Tackling community health challenges through innovation.
Insight 2: Tackling community health challenges through innovation
Medilink Midlands are delighted to be collaborating with Arise Innovation Hubs and Innovate UK in a series of events for autumn and winter 2025/26. The second of these looks at an overarching theme in the NHS’s current 10-year plan, which aims to make the NHS fit for the future.
As we look to move from research to reality how are we going to enable more of us to be treated within the community, keeping our hospitals ready for those times when we really need them. In a recent paper by the Welcome Trust it becomes clear that we need to put research at the heart of health, we need to improve and equalise outcomes.
We will look at the barriers and opportunities for working with the community addressing the following questions:
- How do we enable patchy patient engagement to become a network of proactive and involved citizens?
- How do we enable research to be embedded into everyday care, with trustworthy data infrastructure and incentivised for all to engage?
- How do we ensure adoption of innovations are widespread, allowing innovations to be scaled?
Agenda:
10.00 – 10.25: Arrival, networking and refreshments
10.25-10.30: Introduction and Welcome by Arise | Beverley Vaughan
10.30-10.35: Welcome by Medilink Midlands | Raghul Senthilnathan
10.35-10.50: Setting the scene I – what does a day in the life of a doctor look like in 10 years? How do remote monitoring technologies change the way the health service operates
Bruce Adams| Clinitouch part of Spirit Health Managing Director
10.50-11.05: Setting the scene II – How do we co-create the digital solutions and support tools for healthcare of the future
Dr Alice Byram| Royal Society of Medicine president of Digital Health and entrepreneur
11.05-11.10: Q&A
11.10-11.30: Coffee & networking break
11.30-11.45: Lightening pitches
Seacrest Care Services | Ebun Ojemuyiwa
11.45-11.55: Q&A
11.55- 12.20: Support available to innovators
-Supporting MedTech innovators working in healthcare
Nicola Thorn| AND Technology and Research Managing Director
-Introducing IUK Business Growth
Dr Lorraine Morley | IUK Business Growth, UK Lead of the European AgeTech Accelerator programme
–Introducing Connected Innovation
Scott Cogman | Connected Innovation hubs Director
-Introducing IP and legal protection for SMEs
Cory Stobart | Senior Associate – Patent Attorney, Adamson Jones, part of Gateley
12.20-13.00: Networking lunch
* If you cannot attend once registered for the event please email [email protected]
* If you would like to join our waiting list, please enter your details here – Waiting List
Speakers
Event Chair: Dr Beverley Vaughan, Arise Innovation Hubs Director
Beverley is a scientist by training, having worked in academia, start-up and business sectors, including Cambridge University Teaching hospitals, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and University of Oxford. Currently, Director at Arise Innovation hubs, part of Anglia Ruskin University, small but beautifully formed and importantly close but not within the golden triangle powerhouses. Beverley has been building a pipeline and success stories in the local environment has involved using knowledge of other clusters and adaptation to a different ecosystem. Collaborating with our community to harness the skills and talent in ARU to support them, on a bespoke and case by case basis. Proud to have delivered programmes such as ABOVE and learnt how being small can make you nimble but success relies on powerful and strategic partnership.
Raghul Senthilnathan, Innovation Advisor, Medilink Midlands
A dynamic Innovation Advisor with a master’s degree in Biotech and Pharma Management from UCL, and a strong background in life sciences and healthcare innovation. Founder of two innovative start-ups, with personal expertise in digital technologies. Skilled in leading accelerator programs and supporting early-stage companies to navigate challenges and realize their potential in contributing to the economy. Expertise in coaching, mentoring, and business diagnostics to help innovators avoid pitfalls and succeed.
Dr Alice Byram, clinician, entrepreneur and President of the Digital Health Section at the Royal Society of Medicine
With a background in emergency and primary care, she brings frontline insight to the design and adoption of digital health solutions. Alice works at the intersection of clinical practice, technology and system change, advocating for tools that are safe, equitable and genuinely useful for patients and professionals. In this session, she sets the scene for how communities, clinicians, technologists and policymakers can co-create digital solutions and support tools that meet real NHS needs and shape the future of healthcare together.
Scott Cogman, Innovation Hubs Manager of Connected Innovation
Scott leads on the Innovation Hubs network within the Connected Innovation Programme, establishing strategic relationships between the hubs, research institutes and academia and facilitating key conversations around issues such as grow-on space, funding, investment and connecting partners with local innovation support.
Bruce Adams , Managing Director at Clinitouch,
a UK-based remote patient monitoring platform. With a background in global health and social technology, he is passionate about how digital health can transform lives worldwide. Clinitouch, part of Spirit Health, is dedicated to making healthcare more accessible, simple, and affordable for all. Bruce joined in 2021 to build on a decade of successful NHS deployments and to expand the platform’s impact internationally. Working closely with the Department for Business and Trade, he and the Clinitouch team have developed a growing global presence, now spanning 30+ partners in 15+ countries across five continents.
Ebun Ojemuyiwa, Founder & Healthtech Innovator of CheckUup,
Ebun Ojemuyiwa is the founder of CheckUup, a preventative mental-wellness platform that identifies early behavioural shifts to strengthen support networks before crisis.
With over 15 years’ experience leading governance, risk and transformation across major institutions including HSBC and JPMorgan, she blends data-driven strategy with human-centred innovation.
As a Director at Seacrest Care Services, Ebun works closely with vulnerable young people, giving her deep insight into gaps in early intervention and community support. She is committed to advancing trustworthy, preventative digital solutions that ease pressure on NHS services and improve equitable outcomes across communities.
Cory Stobart, Senior Associate – Patent Attorney, Adamson Jones, part of Gateley
Cory is qualified as a UK Chartered Patent Attorney and Registered European Patent Attorney. He joined Adamson Jones in 2017, having initially joined the patent profession in 2015.
Cory has a particular focus on small and medium sized businesses in the medical, sports and engineering sectors, as well as universities and associated companies or spin-outs. He also works with multi-national companies in the field of medical devices, drafting and prosecuting patent applications worldwide and providing freedom-to-operate advice in respect of competitor portfolios, with a view to gaining a majority foothold in this market.
Dr Lorraine Morley, UK Lead of the European AgeTech Accelerator programme
Before Dr Lorraine Morley joined St John’s Innovation Centre as an innovation and growth specialist she had spent ten years working in the area of technology for health ageing. As the UK lead of the European AgeTech Accelerator programme Lorraine worked with companies developing goods and services across the spectrum of ageing needs from falls-prevention, managing cognitive and physical decline, staying active, maintaining good nutrition and hydration to tracking vital signs at home with medical grade devices.
Supporting technically ambitious start-ups through all steps of the innovation journey from ideation to crafting a compelling value proposition to helping understand the best market entry points and business models, Lorraine also holds an international database of age tech innovations from around the world giving the clients she works for an unbeatable insight into the competitive landscape, emerging trends and market forces. Her abundance of experience in the area of age tech and healthy ageing has also created a broad network of contacts who can assist with clinical and field trials, expert advice and investment.
Ingrid Folland, CEO, Japeto
Ingrid Folland is a dedicated advocate for tech for good, committed to local impact. Starting in R&D, she transitioned into the dynamic world of technology, taking on various roles including product design, development, and project management. Ingrid is now the CEO of Japeto, a company focused on creating safe AI solutions for charities, healthcare, education, and more.
Dr Nicola Thorn, Managing Director, AND Technology Research
Dr Nicola Thorn is Managing Director at AND Technology Research, an award winning, purpose-led technology and product development consultancy. Founded in 1980, ANDtr are trusted by hundreds of companies and engineers all over the world, delivering ‘tech-for-good’ innovative software and electronics products with IoT, Energy, Medical and more. Nicola has overseen the successful development, deployment and submission of dozens of products to market from cutting edge VR medical technology, to industrial energy monitoring system. In addition, Nicola is a member of the UK national committee at BSI for medical device, and an external advisor to the University of Essex Enterprise and Commercialisation boards.
