Delegates at the Institute of Translational Medicine
Delegates at the Institute of Translational Medicine

On Wednesday 5th June, 60 delegates gathered at the Institute of Translational Medicine to discover support available from the Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC), funding and collaborative opportunities as well as the routes available to support research.

The workshop was hosted by the Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI), MD-TEC, Birmingham Health Partners and the Birmingham Life Sciences Park.

Bringing together experts from academia, industry and funding providers, this workshop provided delegates with an opportunity to discuss the current challenges and potential development opportunities of the West Midlands Med Tech economy.  

Professor Liam Grover, Director of the HTI opened the event followed by Tony Metcalfe, Professor of Wound Healing at the University of Birmingham who provided information about the expertise and support both HTI and MD-TEC can offer to Med Tech/Life Sciences companies within England. Professor Metcalfe then shared plans for the Birmingham Life Sciences Park with the delegates, revealing what the early concepts of the site currently look like.

The second session had an array of presentations including; A SME Success story from Mr Drew Currie, Co-Founder of Vitabonna Development Ltd, Funding opportunity outlines from; Mr Matthew Weaver from the EPSRC, Dr Samana Brannigan from Innovate UK, Dr Andrew Barber from NIHR and Dr Terry O’Neill from Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network. The session concluded with a talk from Dr Eliot Marston about the translational impact already achieved whilst Birmingham Health Partners highlighted the collaborative opportunities available for industry and researchers from the University of Birmingham.

The final session consisted of break-out session which explored the Med Tech opportunities within the Birmingham Life Sciences Park, and how these could meet the needs of both industry and academia.