Ticket sales have now ended - 27.01.2022

During this event, attendees will hear from industry, academic, and policy leaders operating at the frontline of the pandemic resilience effort. Our speakers will explore the latest research and development in the field, including ground-breaking diagnostics, agile clinical trials, pioneering collaborations, and new therapeutic models to combat antimicrobial resistance.

The event will highlight lessons learned from the C-19 response (from vaccine development to the ventilator challenge) and explore opportunities for collaboration and discovery on the horizon.

From meeting representatives from some of the UK’s leading life science institutes to innovators developing solutions for global challenges, the event will offer the opportunity to inform potential future collaborations and make new connections.

This event is jointly hosted by the Infection Innovation Consortium: iiCON and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. Event partners include the Medicines Discovery Catapult, The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Bruntwood Sci-Tech, The Innovation Agency and Innovate UK, all key stakeholders in the wider North West HealthTec Cluster.

With all physical events this will be subject to C-19 procedures throughout the conference.

Thanks to the kind contributions from the event partners there is no conference ticket cost to attendee’s.

Places are however limited so we kindly request (unless exhibiting or speaking) that only a maximum of 2 people from an organisation attend.

Programme

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Day 1 -Thursday 10th February

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08:45 Registration & Networking

09:20 Welcome & Housekeeping

09:30 Keynote

Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Director of Laboratories, UK Health Security Agency - "The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, Precision Diagnostics and Covid Legacy"

10:00 Harnessing Lessons from COVID to drive Infection R&D iiCON impact/policy

Professor Janet Hemingway,Director of the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON)

10:20 Panel Discussion - Learnings from COVID

Chair: Dr Kath Mackay, Director of Life Sciences, Bruntwood Sci-tech & Mananging Director Alderley Park
Professor Janet Hemingway, Director of the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON)
Dr Samantha Westgate, CEO Perfectus Biomed Group
Dr Pia Thommes, Vice President Anti-Infectives, Evotec
Mark Proctor CBE, General Manager Liverpool Operations, AstraZeneca

11:10 Coffee Break

Exhibits will be manned in the main spaces

11:40 Power of Collaboration

Invited talks:

Mark Proctor CBE, General Manager Liverpool Operations, AstraZeneca "Creating a Covid-19 Vaccine for the World"
Professor Calman Maclennan, MRC Senior Clinical Fellow, Jenner Investigator and Group Leader Jenner Institute, University of Oxford (UK), Director of BactiVac

12:20 Panel Discussion - Power of collaboration in addressing global health challenges

Chair: Dr Helen Bright, Head of Infection, Medicines Discovery Catapult
Professor Calman Maclennam, Director of BactiVac
Dr Beverly Isherwood, CF-AMR Network, Medicines Discovery Catapult
Phil Packer, Innovation Lead for AMR and Vaccines, Innovate UK
Professor James Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute

13:10 Lunch

Exhibits will be manned in the main spaces

14:10 Shining a spotlight on research and innovation

This session will provide short pitching opportunities for researchers and innovators to showcase latest developments

Speakers include:

Chaired by Brabners
Dr Srijan Jindal, Chief research officer, PhenUtest diagnostics “Point-of-care rapid diagnostics for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)”
Dr Kirsty Smitten, Chief Executive Officer, MetalloBio Limited “A novel Antimicrobial Platform Technology to Treat and Prevent Antimicrobial Resistant Infections”
Dr Pattanathu Rahman, Senior Lecturer in Bioscience, Liverpool John Moores University “Natural compounds and the SARS virus”
Peter Troutt, Customer Relationship Leader, TriRx Pharmaceutical Services “Biotech capability now “open for business” in Liverpool”
Dr James Zhang, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Tynicare Ltd “Equipment-free high precision SARS CoV2 detecting system”
Dr Emily Adams, Director LSTM & Mologic "Mologic, a not for profit, UK diagnostics company”

15:00 Coffee Break

Exhibits will be manned in the main spaces

15:30 Small scale-Big Impact: revolutionising the NW clinical trials landscape

Session will explore the importance of data and accessible agile clinical trial capability for pandemic preparedness

Speakers include:

Professor Daniela Ferreira, Head of Clinical Sciences Department, LSTM
Professor Saye Khoo, Professor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at UoL
Professor Enitan Carrol, Professor of Paediatric Infection (University of Liverpool) & Clinical Director of the National Institute for Health Research's Clinical Research Network in the North West Coast

16:30 Closing Address

How the pandemic has accelerated innovation in healthcare

Dr Phil Jennings, Chief Executive Officer, North West Coast Academic Health Science Network - The Innovation Agency

17:30 Evening Networking - Biotech & Beers, brought to you by Bionow

Venue: Frederik’s, 32 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BX.

Join Bionow in a real bar for an agenda-free networking evening. Meet key people from the life science sector to network and socialise with peers in an informal setting over a drink or two – no need to register. Click here for more information.

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Day 2 - Friday 11th February

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08:45 Registration and Networking

09:20 Welcome & Overview

09:30 Opening Address - Investing in the future of Research & Innovation

Dr Richard Hebdon, Director of Health & Life Sciences, Innovate UK

09:45 Panel Discussion

Funding & Investment routes

Chair: Tim Davies, Regional Head, Primary Markets at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)
Dr Richard Hebdon, Director of Health & Life Sciences, Innovate UK
Lorna Green, Chief Executive Officer, Liverpool Ventures
Sohaib Mir, Senior Investment Principal, Life Arc
Dr Martin Turner, Head of Policy and Public Affairs UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)
Alex Wilson, Venture Capital / Growth Investor, Mercia Asset Management PLC

10:45 Innovation and Impact in Diagnostics

Speakers include:

Dr Lisa Baldwin, iiCON Platform Lead & Senior Business Development Manager, LSTM
Andrew Chaloner, Founding Director and CEO, StreamBio

11:15 Coffee Break

Exhibits will be manned in the main spaces

11:45 The AMR Challenge

Session focused on the North West's strength in developing innovative AMR treatments, testing and solutions - a key element of the pandemic challenge

Speakers include:

Dr Pete Jackson, CEO, Infex Therapeutics
Dr Adam Roberts, Reader, Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Resistance, LSTM
Dr Beverly Isherwood, CF-AMR Network, Medicines Discovery Catapult

12:15 Future Focus - Innovation in Drug and Product Discovery

Exploring emerging and innovative approaches to discovery and development

Speakers include:

Chair: Professor Giancarlo Biagini, LSTM
Professor Adam Nelson, Rosalind Franklin Institute
Dr Neill Liptrott, Lecturer of Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool and Coordinator of The Nanotherapeutics Hub
David Bray, Team Leader, Chemistry and Materials Group, Hartree Centre - STFC Daresbury Laboratory, UKRI-STFC

12:45 Key Note Address

Professor Tom Clutton Brock, Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine Director of the Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MDTEC) - "Huffing and Puffing in times of crisis: Co-creating needs’ driven innovation" A spotlight on the High-performance low-cost Ventilator (HPLV).

13:15 Lunch

Exhibits will be manned in the main spaces

13:45 Cross-Partnering Session

Take part in an interactive cross-sector partnering session and benefit from bespoke networking with colleagues from all spheres of the pandemic-resilience effort. We will be bringing together delegates from academia and clinical sciences, industry and the commercial sector, policy and governance, and the biotech investment community. Expand your network and expedite translational development by registering to take part in the session by

Just before the spotlight session, there will be a chance to grab a coffee

15:15 Shining a spotlight on what next for Research and Innovation

Short pitching opportunities for researchers and innovators to showcase the latest developments

Dr Kate Feeney, Drug Discovery Specialist, Eurofins Discovery “Taking your MDR Program to the Next Level”.
Gordon Bruce, Managing Director, Room To Breathe “The alternative to ventilation and HEPA filters as seen at COP26”
Adrian Walsh, Director, Nano Biosols “Lateral flow enhancement method and kit”

16:00 Networking

17:00 End of Event

Growing Innovation and Investment for Pandemic Resilience