulatory work. She supports a wide range of clients in the pharma and biotech, medical devices and diagnostic sectors.
Stephanie has also worked in-house for various life sciences organisations, giving her a unique insight into her clients. She uses this experience to deliver pragmatic and commercial advice. A key focus of her work is supporting clients on strategic decisions influenced by the regulatory framework and contracts covering IP, research collaboration and Brexit intra-group arrangements.

Jayne Hussey, Partner, commercial contracts specialist, Mills & Reeve
Jayne is a commercial contracts specialist lawyer with a wealth of experience in advising businesses on complex supply chain arrangements, including outsourcing contracts, contract manufacturing arrangements and long term supply and purchasing arrangements. Jayne has international contracting expertise and has worked on a significant number of cross-border arrangements.
Jayne is highly regarded by clients for providing straightforward legal advice and support and ensuring that contractual arrangements are structured to deliver objectives. She is trusted by clients to assess proposed contracts in the context of a client’s appetite for risk and its governance framework.

Webinar: Introduction to NHS Market Access
2020-10-21 10:30 - 11:30
Join our two-part CPD accredited virtual workshop, Introduction to NHS Market Access, delivered by the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN).
Combined, the two sessions will give innovators key insights into the complexities of the NHS and wider healthcare ecosystem as well as the support available to help you to introduce your health technology product or service into the NHS.
PART 1 is a pre-recorded 45 minute webinar that you can watch at a time convenient to you.
The webinar will cover:
– The NHS Structure
– Understanding pathways and cash flow
– Getting your message right
– What support you can expect from the AHSN
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PART 2 is a live 1-hour Q&A session that will take place on Wednesday 21st October.
In order to gain access to this live session, delegates are required to watch the pre-recorded webinar prior to attending.
The Q&A session will be held with a panel of experts from the EMAHSN and delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the team.

Upon registration you will be sent a link to the pre-recorded webinar by a member of the Medilink East Midlands events team. Joining details for the live Q&A session will be distributed separately once the webinar has been viewed.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Nicholas Brown, Commercial Manager, East Midlands Academic Health Science Network
Nick joined the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network as Commercial Manager in 2015. Prior to this, Nick has more than 20 years’ experience of the medical industry working with manufacturers, distributors and clinical staff from the UK and European health sectors, from both the sales and marketing side, as well as in a consulting and advisory role. His Commercial Manager role focuses on building closer links between healthcare and businesses; identifying new services and products that can be introduced for the benefit of patients throughout the region – as well as marketed throughout the UK and abroad, providing wealth creation opportunities across the East Midlands.

WEBINAR: The Nottingham Recovery from COVID-19 Research Platform (NoRCoRP) - Developing New Approaches to Treatment
2020-10-22 10:30 - 12:00
Researchers in Nottingham have launched a new study platform for the next generation of COVID-19 clinical research: The Nottingham Recovery from COVID-19 Research Platform (NoRCoRP).
The platform will bring together projects examining the impacts and lasting effects of COVID-19, translating findings from patients who are known to have contracted the virus into new approaches to treatment to support their recovery. To read about the background on all of the Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre’s COVID-19 research, click here.
Attend this webinar to find out about NoRCoRP plus:
– Background to COVID-19: clinical presentations, pathophysiology
– Existing treatment strategies
– Review of Nottingham portfolio of existing clinical trial and planned clinical studies in patients with COVID-19
– PHOSP-COVID and NoRCoRP: follow up studies of patients who have had COVID-19
– Opportunities for engagement with the NIHR Nottingham BRC for COVID related work
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profile:

Professor Ian Hall, Director, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre
Professor Ian is the Director of the NIHR Nottingham, Biomedical Research Centre. He is a chest physician based at NUH NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, and has a long track record of research into the mechanisms underlying the development of a range of lung diseases. He currently chairs the national BRC Director’s forum, sits on NIHR Strategy Board, and is a member of UK-CTAP.

Webinar: Food Supplements Special Interest Group (SIG)- CBD and the latest developments
2020-10-29 11:00 - 12:00
Join us online for our next Food Supplements Special Interest Group (SIG) to hear about how, within the space of a couple of years, CBD ingestibles have transitioned from a lightly regulated consumer product to potentially being classified as a narcotic and banned from the shelves of retail outlets in Europe. How did this happen and what’s the impact on the CBD industry?
We invite you to hear some of the facts around CBD, providing clarity about its current status and the future challenges and opportunities for companies operating in this sector. All of this will be presented by our speakers, Janet Worrell, Head of Regulatory at JensonR+ and Greer Deal, Director of Global Regulatory Services
As well as the opportunity to hear some facts about CBD you can take part in a question and answer session.
DURATION: 1 Hour
TO BOOK YOUR PLACE PLEASE CLICK HERE
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Janet Worrell, Head of Regulatory, JensonR+
Janet is an experienced regulatory affairs professional, having supported a diverse portfolio of products, for a number of companies across the East Midlands. Janet’s experience covers early concept development, food supplements, over the counter (OTC) medicines, inhaled therapies and clinical trial applications. Janet enjoys collaborating with companies to develop their regulatory strategy to deliver commercial success. Janet is an independent board member of the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network supporting innovation within NHS.

Greer Deal, Director, Global Regulatory Services
Greer has over 25 years’ experience in the life science sector and 13 years ago she co-founded Global Regulatory Services with her husband, Bobby Deal. One of their first projects involved medicinal cannabis and since then the company has become increasingly involved in plant-derived products whether medicinal, food or cosmetics. Since January 2019, Global Regulatory Services has become known as the leading advisers to companies in the cannabis industry with particular expertise in navigating the EU Novel Foods Regulation.

Webinar: Medicines Management in Professional Sport
2020-11-03 11:00 - 12:00
Join Medilink East Midlands, in partnership with MedsOnTrack and JensonR+ to discuss Medicines Management in Professional Sport.
Our speaker, Steve Simbler, is a pharmacist with over 20 years’ experience working in elite sport. Steve will share some of his experiences as one of the lead pharmacists for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, as well as some of the other events with which he has been involved. He will also describe his work with elite teams in various sports, including topics such as:
• the volumes of analgesics and anti-inflammatories taken by players/athletes
• storage and security issues in training grounds and also associated with travel
• lack of full time doctors in professional sport and problems associated with other healthcare professionals administering medications to players
• record-keeping issues
• controlled drugs issues
• emergency & trauma medications management in a sports environment
• lack of regulatory oversight or independent monitoring
• concerns over doping issues
DURATION: 1 HOUR
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants
Speaker Profiles:

Steve Simler MRPharm.s, MedsOnTrack
Steve has been working as a pharmacist in elite sport for over 20 years, initially in a supply capacity, and for the past 10 years in providing medicines management consultancy and software to teams in the Premier League and English Football League as well as national governing bodies for football, rugby, athletics, tennis, cricket, rowing, and cycling amongst others.
He was one of the lead pharmacists for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, then again for the London 2017 Athletics and Para-Athletics World Championships.
As well as giving talks about vitamin D, he lectures on various topics pertaining to drugs in sport and the use of analgesics and anti-inflammatories in sport.
In 2006, sport doctors approached Steve to advise on obtaining a reliable source of vitamin D that could pass tests for WADA-prohibited substances, this prompted an association with Synergy Biologics, makers of Pro D3, and this relationship is ongoing, and stimulated an interest in vitamin D on which he keeps abreast of research, and reads extensively.
Since 2016 Steve has been a pharmacist panel member for the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee, and has recently started as an NHS Test and Trace clinical contact tracer on a part time basis.

Janet Worrell, Head of Regulatory, JensonR+
Janet is an experienced regulatory affairs professional, having supported a diverse portfolio of products, for a number of companies across the East Midlands. Janet’s experience covers early concept development, food supplements, over the counter (OTC) medicines, inhaled therapies and clinical trial applications. Janet enjoys collaborating with companies to develop their regulatory strategy to deliver commercial success. Janet is an independent board member of the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network supporting innovation within NHS.

Webinar: The Value of Digital Health
2020-11-10 10:30 - 11:30
Digital Healthcare has undergone a dramatic acceleration during 2020. The requirement to deliver care remotely has accelerated adoption of new technologies, new care pathways and new learning like never before.
This event is in partnership with the Digital Health Team at De Montfort University will provide an insight into the latest developments in this area, supporting the future of healthcare.
This webinar will cover:
-Examples of real-world application of digital technology in health and social care.
-Examining the challenges and solutions to enhancing equitable access.
-Exploring the benefits of digital health for patients, healthcare professionals, and society.
-Understanding how partner organisations can demonstrate their digital health intervention delivers value.
This webinar is open to all organisations keen to explore and understand the digital health landscape.
Duration: 1 hour
This free to attend webinar will be held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. For further details please click here. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
The webinar is part of the programme of events for Leicester Business Festival 2020, De Montfort University are proud to be Headline Partner. For further details on the festival, please click here.
Speaker Profiles:

Dr Simon Oldroyd, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Dr Simon Oldroyd is the University’s Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (iDVC). Simon is Deputy to the Interim Vice-Chancellor on all academic matters. His responsibilities include day-to-day academic leadership of the university and strategic and operational oversight and line management of the faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor/Deans and three cross cutting Pro Vice-Chancellor portfolios.

Professor David Mba, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise)
Professor David Mba was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Computing, Engineering and Media in August 2017. In May 2019, he also took on the role of PVC (Enterprise), and in March 2020 he also took on the role of PVC (Research).
David’s current research is focused on machine condition monitoring, machine fault diagnosis, model based prognostics and machine performance prediction.

Professor Bertha Ochieng, Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care
Bertha Ochieng is Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University. A key aspect of her research is in examining digital solutions that support development of integrated models of health and social care and community engagement.

Professor Barnaby Poulton, MRPharmS FFCI; Hon. Professor of Digital Medicine and Director Digital Health and Care Unit. Digital Health Strategist
Barnaby is a pharmacist by training who has switched his focus to digital health. He has built and led multiple digital health companies and co-founded the Digital Health and Care Unit at DMU to support the evaluation of novel technologies, enabling them to enter market and deliver benefits to patients.

East Midlands Academic Health Science Network Virtual Coffee Break
2020-11-12 10:30 - 11:30
Join EMAHSN for a virtual coffee break on Thursday 12 November at 10:30am, to have a chat about the digital landscape in the NHS. This informal gathering will be hosted by Mike Watson, Digital Lead and you will have the opportunity to share your experiences and find out how the EMAHSN can help.
Networking opportunities are a key part of Medilink EM events and whilst the current COVID-19 crisis still restricts face to face events, this online opportunity enables the life sciences community to still connect with one another.
Grab a coffee, a biscuit and join us.
If you have any topics that you’d like to discuss in future AHSN coffee breaks, please feel free to email any suggestions to us by clicking here.
Joining details will provided to delegates by a member of the Medilink EM events team once the online registration form has been completed.
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WEBINAR: Medical Technologies & Systems Special Interest Group (SIG)
2020-11-18 10:00 - 11:30
The next Medical Technologies & Systems Special Interest Group (SIG) will take place online, join us as we discuss Digital Therapeutics, Diagnostics and Connected Devices.
Attend to hear about:
– Technical challenges in using wearables for depression prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment
– Technological approaches towards dementia diagnostics and safeguarding
– Using machine learning to predict and diffuse meltdown events in students with autism
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Chaired by: Professor Philip Breedon, Professor of Smart Technologies, Nottingham Trent University
As well as his role at Nottingham Trent University, Philip is also a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered IT professional. He is a member of the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research invention for innovation funding panel and holds a number of journal editorial positions. His research interests and latest projects centre on new and emerging technologies and materials. This includes wearable technologies, 3D printing of pathological models, additive and subtractive manufacturing for medical applications, surgical robotics, cardiovascular devices, augmented /virtual/immersive technologies and environments, the surgical pathway and investigative research related to the utilisation of ‘smart materials’ for medical applications. Through promoting his work and research activities he now works with a number of surgeons and clinicians across Europe.

Prof. David J. Brown – Professor in Interactive Systems for Social Inclusion, Nottingham Trent University
David is Professor of Interactive systems for Social Inclusion, with the Department of Computer Science at Nottingham Trent University. Recent grants on which he has acted as PI include 2 EU H2020 projects (MaTHiSiS and No One Left Behind) on affective computing and digital game making for students with learning disabilities and autism, an EPSRC project (An Internet of Soft Things) on co-design of networked soft textile interfaces to promote mental wellbeing, and a range of EU Erasmus projects (e.g., Pathway+) to use affective computing to provide personalised learning pathways for students with learning disabilities. He is Conference Co-Chair for the International Conference of Virtual Reality, Disability and Associated Technologies, and Associate Editor for Frontiers – Virtual Reality and Medicine.

Dr John Broulidakis- Research Scientist, Emteq Labs
John was educated at the university of Sussex where he gained a first-class honours degree in Psychology with Neuroscience. John completed his PhD at the University of Southampton in Cognitive Neuroscience in 2019. He has direct experience of the issues and challenges associated with managing large and complex clinical studies having successfully managed a €2.5million EU funded study. Currently he is working as a research scientist for medical device manufacture Emteq Labs. There he is involved in manufacturing ecologically valid, “context aware” emotion recognition systems though novel wearable devices

Prof. Michael Hornberger- (Professor of Applied Dementia Research, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia) Associate Dean of Innovation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia)
Michael is the Professor of Applied Dementia Research at the Norwich Medical School and the Associate Dean of Innovation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. His research focuses on improving diagnosis, disease progression tracking and symptom management in dementia. His research group employs various research methodologies (clinical, cognition, sensor technology, neuroimaging and genetics) as well as disease interventions (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) for their research studies. His current research is particularly focused on spatial orientation and navigation deficits in dementia and how this has an impact on people’s outdoor activities such as driving and walking safely.

Webinar: Is your Business Case NHS Ready?
2020-11-19 10:30 - 11:30
Registration for this event is now closed.
Join the second of our two-part CPD accredited virtual workshops, Is your Business Case NHS Ready?, delivered by the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN).
The challenge as innovators and companies selling to the NHS is often that when you have a product that improves patient outcomes and saves cost you still cannot get it adopted by the NHS. This is frequently because there isn’t a fully developed business case.
PART 1 is a pre-recorded 40 minute webinar that you can watch at a time convenient to you.
The webinar will cover:
– What a business case is, what is its purpose and why is it so important?
– Who reviews the business case and how are they evaluated?
– How to construct a good business case
——————
PART 2 is a live 1-hour Q&A session that will take place on Thursday 19th November.
In order to gain access to this live session, delegates are required to watch the pre-recorded webinar prior to attending.
The Q&A session will be held with a panel of experts from the EMAHSN and delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the team.
This free to attend virtual event will be held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Click here to be redirected to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £222, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.

Upon registration you will be sent a link to the pre-recorded webinar by a member of the Medilink East Midlands events team. Joining details for the live Q&A session will be distributed separately once the webinar has been viewed.
SPEAKER PROFILE:

Nicholas Brown, Commercial Manager, East Midlands Academic Health Science Network
Nick joined the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network as Commercial Manager in 2015. Prior to this, Nick has more than 20 years’ experience of the medical industry working with manufacturers, distributors and clinical staff from the UK and European health sectors, from both the sales and marketing side, as well as in a consulting and advisory role. His Commercial Manager role focuses on building closer links between healthcare and businesses; identifying new services and products that can be introduced for the benefit of patients throughout the region – as well as marketed throughout the UK and abroad, providing wealth creation opportunities across the East Midlands.

WEBINAR: Ensuring your Clinical Trial helps you to sell your products
2020-11-25 11:00 - 12:00
Join this webinar to hear from Afortori Development and Pym’s Consultancy, on tips and advice for ensuring your Clinical Trial helps you to sell your products.
The reason for conducting trials is to validate your product or service so that you can enter the market or increase sales.
Before you start planning your trial you need to establish what your long term goals are, and then how evidence and validation will help you reach those goals. In this way your research and development strategy is embedded into your overall business strategy – in short every element of your business complements the others and your company has a clear road map for the future helping you to maximise your return on investment in all parts of the business.
In the sales process a successful trial starts as a talking point, delivers evidence to support your sales pitch, and validates your product to the wider NHS environment, broadening your reach into the market.
Attend to learn about the above and take the opportunity to get your questions answered by the experts.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Dr Nicola Wall, Chief Executive Officer, Afortori Development
Nicola Wall , along with Elizabeth Ralph founded Afortiori Development after long careers in clinical research within a variety of roles. Both bring a commitment to well designed and successfully executed clinical trials.

Kate Pym, Managing Director, Pym’s Consultancy
Kate Pym is Managing Director of Pym’s Consultancy Ltd, an independent consultancy providing services for SMEs and universities supporting grant applications, responses to tender and commercialisation
Kate has over 20 years’ experience of working in Health and Social Care for companies, including Allergan Inc., AstraZeneca, Mitie and Baxter Healthcare. With a focus on innovative products and services. She has worked across the NHS, public, private and third sectors to produce patient-centred, high quality, outcome based services and facilitate the market entry and growth of new products.
Kate’s experience covers: Product launches, writing winning bids, working with commissioners to model population outcomes, designing, selling and mobilization of new integrated services. She has a clear focus on outcomes and what is required to demonstrate them, with a view to extension and expansion of constructive innovation. Since 2014 Kate has supported over 40 organisations as managing director of Pym’s.

CANCELLED Webinar: GDPR implications for international personal data transfers
2020-12-01 11:00 - 12:00
We have unfortunately had to cancel this webinar due to circumstances beyond our control. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience.
Earlier this year, the European Court of Justice struck down the US Privacy Shield, and although it focused on EU-US data transfers, the ruling has caused widespread aftershocks for international personal data transfers within the EEA. International group companies using personal data, or even non-international organisations which are using Cloud or other service providers in non-EEA countries (such as India or elsewhere), need to be aware of the implications arising from the ruling.
For life sciences businesses, the kinds of data that may be affected could be data about individual patients and their treatment, clinical trial data and information about staff, research colleagues and physicians. Organisations have become so used to working digitally that they may not even fully appreciate when international data transfers are taking place.
Jagvinder Singh Kang, International and UK Head of IT Law (CIPP/E, CIPM) at Mills & Reeve considers what steps you can take to protect your organisation following the ruling.
This webinar will be relevant to all organisations involved in international personal data transfers from within the EEA, whether to group companies, service providers or other organisations.
There will also be an opportunity to ask the presenters questions, when Jagvinder will be joined for a Q&A session by specialist Life Sciences Lawyer, Stephanie Caird.
DURATION: 1 hour
Please note that due to privacy restrictions this webinar will NOT be recorded and the presentation slides will not be available to download.
This free to attend webinar will be held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. For further details please click here. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
SPEAKER PROFILES:
Jagvinder Singh Kang – International and UK Head of IT (CIPP/E, CIPM)
Jagvinder is a market leading technology lawyer. He is featured in Legal 500’s official ‘Hall of Fame’ – which Legal 500 confirms: “highlights, to clients, the law firm partners who are at the pinnacle of the profession.” He has been recognised for 9 consecutive years in Legal 500’s ‘Elite List of Outstanding Technology Lawyers Nationwide’, and consistently been ranked number one for IT and technology law by Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for the same period. Jagvinder is a specialist technology and GDPR/data protection lawyer (CIPP/E, CIPM), as well as a qualified software engineer (First Class BSc (Hons) Computer Science & Software Engineering) and he has completed the academic requirements for Chartered Engineer status as well. Furthermore, he has over 20 years of technology law expertise from having advised on billions of pounds worth of UK and international technology transactions, involving FTSE 100, NASDAQ listed and other world-class corporates. He has also undertaken global, European and UK GDPR compliance projects.

Stephanie Caird – Commercial Lawyer
Stephanie is a lawyer in the life sciences practice, with significant experience in data protection, intellectual property, commercial contracting and regulatory work. She supports a wide range of clients in the pharma and biotech, medical devices and diagnostic sectors. Stephanie has worked in-house in various life sciences organisations, giving her a unique insight into her clients. She uses this experience to deliver pragmatic and commercial advice. A key focus of her work is supporting clients on strategic decisions influenced by the regulatory framework and contracts covering IP, research collaborations and Brexit related intra-group arrangements.

WEBINAR: The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill - the UK regulatory environment following Brexit
2020-12-01 11:00 - 12:00
Join Mills & Reeve for this webinar where we will discuss the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill – the UK regulatory environment following Brexit.
As the end of the Brexit transition period approaches we see UK Government making plans to move forward as a standalone regulatory system. A central plank of these plans is the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill. This was published in February, and is making its way through the Parliamentary process. Although existing EU law will be brought over into the UK system from 1 January 2021, the Bill gives broad powers to the Health Minister to develop the law to fit UK priorities. Promoting fast-track approval of innovative medicines and technologies and reducing red tape, as well as promoting UK-based industry, will take on greater importance.
For medical devices, the situation is made more complex by the forthcoming full implementation of the new EU regulations on medical devices and in vitro diagnostics. Likewise, the EU clinical trials system is yet to be rolled out pending completion of the EMA’s new portal and database. The UK will have to decide how closely to track these systems, while, of course, adopting its own administrative structures to implement them.
During this webinar we will review the latest position, and consider likely outcomes for the UK regulatory environment.
There will also be an opportunity to ask the presenters questions.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the ACTIS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

James Fry, Head of Life Sciences and Partner at Mills & Reeve
James heads the firm’s fast growing, multi-disciplinary life sciences practice and focuses exclusively on this sector. The practice supports clients in the pharma and biotech, medical device, diagnostic, medtech and digital health sub-sectors. James’ own practice focuses on intellectual property, commercial contracting and regulatory work.

Isabel Teare, Senior Legal Adviser at Mills & Reeve
Isabel Teare is a Senior Legal Adviser at Mills & Reeve. She started her career in molecular biology, and focuses on all aspects of life sciences law and regulation.

WEBINAR: Medtech Regulatory Special Interest Group (SIG) - Keeping Up With The Ever Changing Regulations
2020-12-09 11:00 - 12:00
The next Medtech Regulatory Special Interest Group (SIG) will take place online. Join us as we remove the confusion from the ever changing regulations including MDD, IVDD, AIMDD, MDR, IVDR, UKCA & MRA, and what it means to us in the UK.
The topics being discussed are:
– Really Brief history of the Directives and their resurrected future: MDD, IVDD, AIMDD
– The new MDR – current time line (less than 6 months to go)
– The new IVDR – growing calls for a delay
– The new UKCA Mark – for GB only!
– What regulation applies to me?
– Finding a Notified Body/ UK Approved Body
There will also be an opportunity to ask the presenter questions in a Q&A session.
This free to attend event is held as part of the ACTIS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.

Speaker Profile
Peter Rose, Managing Director, PRQR Ltd
Peter is the founder of PRQR Ltd. With 26 years of experience with Medical Devices and IVDs, Peter has expertise covering Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, Sterilisation, Cleanrooms and Contamination Control. He is a Microbiologist, Chartered biologist, Member of the RSB, Practitioner Member of the CQI and a Member of TOPRA.

POSTPONED WEBINAR: Innovation during lockdown – Speak to the Advisers
2021-01-27 10:00 - 11:00
Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been postponed to Tuesday 13th April. To register please click here.

We remain open for business during the current lockdown and we will continue to support our members, clients and the life sciences community, albeit in a more virtual way.
Delivered by Medilink East Midlands, join this meeting to meet our team of Advisers for a detailed interactive discussion on innovation support and how our projects can help. We will talk through examples of the types of projects we can fund and also what other support is available across the East Midlands region.
During this virtual meeting you will:
– Find out how we can support you to fast-track your innovations and bring your ideas to market
– Have the opportunity to ask questions directly to our team of knowledgeable advisers and find out how you can obtain further support
– Identify who is the dedicated Adviser for your area
– Receive information on the grants we have available to help companies overcome innovation barriers
This is an interactive meeting, where attendees are encouraged to join via their webcam and to ask questions directly to our advisers.
DURATION: 1 HOUR
PLEASE NOTE: The funding and support discussed in this meeting is only available for companies in the East Midlands region.
This free to attend meeting will be held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Click here to be redirected to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Medilink Midlands Innovation Advisers:

Lyndsey Allen

Neil Barnes

Alasdair Gaw

Jo Maltby

Teresa Smith

POSTPONED: WEBINAR: Research location: Where and Why! Selecting and contracting with appropriate clinical research sites in uncertain times
2021-02-03 10:00 - 11:00
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this webinar has been postponed. The webinar will now take place on Thursday 11th March, to book your free place, please click here.

Join us for the next in the series of our Clinical Trial Special Interest Groups with Afortiori Development at this webinar where we will be discussing research location: where and why!
When it comes to making decisions about your chosen research trial setting, there is much to consider. Join us to learn how to make the right location choice for your product and understand how patient pathways, healthcare setting, institutional policies, geography and costs can affect your trial success.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Charlotte Culver, Clinical Project Leader, Afortiori Development
Charlotte has a strong project management background in clinical research Phases I-V while delivering both commercial and non-commercial research throughout her career to produce quality results.
She is experienced in both pharmaceutical and device trials across several disease areas throughout the lifecycle of the project, in collaboration with key pharmaceutical and device companies in the industry.
Her proven project management track record provides her with the tools to deliver excellence and detailed delivery in clinical, regulatory, and financial aspects of clinical research.
Throughout her research career, she has worked on projects internationally, as either multicentered or single-centre as lead.

James Fry, Head of Life Sciences and Partner at Mills & Reeve
James heads the firm’s fast growing, multi-disciplinary life sciences practice and focuses exclusively on this sector. The practice supports clients in the pharma and biotech, medical device, diagnostic, medtech and digital health sub-sectors. James’ own practice focuses on intellectual property, commercial contracting and regulatory work.

Life Sciences Marketing Special Interest Group (SIG) :Delivering engaging social media in 2021-how to succeed in B2B Life Sciences
2021-02-23 10:00 - 11:00
Join us online for our very first Life Sciences Marketing Special Interest Group (SIG) event, focusing on the hot topic of B2B social media. Social media marketing is becoming much more prominent for B2B marketers and if used effectively it can become a powerful marketing channel for engagement and lead generation.
Learn B2B social media insights from a leading expert – Mark Saxby, Consultant and Director of Status Social; one of the UK’s first specialist social media agencies. Discover real life examples of how B2B businesses are using social media for success and gain hot tips to help you improve social media engagement and communication.
The event will be hosted by Robin Bodicoat, Marketing Director, Quotient Sciences, who will also share his own insights and provide industry examples.
You can also take part in a live Q&A session.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Robin Bodicoat, Marketing Director at Quotient Sciences
Robin is the CIM qualified, Marketing Director at Quotient Sciences, a leading drug development services organization. He is also an active Board Member of the BMC (Business Marketing Club), which is the independent voice of the B2B marketing industry. He has 15+ years’ experience in Life Sciences, Pharma and Healthcare, with knowledge in marketing campaign planning and strategy, and brand development. In 2017 he managed the global re-brand of Quotient Sciences.

Mark Saxby, Consultant & Director of Status Social
Mark Saxby is the director of Status Social, a thriving social media consultancy based in Derby. He is a recognised social media expert and when not helping his clients to generate revenue through social, Mark is an in-demand speaker and has presented alongside Google and Mars.

WEBINAR: Reducing Health Inequalities through Digital Health
2021-03-10 10:00 - 11:30
The pandemic has brought about a dramatic acceleration of Digital Health solutions and the requirement to deliver care remotely. Adoption of, and access to healthcare is impacted by many factors including the use of the technology itself.
Join De Montfort University’s Digital Health Team for an insight into the latest developments in this area supporting the future of healthcare.
This webinar will cover:
• Understanding the digital response to Covid-19.
• Examining the application of Digital Health in Covid-19 with a focus on health and social care providers.
• Exploring the adoption of Digital Health and how it is impacted by factors of technology.
• Understanding the user perspective including ‘trust’ in digital, and the practical application.
This webinar is open to all organisations keen to explore and understand the digital health landscape.
This free to attend webinar will be held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. For further details please click here. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants
Speaker Profiles:

Dr Simon Oldroyd, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Dr Simon Oldroyd became Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor in April 2019. Prior to this he had been PVC/Dean for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences since February 2015 and Deputy Dean to the faculty since October 2011.

Professor Bertha Ochieng, Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care
Bertha Ochieng is Professor of Integrated Health and Social Care, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University. A key aspect of her research is in examining digital solutions that support development of integrated models of health and social care and community engagement.

Professor Barnaby Poulton, MRPharmS FFCI; Hon. Professor of Digital Medicine and Director Digital Health and Care Unit. Digital Health Strategist
Barnaby is a pharmacist by training who has switched his focus to digital health. He has built and led multiple digital health companies and co-founded the Digital Health and Care Unit at DMU to support the evaluation of novel technologies, enabling them to enter market and deliver benefits to patients.

Eric Kihlstrom, Chairman, Centaur Robotics
Eric is Chairman of Centaur Robotics, a leading British inclusive micro-mobility innovator. He is also Honorary Associate Professor of primary care innovation, De Montfort University, Expert Advisory Board Member, Design Age Institute at the Royal College of Art and Aging2.0 UK Ambassador (volunteer roles).
Previously, Eric helped to launch the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund – Healthy Ageing as the Interim Director. He was responsible scoping the challenge and facilitating collaborations with industry, Government, 3rd sector and academia to unlock opportunities deriving from the UK and global demographic shift. The Healthy Ageing Challenge Fund is a £98 million fund to invest in innovations enabling people to live better for longer. He also was co-founder of the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Longevity.
Eric is an established innovation professional with a background in large corporations (General Electric, KPMG and IBM) as well as disruptive new startups in technology and healthcare. Eric studied Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from New York University. He is a Freeman of the City of London at the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. He speaks French, completed the Paris, Berlin and New York marathons and is now an avid swimmer.

WEBINAR: Research location: Where and Why! Selecting and contracting with appropriate clinical research sites in uncertain times
2021-03-11 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for the next in the series of our Clinical Trial Special Interest Groups with Afortiori Development at this webinar where we will be discussing research location: where and why!
When it comes to making decisions about your chosen research trial setting, there is much to consider. Join us to learn how to make the right location choice for your product and understand how patient pathways, healthcare setting, institutional policies, geography and costs can affect your trial success.
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Charlotte Culver, Clinical Project Leader, Afortiori Development
Charlotte has a strong project management background in clinical research Phases I-V while delivering both commercial and non-commercial research throughout her career to produce quality results.
She is experienced in both pharmaceutical and device trials across several disease areas throughout the lifecycle of the project, in collaboration with key pharmaceutical and device companies in the industry.
Her proven project management track record provides her with the tools to deliver excellence and detailed delivery in clinical, regulatory, and financial aspects of clinical research.
Throughout her research career, she has worked on projects internationally, as either multicentered or single-centre as lead.

James Fry, Head of Life Sciences and Partner at Mills & Reeve
James heads the firm’s fast growing, multi-disciplinary life sciences practice and focuses exclusively on this sector. The practice supports clients in the pharma and biotech, medical device, diagnostic, medtech and digital health sub-sectors. James’ own practice focuses on intellectual property, commercial contracting and regulatory work.

MedTech Regulatory Special Interest Group: The UKCA Mark Regulatory Requirements
2021-03-17 10:00 - 11:30
The next Medtech Regulatory Special Interest Group (SIG) will take place online. Join us as we help you to get to grips with the new UKCA Marking requirements in this post-Brexit era. Important new obligations apply for all Medical Device and IVD businesses and it is vital for companies to understand what they have to do and when, the first milestone deadline is 30th April 2021 so you can’t afford to miss this.
The topics being discussed are:
-Trading within the UK and between the UK and Europe just got more complicated?
-The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland
-The new UKCA Mark, what are the rules now?
-Product and Company Registrations
-Timelines and Deadlines
-UK Responsible Person & Authorised Representative
-UK Approved Body vs Notified Bodies
-Quality Management Systems
-UK Designated Standards
-Multiple Markets
-Labelling Changes
There will also be an opportunity to ask the presenters questions in a Q&A session.
DURATION: 1 hour 30 minutes

This free to attend event is held as part of the ACTIS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.

Speaker Profiles
Peter Rose, Managing Director, PRQR Ltd (Chair)
Peter is the founder of PRQR Ltd. With 26 years of experience with Medical Devices and IVDs, Peter has expertise covering Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, Sterilisation, Cleanrooms and Contamination Control. He is a Microbiologist, Chartered biologist, Member of the RSB, Practitioner Member of the CQI and a Member of TOPRA

Ed Wright, Partner, Shakespeare Martineau
Ed works with clients from all sectors including life sciences and technology, media and telecoms on wide-ranging non-contentious commercial, contractual, IP, ICT, e-commerce, data protection, competition and public procurement law issues. He advises on IP creation, ownership, protection and exploitation, including technology transfers, R&D collaborations and agency, distribution/reselling and franchising arrangements.
Ed has a keen interest in drafting/advising on IP licensing arrangements and, whenever possible, presents and writes on topical commercial and/or IP matters.

WEBINAR: Infectious Diseases Special Interest Group (SIG) - Care Homes and COVID-19: Infection control strategies and innovations
2021-03-18 10:00 - 11:30
Join the next online Infectious Diseases Special Interest Group, this SIG will focus on Care Homes and COVID-19: Infection control strategies and innovations.
This event is in partnership with De Montfort University and led by Dr Katie Laird, Reader in Microbiology and also Head of the Infectious Disease Research Group at De Montfort University. Presentations will be given on:
– Ventilation requirements in care homes – strategies during and after COVID-19
– Infection control and zoning in care homes
– Ozone as an alternative to thermal disinfection of healthcare linen
Please see speaker details and biographies at the bottom of this page, in addition to our main speakers we shall also be hearing a short 5 minute presentation from:
– Paul Lymer, Business Manager PCR & Veterinary of HORIBA UK, as he shares Pockit iiPCR Analyser from HORIBA Medical – On-site Testing for Covid-19
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the SoLSTICE programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Dr Katie Laird, Head of the Infectious Disease Research Group at Leicester School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University
Katie has a BSc (Hons) in Biology and obtained a PhD in applied microbiology in 2008. During her PhD she developed and patented an essential oil based antimicrobial vapour, whilst her postdoctoral work included the assessment of natural antimicrobials efficacy against post-harvest pathogens.
Her research interests include the use of natural products as antimicrobials in particular to combat hospital acquired infections and biofilms. Her other area of research includes the assessment of healthcare laundry as a potential route of cross contamination in the clinical arena.

Eric Fewster, Water & Environmental Manager, BushProof
Eric Fewster has 24 years of hands-on operational experience as a water supply and sanitation specialist in the design, implementation and evaluation of water & sanitation projects in both emergencies and development situations, with the ability to understand the local context and constraints inherent in low-income countries. In 2005 he co-founded BushProof, an award-winning for-profit business based in Madagascar which is involved in water supply provision. In terms of experience with infectious diseases, in 2011 he set up cholera treatment centres in Haiti and in 2014 was the water/sanitation lead for an Ebola management centre in Sierra Leone. Around the time lockdown began in the spring 2020, when cases in care homes was increasingly evident from other countries like Spain and Belgium, he decided to help produce some pragmatic guidance for care homes on preventing and controlling infection of SARS-CoV-2 in the care home context. Since it first went online in mid-April, it has since informed the advice given by the British Geriatric Society and Care Quality Commission, and it has been continually updated and expanded, using the experience of a wide range of co-contributors with different experiences.

Shrien Dewani, Director, Evolve Care Group
Initially qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Shrien quickly fell in love with Health and Social Care back in 2004. Shrien co leads Evolve Care Group with Eve Carder as well as `Evolve Care Academy and Connections Count Social movement.
Shrien’s interest has long been in creating care packages that recognise the importance of an individuals emotional needs as well as their physical safety needs. This has led to design and implementation of the Evolve Household model of care. The foundation of small group living has been instrumental in the creation of strict zoning within Evolve services, which together with a wider robust infection control strategy has supported containment and elimination of the COVID 19.

Eve Carder, Clinical Director, Evolve Care Group
Having worked in care homes since the age of 16, Eve truly lives and breathes Care Home life. After completing Nursing at Nottingham University, Eve set about challenging the design of the model of care in the settings where she worked. After a short stint at Dementia Care Matters as Deputy CEO, Eve took the post as National Clinical Director at Evolve Care Group.
Under Eve’s Clinical Leadership Evolve Services have designed and implemented a model of care based upon international best practice research and have been recognised for the outstanding outcomes they achieve. At the start of the pandemic Eve’s COVID 19 manual was used by a number of Care Homes in England and Wales to assist in the creation of protective strategies. This work has been used to contribute to Bushproof and British Geriatrics Society and to consult with Public Health Wales on their Care Homes risk matrix.

Jackie Hook, Head Chemist, JLA Ltd
Jackie is a Charted Chemist, Member of the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) and Infection Prevention Society (IPS). She is also a member of the IPS Care Home Specialist Interest Group. Previous to her engaging in the laundry and ozone industry Jackie spent 25 years in Research & Development for the UK Railway Industry in a range of scientific disciplines. She was an active member of a professional forum introducing new technologies into the railway environment. She joined JLA Ltd. in 2004 and is active in laboratory and site testing, and compilation of training and health/safety procedural documentation, coordinating and liaising with leading professional bodies and institutes. Her responsibilities include Investigating and assisting in new developments relating to laundry and ozone technologies. Working closely with microbiologists and healthcare professionals Jackie has contributed to the introduction of ozone laundry systems into the UK. Project managing including wash program development and microbiological investigation at a number of field trials including the QE2 hospital in Welwyn Garden City and Woodend Hospital Laundry, Aberdeen to demonstrate and document the benefits of ozone. Work involving in vitro and clinical studies has led to ozone laundry disinfection finally receiving recognition by the UK’s Department of Health under the guise of the Rapid Review Panel in September 2009. Jackie is also active in promoting training and education within the laundry industry and is passionate in increasing the awareness and importance of adequate disinfection of healthcare linen.

WEBINAR: TeleHealth Technologies for the future
2021-03-25 10:00 - 11:30
This webinar will offer the opportunity to hear from Academics from the Open University who will be discussing their work in developing and studying technologies to enable effective, secure and innovative TeleHealth solutions.
This event is in partnership with The Open University Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. Presentations will include:
– Future trends in engineering design, where telehealth can support
– COVID-19 antibody test/vaccination certification mobile app prototype, based on blockchain technology
– Decentralised Trust and Privacy for Digital Health
– Trends in product development to 2040 and their implications for Telehealth
– Plus we will be hearing from Hospital Services Limited (HSL) a specialist distributor of medical supplies and surgical equipment and consumable products. As we hear about their latest technologies and how they’ve been able to respond positively to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they look at – what is the future of Telehealth?
DURATION: 1.5 hours
This free to attend event is held as part of the ACTIS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles:

Gaynor Henry-Edwards, Research Manager, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies – The Open University
Gaynor manages the Health and Wellbeing Strategic Research Area at The Open University. The Strategic Research Area supports, coordinates and promotes health and wellbeing research across the university. Open University researchers conduct research in health and wellbeing across various disciplines and areas including healthcare management, ageing studies, reproductive and sexual rights, assistive technologies, patient data management, mental health and biological health sciences. The scope of University expertise ranges from the science underpinning health and disease through to the medical humanities. The Open University is committed to working towards social justice specialising in participative and inclusive research methods with marginalised and vulnerable communities.

Professor Claudia Eckert, Professor of Design, The Open University
Claudia is Professor of Design at the Open University. Her background is Mathematics and Philosophy. She has an MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD in design from the Open University. She spent nearly ten years in Cambridge in the Engineering Design Centre before returning to the Open University. She carries out empirical studies of design processes in engineering, construction and fashion; and researches on understanding and supporting designers in industry. She also works on theoretical concepts underlying design practise. She has published over 250 papers in reviewed journal and conferences. She is a member of the board of management of the Design Society and a co-chair of the Design Process Special Interest Group of the Design Society.

Dr Allan Third (she/her), Research Fellow with the Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University
Allan (she/her) is a Research Fellow in the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, researching the Semantic Web, Linked Data, and Blockchains, with applications to education, healthcare, and the scientific process. She holds a PhD from the University of Manchester, in the logical analysis of the semantics of English, and has worked on various topics within her research areas at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford and the Open University. She has extensive experience in UK and European research projects, as contributor and work package leader, primarily in the fields of digital healthcare (VPH-Share, CARRE) and education (SlideWiki, Up2U, QualiChain, DEL4ALL). She is heavily involved in the blockchain and education components of the ongoing Institute of Coding and QualiChain projects, in which KMi is a partner. She has been a tutor multiple times at the ESWC Summer School, and produced research papers on the impact of Blockchain technologies for the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum. Dr. Third is a member of several related past and current Web standardisation efforts, including the W3C Blockchain and Credentials Community Groups, and the Verifiable Credentials Working Group. As well as her extensive technical knowledge, Dr. Third has a background in Philosophy, and a strong interest in social issues, and the effects of technology on society.

Dr Manoharan Ramachandran – Research Associate and mobile application developer, The Open University
Manoharan is a Research Associate and a mobile application developer at the Open University. Manoharan received his PhD in Intelligent Transportation Safety from Bournemouth University in 2018. After completing his PhD, Manoharan joined the Open University as a Research Associate in 2018. His current research focuses on how Blockchain can be used to store lifelong learning records of students and to create an industry-standard accreditation tool for learners in the UK. His research is funded by the Institute of Coding, which is the UK’s initiative to increase graduate computing skills and employability. Manoharan has also developed several award-winning mobile applications in the field of transportation safety. Particularly for his work on drowsy driver alert mobile application, he has received the Qualcomm developer of the month award in the year 2016 (Qualcomm is the primary manufacturer of Android mobile phone processors). Manoharan developed the COVID-19 antibody test/vaccination certification mobile application prototype on top of iOS/Android platform along with his colleagues at the Open University. He also runs Tamil-language Blockchain news and tutorial Youtube channel with 38,000+ subscribers mainly focusing on the Tamil speaking people around the world.

Sam McMaster, Director of Telehealth, Hospital Services Limited
Sam attended Belfast Royal Academy, he then spent 1 year as a Community Service Volunteer and then went on to attend University at Newcastle upon Tyne. He joined Plessey Telecommunications in Nottingham as a Lecturer. Developed and delivered course work on the digitisation of networks and integrated digital communications systems.
Sam’s career saw him move from Lecturing to Product Development and Management, which is where he was first involved with VC. He then moved into Project Management designed and deployed some of the largest private voice & data networks in existence at the time, including the Government Telephone Network, Whitehall; and the Post Office network across all of the UK.
He then went on to form a telecommunications consultancy company, INTAC, operating out of the University Science Park in Nottingham. Contracts from the Government, the Post Office, European Space Agency, Cisco, Motorola and more. He also formed Questmark (initially in New Zealand but followed quickly in Europe). Owned and managed the business until sale in 2017. Became the premier videoconferencing systems and services supplier in the UK.
In parallel was founder and VP of Technology at Access ISDN Inc in Dallas TX, founded 1993 sold in 1997. Sam joined HSL to head up development of Telehealth business unit in 2018.
He loves his family (now have 9 grandchildren!), football, writing and photography, and much more too much to list. Fundamentally love this precious life we have.

WEBINAR: COVID-19 and beyond, a clinicians perspective
2021-03-31 10:30 - 11:30
Professor Ian Hall, Director, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre will be joining us 5 months on from our last webinar with Ian where we heard about the launch of a new study platform for the next generation of COVID-19 clinical research: The Nottingham Recovery from COVID-19 Research Platform (NoRCoRP).
NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre are at the front line of national research fighting COVID-19, read more here.
In this webinar, Ian will present on:
– An update on COVID-19 and the vaccination progression
– The latest news from The Nottingham Recovery from COVID-19 Research Platform (NoRCoRP)
– Challenges of managing non COVID work and thoughts on how the system might adjust to working in the future
– How to configure the UK post Brexit to delivery clinical translational research taking advantage of some of the lessons learnt from COVID
DURATION: 1 hour
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £127, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profile:

Professor Ian Hall, Director, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre
Professor Ian is the Director of the NIHR Nottingham, Biomedical Research Centre. He is a chest physician based at NUH NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, and has a long track record of research into the mechanisms underlying the development of a range of lung diseases. He currently chairs the national BRC Director’s forum, sits on NIHR Strategy Board, and is a member of UK-CTAP.

WEBINAR: Cell Therapies: Bench to Bedside
2021-04-01 10:00 - 11:30
Cell therapies could be the magic bullet for treating many different and previously intractable diseases. However creating a new cell therapy is fraught with complexities – sourcing, growing, transporting cells and other components for these therapies can be difficult. This event in partnership with the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF) brings together speakers from charity, industry and academic sectors to provide considered insights into the different stages of cell therapy development from bench to bedside.
The webinar will address:
• The sustainable and ethical sourcing of human adult derived biological products as starting materials and criteria to consider when selecting the correct starting materials.
• Translating cell therapy into an implantable medical device with the adoption of substrates and scaffolds.
• Understanding cellular interactions with substrates and hence need to evaluate in-vitro biocompatibility.
• Reproducible and robust high throughput in-vitro testing for cell therapy performance validation.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions of our presenters in a Q&A session post presentation.
This webinar is open to all organisations seeking insight into cell therapy and the practicalities of development for patient use.
This free to attend event is held as part of the INSTILS programme – a project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, click here to be re-directed to further information about the project. This event is classed as State Aid to participating businesses, the value of which is £190, but is delivered completely free of charge to participants.
Speaker Profiles
Mike Hannay, Managing Director, Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF)
(CHAIR)

Professor John Hunt, Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF)

Katie Griffee, Business Development Manager, Anthony Noaln Cell & Gene Therapy Services
Katie supports cell and gene therapy researchers and developers access a scalable source of cellular starting material for R&D through to clinical application. Katie has a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and 7+ years’ experience working with pharmaceutical and biotech companies across Europe and the US.

Emma King, Sales Engineer, Hamamatsu Photonics UK Limited
Presentation: High Throughput Screening (HTS) of stem cells using the Hamamatsu FDSSµcell
Emma King studied Anatomy, Developmental and Human Biology at Kings College London, writing her thesis on cancer cell migration.
As part of the Research and Life Science group at Hamamatsu Photonics, Emma is responsible for business development activities for Functional Drug Screening Systems (FDSS) in the UK.

Ann Kramer, CEO, The Electrospinning Company
Ann Kramer is CEO of The Electrospinning Company, an SME with a biomaterial platform with applications in regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Ann spent 20 years in agritech multinationals, then 15 years in UK SMEs including Oxitec, Immunocore and Biosyntha.
