The Invent Podcasts
Two podcasts looking at how invention and innovation in science and engineering impact Life Science and Health Tech.
Each week, we’re joined by leading scientists, engineers, and academics to give you a behind-the-scenes look at these vital industries for today and tomorrow.
Latest Episodes
The Highlights: A look back at the best moments of Invent: Life Sciences Series 2
Process Analytics: how can analytics accelerate the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapies?
Invent – Health Podcast
The Power of Big Data
Over the course of this season, one thing has kept coming up across all the episodes – the power of big data in health tech. From its uses in the current AI revolution, to universal health records and even in new sustainable practices, the way in which huge data sets are allowing health practitioners to create new products and services is as fascinating as it is exciting.
So in this season’s final episode, we take a look at the kind of utopian world that could exist when data is harnessed properly in the entire healthcare ecosystem, and what the roadmap to getting there looks like.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Giovanna Jaramillo-Gutierrez
Giovanna is an epidemiologist researcher and a data scientist who began work as a molecular biologist, before moving into epidemiology. She works at the intersection of epidemiology and AI and is passionate about the development of ethical, human-centered, AI-based products and services. She has worked across the globe for various international organisations including the WHO and Eticas Consulting, amongst others. Get in touch with Giovanna on LinkedIn
Anthony Sitaš
Anthony is a consultant at TTP who works across digital health strategy and design and product development partnerships. His focus lies within the areas of psychology, neuroscience, clinical decision support systems and algorithmic explainability, and he is a passionate advocate of both decentralised Healthcare and Preventative and Precision Medicine. Get in touch with Anthony on LinkedIn
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products and technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Rapid Innovation: Reducing Time from Idea to Impact
Speed is not normally something you would associate with the highly regulated world of health tech. “Rapid” time frames tend to be in the space of 3-5 years. But the Covid panic changed this – the war footing it caused brought times down enormously. It’s something that TTP played a hand in as well with Covent, TTP’s rapid manufacture ventilator for COVID-19 patients. So what can we learn from this period to bring to normal times? How can health tech practitioners work with regulators and the NHS to ensure new innovations move from idea to impact as quickly as possible? How can we achieve truly rapid innovation?
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Dr. Edwin Stone
Dr. Edwin Stone is a consultant at TTP who now leads Cellular Origins, a TTP spin-out created to enable scalable and cost-effective manufacture of cell and gene therapies. Before this, he worked on some of the earliest EMA-approved cell therapies and has been involved in the development of over 10 novel cell therapy automation platforms. He was also closely involved in Covent, TTP’s rapid manufacture ventilator for COVID-19 patients. Connect with Edwin on LinkedIn.
Luella Trickett
With over 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and HealthTech industries, Luella’s career has seen her hold numerous specialist manufacturing and commercial roles, with responsibility for a range of product portfolios across the HealthTech spectrum within the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2019 she joined the ABHI as their director of value and access, an organisation who represent and support the entire industry to stakeholders, including the government, NHS, and regulators. Connect with Luella on LinkedIn.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products and technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Cardiac Health: Prevention or Intervention?
There’s a multitude of ways to treat Cardiac issues, and it’s about more than just health tech. While technologies that intervene after a cardiac event has taken place are coming on leaps and bounds – from ablation catheters to pacemakers – preventative measures are seen by many as the way forward. Whether it is improved sensing technologies, the rise of telehealth, or even promoting good lifestyle factors, stopping cardiac issues even happening in the first place is a first port of call for many clinicians. But which is more significant? What’s the way forward? And how do we keep patients with cardiac issues out of the hospital?
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Professor Stephen Leslie
Professor Stephen Leslie has been an interventional cardiologist with NHS Highland since 2006, and has research interests that include heart failure and remote and rural service provision. Alongside his clinical work, Stephen is also an honorary professor with The University of the Highlands and Islands and The University of Stirling. Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn.
Simon Calcutt
Simon has been a TTP consultant for the past 8 years, and across that time, he’s been working on medical devices from drug delivery to surgical systems and active implantable devices. His current focus is around implantable devices and utilising sensor technology for real time or near real time monitoring, enabling more personalised medicine, remote patient monitoring and improved standards of care, with cardiac health as one of his main specialities. Connect with Simon on LinkedIn.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products and technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Designing for Trust: How to Create Trust in Health Tech
Trust in healthcare is one of the highest for any industry, but it’s a different story for the technology sector. People will inherently trust their doctor, but social media, or medical advice from the internet? Much less so.
But as healthcare and technology become ever more entwined, how do those designing healthcare’s digital products ensure those using them will trust them? What will the consequences of falling trust in technology mean for health tech?
And what does it take to make you trust someone in general?
In this episode of Invent: Health, we speak with Dan Lock from TTP and Jordan Abdi from Picnic Health, to unlock the principles of trust and find a paradigm for what this will look like in the future of healthcare.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Dan Lock – Dan is a principal consultant in human factors at TTP, where he has been for the past 6 years. His background is in psychology with a masters in Ergonomics and Human-Computer Interaction. His primary interests are around human performance, usability, behaviour change, and user experience in medical technology, and he also has a particular focus on supporting design for engagement. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn
Jordan Abdi – Jordan is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and Schwarzman Scholar who is passionate about preventative health. A medical doctor by background, he has 8+ years’ experience working in the health technology sector, and has co-founded think tanks, founded health tech companies, and more. He is currently the Life Sciences Business Development Lead at Picnic Health, a company who tracks health records for patients across the U.S. Connect with Jordan on LinkedIn
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products and technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Imaging Technologies: Smaller, Cheaper, Better?
Medical imaging technologies have long been dominated by big, expensive machines that take up their own room within hospitals. The level of detail they can give is extensive and vital, and they are now even developing new fusion technologies that can combine nuclear, ultrasound, and MRI technologies together.
But there is a new range of technologies coming into the market which are changing the way we think about imaging. These devices are more portable, and cheaper, allowing true point of care for patients, while also unlocking imaging in new realms of healthcare.
In this episode of Invent Health, we speak with George Wylde of TTP and Paul Cload of Serac Imaging Systems, to assess the state of play in medical imaging today, to see the benefits and disparities between the new range of machines and the ones which have previously dominated the market.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Paul Cload – Dr. Paul Cload is the chief marketing officer of Seracam Imaging Systems. With over 30 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical medical device and diagnostics industries, Paul brings insight from all areas of the bioscience space to his work with Serac. He has a broad knowledge of multiple therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease, oncology, diabetes, and musculoskeletal disease.
George Wylde – George Wylde is a technical consultant at TTP where he combines a passion for medical imaging and sensing inside the body with a love of building things. His experience has spanned from the development of a gamma imaging system for nuclear medicine to a smart orthopaedic implant. Prior to TTP George worked at a family-run scientific instrument company in Sussex developing an instrument to be flown on the next generation of ESA’s meteorological satellites (MetOP-SG MWS). He holds a Biophysics PhD in Embryonic Stem Cell Research from the University of Cambridge.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com
Sustainability: A New Paradigm
Sustainability is a word now ubiquitous in healthcare. But too often it is thought about with a short-sighted lens, promoting potentially superficial changes in micro areas over innovations that would reduce healthcare’s carbon footprint on a macro level. So how can we solve this?
What could a new paradigm for discussing sustainability in healthcare look like?
In this episode of Invent Health, we meet the people seeking to create one, by focusing on the wider impact of medical devices to keep people out of hospital, with the potential to reduce carbon footprints on a huge scale.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests:
Ama Frimpong – Ama Frimpong is the head of product development at 52 North Health – a company that works across the medical device space as they seek to improve health outcomes by reinventing care pathways using affordable, human-centred technologies. With a materials and mechanical engineering background, Ama also has a real grounding in medical devices, from laparoscopic instruments to orthopedics. She was also recently awarded the hugely prestigious ‘young woman engineer of the year’ award for 2022 for her work with 52 North.
Freddie Scott – Freddie Scott is a strong proponent of every industry playing an active role in tackling Climate Change. At TTP, he was part of the passionate sustainability team, who have developed a method for assessing the environmental impact of medical devices in the context of their wider care pathway. By exploring the downstream emissions of products, the scope for design interventions to reduce their environmental impact becomes increasingly broad and impactful; enabling the decarbonisation of healthcare in the shortest time possible.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com
Epilepsy: Understanding the brain when neurological disorders occur
Neurological disorders have a really significant patient burden, with some estimates suggesting the impact as many as 1 billion people across the globe. But simultaneously, these are diseases which are both challenging to treat and still remain relatively poorly understood.
Snapshots of the brain have been available through imaging technologies for a while, but coming up with devices that are able to monitor the brain in real time has proved a huge challenge.
Today we ask, what will improvements to continuous monitoring devices enable for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders?
In the second episode of Invent:Health Season 2, Matt Parker speaks to Alex Stokoe, a neurotechnology consultant at TTP, and Professor Martha Morrell, Clinical Professor of Neurology at Stanford University
This Week’s Guests
Alex Stokoe – Alex Stokoe is a neurotechnology consultant at TTP. Working closely with clients, Alex has worked on and led the product development of several medical devices and specializes in next-generation modulation systems, across biosensing, digital health, and neurotechnology markets.
Martha Morrell – Professor Martha Morrell is the Clinical Professor of Neurology at Stanford University. As someone who has spent their entire career working at the forefront of this field, Martha’s previous experience is distinguished. Having served in various positions across the university since joining in 2004, Martha has authored and co-authored more than 150 publications. Martha is also the Chief Medical Officer at NeuroPace, a company that has developed a responsive neurostimulator for the treatment of medically uncontrolled partial seizures.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com
Diabetes Monitoring: Human out of the loop
In this first episode of Invent:Health Season 2, Matt Parker speaks to Chris Dawson, Head of Biosensing at TTP, and Dr. Andrew Chapman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Carbometrics, to explore how patients can be taken out of this monitoring-delivery loop and what technologies are out there that can automate the process entirely.
This Week’s Guests
Chris Dawson – Dr. Chris Dawson is a mechanical engineer who leads the biosensing team at TTP. The team works with clients to leverage advances in biosensing technology to develop products that support patients in managing and treating a wide range of diseases. They develop sensing solutions from short-term minimally invasive to long-term fully implantable, all with challenging requirements for biocompatibility, hermeticity, form-factor, wireless power & comms, and integrate a broad range of sensing modalities from electrical and electrochemical, through to ultrasonic and optical.
Andrew Chapman – Dr. Andrew Chapman is a scientist and entrepreneur who for over a decade, has designed and led interdisciplinary commercial and academic programs across a whole range of different scientific disciplines. Andrew is currently the CEO and co-founder of Carbometrics, a company whose revolutionary biomimetic glucose binding molecules have made them one of the most exciting companies working in this space.
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com
Invent:Health from TTP – Season 2 Trailer
Bonus – Eye health: The Invisible Pandemic
We’re currently taking a short hiatus after our first season, where we covered everything from curing blindness to controlling pain; from making hospitals more sustainable to putting a hospital in your home. Before we come back with season two, our friends over at the Life Sciences team here at TTP are going to be dropping their very own series in the new year.
Invent: Life Sciences will be a series looking at all things biology – the efficacy of animal testing, the benefits of synthetic biology, even asking what the infamous team behind Theranos actually got right in terms of diagnostics.
But in the meantime, we wanted to give you some bonus content to whet your appetite for things to come and spread a bit of Christmas cheer. So here’s the full conversation from one of our favourite interviews of this series. In early November, we spoke with Dr. Pearse Keane for our episode on eyecare, looking at how the world’s top doctors and scientists are working to find ways to restore sight.
Dr. Pearse Keane is a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and an associate professor at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. In 2016, he initiated a formal collaboration between Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind, with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the earlier detection and treatment of retinal disease. In May 2020, he jointly led work, again published in Nature Medicine, to develop an early warning system for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), by far the commonest cause of blindness in many countries. In October 2019, he was included on the Evening Standard Progress1000 list of most influential Londoners and in 2020 he was listed on the “The Power List” by The Ophthalmologist magazine, a ranking of the Top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pearse-keane-27074a6
Pain: How to feel less pain
What is pain? Where does it start and end? In the mind, nerve endings, or somewhere else? In this final episode of the first season of Invent: Health from TTP, we’ll be exploring the many and varied facets of this most essential of human experiences. Speaking with specialists in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, we’ll find out what is being done to measure pain, to mitigate its severity and what the future of pain relief looks like, to see if people involved in healthcare and drug delivery should be giving pain more attention in their work.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dan Lock is a consultant in psychology and human factors at TTP. A psychologist by background, Dan leads on understanding the users of our products, exploring their motivations and figuring out those design features that translate into long-term adherence to medication.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danlock/
Dr. Hannah Claridge is a Neural Interfaces specialist here at TTP who, after a Master’s degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Clinical Neurosciences from the University of Oxford, now specialises in neurotechnology and biosensing, developing clinical technologies for some of the world’s largest Med Tech companies and ambitious startups.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-claridge
Dr. David Cottenden is a consultant here at TTP. He holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a PHD in biomechanics from UCL. David’s work has encompassed everything from developing medical devices to exploring and mapping pain in drug delivery.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cottenden-7661b64b/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Healthcare’s coming home: How to fit a hospital into your home
Healthcare’s coming home, it’s coming home… Or is it? Recent years – and increasingly since COVID 19 – have seen healthcare moving into the home, with patients using more digital products to track their health from the comfort of their sofas. But why? What was the initial trigger for this? What are the risks and benefits? Will this see a dystopian world where only the rich see doctors in person or a complete democratisation of convenient healthcare? In this episode of Invent Health we break down healthcare in the home to see the benefits and blockers in the now and in the future.
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Clayton Poppe is the CTO of Diality. From their base in California, Diality is redefining home dialysis, enabling patients in Kidney failure to undergo hemodialysis, in their own home. An engineer and technical management professional by background, Calyton specializes in new product and technology development and process scale-up.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claytonpoppe/
Alex Gilbert has worked within the Digital Health Industry for a number of years alongside healthcare, pharmaceutical and tech organisations. He joined Huma (previously called Medopad) as one of their first employees and currently manages global Life Sciences Partnerships and Digital Medicine development. Huma is one of the UK’s highest-growth digital health companies, having raised over 50 Million in funding, whilst partnering with Apple and Tencent. His passion is the use of technology to empower and engage the patient to take control of their care.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexgilberthuma/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Surgical Robotics: How to build a robot
Surgical robotics are all the rage right now. Attracting huge investment from the biggest names in healthcare devices, the use of robots in surgery has the potential to change the industry in some really profound and exciting ways. However, some have criticised their implementation as an unnecessary expense when humans can perform these tasks just as well. This episode of Invent: Health will see our guests debate the efficacy and effectiveness of surgical robotics, seeing whether it’s the future of surgery, or just tech for tech’s sake. We’ll also look to the future to see how big an impact this is going to have in the coming years.
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Paul Galluzzo has worked at TTP for the past 18 years. Before that, he did a PhD in mechanical engineering at Cambridge included building a robot to play the cello very accurately. Since then, he has worked across a wide range of markets and products at TTP, from gardening tools to DNA sequencing to inkjet. Inkjet was a fruitful pathway into ultrasound imaging, and ultrasound was in turn a gateway into medical technology about ten years ago. He now specialises mostly in the technology enablers in med-tech: navigation, visualisation, critical structure detection, energy delivery, implants, and of course surgical robotics.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-galluzzo-1132113/
Dr. Dwight Meglan, whose doctorate is in Mechanical Engineering, has worked on complex medical systems for more than 25 years as part of teams at a number of high technology medical startups as well as major medical device companies. As a result, he has worked on eight commercial surgical robots (NOTES, abdominal/thoracic, endovascular, electrophysiology, cardiac, gastrointestinal), multiple unique medical devices, as well as numerous surgical simulators combining real-time computational physics, VR/AR displays and custom haptics interfaces. His early work was in orthopedic biomechanics at Ohio State with a postdoc at Mayo Clinic where he turned down a tenure track position so he could stay involved in hands-on work.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmeglan/
Dr. Mark Slack is the Chief Medical Officer and one of the co-founders of CMR Surgical, a global surgical robotics company that has developed Versius, a next-generation robotic system used to perform keyhole surgery. Today, Versius is being used in routine clinical practice to deliver high quality surgical care to patients around the world. Mark qualified in Medicine from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and completed his postgraduate training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Cape Town. During this time he was awarded the prestigious Daubenton Gold Medal from the College of Medicine of South Africa. Mark established the Urogynaecology service at Addenbrooke’s Hospital which has recognised accreditation by the British Society of Urogynaecology. He is also on the Editorial Board for the journal ‘BMJ Surgery, Innovation and Health Technology’. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and an official spokesperson for the college.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-slack-3b8a2139/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Sustainable Healthcare: How to take action
Humans are designed to make decisions in the now, not ones in the abstract long term. That’s why ‘cathedral thinking’ comes so hard to us – so it’s understandable that making healthcare more sustainable is hard when its primary function is first and foremost to save lives today, not the planet tomorrow. It’s easy to say you want to be more sustainable but when you’re dealing with people’s lives, does sustainability go out of the window? So what can we actually do? This episode of Invent: Health sees us explore the difficulties and challenges as healthcare industries try to become more sustainable.
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr Michael Spiro is an anaesthetic and intensive care consultant at a London NHS teaching hospital. He has research interests in resource utilisation, enhanced recovery, innovation and sustainability in health care.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-spiro-b40a3289/
Dr Seema Gandhi is a professor in the department of anaesthesia and the medical director of sustainability at University of California, San Francisco Health System. Trained in India/ UK and the US, she has a global perspective of the practice of medicine and her research focused on decreasing carbon emissions and waste from healthcare. Dr Gandhi is involved in many initiatives focused on Reduction of single use devices, energy consumption and increasing sustainability focused education among healthcare providers.
https://anesthesia.ucsf.edu/people/seema-gandhi
Maria Koijck is a Dutch artist and activist based in Groningen. Her artistic practise has focused on waste for many years. Whether it’s sculptures made from plastic bottles or tackling the issue of beachside pollution in countries as far afield as Sierra Leone, Maria’s work consistently takes aim at the unsustainable use of plastics while simultaneously opening up questions on how we might solve it.
https://www.mariakoijck.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w28M7wjIr6E
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://ttp.com/invent
Eyecare: How to restore sight
Of all the senses, sight is perhaps our most important. The eye is one of the most incredible organs in nature: it enables us to perceive the world around us, understanding our world through images. And yet we only see a small aspect of reality. But the eye is important beyond just sight. It can also provide a window into our overall health, showing indicators for other things like alzeihmers and blood pressure. In this episode of Invent Health we breakdown the world of modern eyecare to find the ways that tech is improving our collective vision. We’ll hear about preventative procedures, cures to restore sight and the global discrepancies in treatment, alongside really getting to grips with what the future of healthcare looks like for perhaps our most vital organs.
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr Jose-Alain Sahel is currently the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, director of the UPMC Eye Center, and the Eye and Ear Foundation Chair of Ophthalmology. Dr. Sahel previously led the Vision Institute in Paris, a research centre associated with the one of the oldest eye hospitals in Europe. He is a pioneer in the field of artificial retina and eye regenerative therapies and a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9-Alain_Sahel
Pearse Keane is a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, and an associate professor at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. In 2016, he initiated a formal collaboration between Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind, with the aim of developing artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the earlier detection and treatment of retinal disease. In May 2020, he jointly led work, again published in Nature Medicine, to develop an early warning system for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), by far the commonest cause of blindness in many countries. In October 2019, he was included on the Evening Standard Progress1000 list of most influential Londoners and in 2020 he was listed on the “The Power List” by The Ophthalmologist magazine, a ranking of the Top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pearse-keane-27074a6
Catherine Wyman is a mechanical engineer by background who has developed a variety of medical devices and now leads TTP’s eyecare team. She and the team focus on addressing unmet needs across ophthalmology, including in the areas we are discussing today.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinewyman1
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://ttp.com/invent
Neurotech: How to speak to the brain
Neurotech: what is it? Elon Musk’s brain implants that herald a dystopian sci fi future? Or life saving technology which will be able to cure a multitude of injuries: back pain, epilepsy, even paralysis. In this episode of Invent: Health, we take a look at the hype vs the reality in the thrilling field of neurotech, speaking to experts from TTP and beyond to break it down and find out about its history, its current applications and the incredible places it’s going in the future.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Hannah Claridge is a Neural Interfaces specialist who co leads the neurotechnology team here at TTP. After a Master’s degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Clinical Neurosciences from the University of Oxford, Hannah now specialises in neurotechnology and biosensing, developing clinical technologies for some of the world’s largest Med Tech companies and ambitious startups.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-claridge
Dr Benjamin Metcalfe is an Assistant Professor at the University of Bath and a co-founder of the Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics, and Biodevices – the largest research centre of its type in England. Since starting in this role in 2016 he has published over 40 peer reviewed research papers and co-authored two books on neural interfaces. He holds a number of internal and external posts including as a trustee and non-executive director of both the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine and the charity Designability. His research interests are in the areas of neural interfaces, neural computing, and signal processing.
https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/benjamin-metcalfe
Dr. Chris Dawson co leads the neurotechnology team at TTP with Hannah, working with ambitious clients across this field to develop novel enabling technologies and applying these to medical device development to help bring innovative new products to market. His degree and PhD are in mechanical engineering, and started his career working to develop automation systems to improve development and productivity in life science research, before moving into motorsport and working in the aero department at McLaren to design, develop, and test the aerodynamic elements of their formula one race car. This fast-paced design-develop-deploy environment was great preparation for moving into technology development at TTP, using deep science and engineering expertise to support clients in commercialising their ideas.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-dawson-96908268/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://ttp.com/invent
Mental Health: How to think about feeling
There is now a widespread awareness of the gravity of mental health issues in the general public, and equally in the world of healthcare. But in tandem with its rise we’ve seen the growth of the so-called “wellness industry”, which too often promotes pseudo scientific solutions to the most complex of problems. So how is the health tech industry responding? What are the new frontiers for digital therapeutic care today, especially in the post-pandemic landscape?
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP
This Week’s Guests
Adonis Bou Chakra is the Co-founder & CPO at Aepsy – designing & building products for better minds. He is a former global Design manager at Sennheiser with an MA Digital Management at Hyper Island.
https://www.adonisbc.com/
Dr. Rashmi Patel is a MRC UKRI Health Data Research UK Fellow in the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. He has a particular interest in the neurobiology of psychotic disorders and the role of health data research techniques such as extracting data from free text electronic health records (EHRs) using natural language processing to predict clinical outcomes and develop more effective treatment strategies.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-rashmi-patel
Jordan Abdi is the Strategy and Business Development Lead at Holmusk, a company building the largest Real-World Evidence platform, starting with behavioral health. He is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a Schwarzman Scholar, who is passionate about preventative health. A medical doctor by background, he has close to a decade’s experience working in the health technology sector.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanabdi/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here.
https://ttp.com/invent
Behavioural Science: How to do what’s good for us
Doing what’s good for you should seem like second nature, so why is it that we as humans so often don’t do things which we know will be effective when it comes to our own health and wellbeing? From difficulties in quitting smoking to the 25% of prescriptions in the UK that are left unfilled, medical non-adherence has profound effects on the health of a population, and it’s also one of the trickiest realms for health practitioners to deal with. How do you literally change someone’s behaviour if they already know they’re doing themselves harm?
Find out on this week’s episode of Invent: Health from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Paul Upham is the Head of Smart Devices at Roche / Genentech and has over 20 years of experience in medical technology and digital health in R&D as well as global marketing and product management roles, including leading the development of the world’s first prescription digital therapy for type 2 diabetes, Bluestar, from WellDoc.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulupham/
Dan Lock is a consultant in psychology and human factors at TTP. A psychologist by background, Dan leads on understanding the users of our products, exploring their motivations and figuring out those design features that translate into long-term adherence to medication.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danlock/
Dr. Olga Perski is an interdisciplinary scientist working at the intersection of behavioural science and digital health. She is a health psychologist by training and completed her PhD at University College London in 2018, with a thesis on the definition, measurement and promotion of user engagement with digital behaviour change interventions. She is a post-doc in the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group and a UCL Centre for Behaviour Change Associate. Her work is focused on the development and evaluation of digital interventions for smoking cessation and alcohol reduction.
https://www.olgaperski.com/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://ttp.com/invent
Invent: Health from TTP – Season 1 Trailer
Hello and welcome to Invent: Health, a podcast from technology and product development company TTP.
Invent: Health is a podcast about the future of health and technology, hosted by TTP Design and Strategy consultant, Matt Millington. Each week, we’ll be joined by the top scientists, designers, business leaders and academics working at the vanguard of this vital industry, to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the world of health tech.
See you soon!
Invent – Life Sciences
The Highlights: A look back at the best moments of Invent: Life Sciences Series 2
Process Analytics: how can analytics accelerate the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapies?
Throughout this series, we’ve explored different diseases we target, the sorts of cells which are under development as therapies, and how the therapies themselves are manufactured. With all this innovation, we shouldn’t be surprised by the increased focus on the means by which processes and products themselves are characterised. So, do current process analytical tools provide the insights therapy developers need? And how can new technologies be implemented in the fast-moving life sciences field?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Davide Danovi
Davide Danovi leads the cellular pheotyping department at bit.bio. Bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology enterprise with a mission to code cells for health through applying the principles of computation to biology. In his role at bit.bio, Davide’s responsibilities emcompass three key areas. Firstly, Infrastructure and training, overseeing the maintenance of essential instruments, conducts staff training, and establishes data analysis infrastructure for imaging and flow cytometry. Secondly, Cell characterisation, verifying the identities of cells, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of experimental results. And finally, Cell type identification, developing modules to precisely identify specific cell types by screening transcription factors, offering innovative solutions for cell identification.
James Kusena
James Kusena is the Vice President of Operations at MicrofluidX. MicrofluidX is industrialising cell and gene therapy manufacturing through it’s latest technology, the Cyto Engine, a unified bioreactor and data platform for cell and gene therapy research, development, and manufacturing. James’ career began with a focus on bioprocessing and applications, now as VP of Operations, this focus is now shaping the company’s technology to align with industry needs. With demonstrated experience in various sectors of the Cell and Gene therapy industry, including: Process Development, Process Translation, Process Transfer, Research & Development and Commercialisation; James’ career reflects a fusion of technical expertise and leadership with a commitment to advancing cell therapy manufacturing industry standards and product quality.
iPSCs: how could stem cells revolutionise the manufacture of advanced therapies?
Across the life sciences industry, there is much excitement over the potential impact of stem cells in medicine. And it is clear why; these cells, which can be differentiated into any other cell type, could rewrite the playbook in terms of sourcing cellular material for advanced therapies manufacture. So how might therapy developers benefit from the unique abilities of stem cells? And will they live up to their expectations?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Marinna Madrid
Marinna Madrid is a co-founder at Cellino, a venture capital-backed biotech company building the next generation of cell-based tissues and therapies with a proprietary platform technology. Marinna earned her PhD and MA in Applied Physics from Harvard University, where she played a significant role in co-inventing laser-based intracellular delivery techniques. Prior to her graduate studies, she completed her BSc in Biophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles, having initially started her academic journey at Riverside Community College. In addition to receiving honors for her achievevements, including the Harvard Graduate Prize Fellowship, she also earned a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Healthcare in 2019.
Adil Duru
Adil Duru is a Senior Research Manager at Glycostem Therapeutics. Glycostem Therapeutics is a Dutch biotech company established in 2007 that focuses on the development of Natural Killer cells (NK cells) as a medicinal asset in the fight against cancer. Adil’s main research and development interest is exploring novel NK cell and T cell based cancer immunotherapy approaches including genetically engineered NK cells and T cells.
Sex and gender in medical research: how can a focus on the individual improve health outcomes for marginalised groups?
Throughout almost all of medical history, it was assumed that the average white male response to drug trials could be extrapolated to all potential recipients. But when we look at the poorer health outcomes for women and minorities, could the underlying assumptions in medical research be a contributing factor? If so, what is being done to solve them?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Diana Torgersen
Diana Torgersen is the Executive Director for External Innovation & Emerging Science at Organon. Organon is a global healthcare company with a portfolio of therapies and product’s in women’s health, biosimilars, and established medicines across a wide array of conditions and diseases.
Shirin Heidari
Shirin Heidari is the Founding President of GENDRO, a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to advance equity through sex and gender senstive-research across discplines by creating public awareness about the implications of lack of sex and gender considerations in research and innovation.
Deana Mohr
Deana Mohr is CEO of MUVON Therapeutics. MUVON Therapeutics is a clinical stage Life Science spin-off from the University of Zurich developing a therapeutic platform for the regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue based on autologous cells, not only repairing damaged tissue but also increasing the regenerative potential of weakened muscles.
Organoids: how are in-vitro models revolutionising drug development and testing?
Pharmaceutical companies undertake rigorous clinical trials in order to find out which drugs are safe. But in order to better protect the people volunteering for these tests, regulators decreed that data from studies on animals would be the primary evidence needed before approving a clinical trial in humans. Testing drugs on animals has many ethical and practical issues, and so scientists are looking towards different types of in-vitro models as a solution. But what are these models? How can they move us towards safer, better trials?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Sylvia Boj
Sylvia Boj is an accomplished scientist and the current Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Hub Organoid. Sylvia’s journey in the world of organoids began during her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Hans Clevers – now, at Hub Organoid, Sylvia leads the charge in harnessing the potential of organoids for the pharmaceutical industry. Her mission is to translate the remarkable capabilities of organoids into a vital preclinical platform for drug development and discovery.
Bas Trietsch
Bas Trietsch is a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Mimetas in the Netherlands. For the past decade, Bas has been using his expertise in drug development and microfluidics to advance “organ on a chip” technology. This technology creates tiny versions of organs and tissues on a chip, allowing scientists to see how they react to different things and is more accurate than traditional methods.
The Blood Brain Barrier: can innovations in delivery help us unlock the brain?
Modern medicine has helped us develop many effective treatments for diseases found throughout the body, but we’ve yet to have the same success with the brain. The so-called ‘blood brain barrier’ controls the passage of molecules out of the blood and into the brain, and so it’s not as easy to use the bloodstream to carry therapeutic molecules as we might do for other diseases. Could the blood brain barrier be the key to treating neurological disorders? How can we target this structure to make therapies more effective?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
James Choi
James Choi is the Principal Investigator of Non-invasive Surgery and Biopsy Laboratory at Imperial College London and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the institute. The purpose of the Noninvasive Surgery & Biopsy Laboratory is to build incision-less microsurgical devices and methods to locally deliver drugs to the brain. James Choi is a leading expert on the blood brain barrier and has authored numerous research publications in the fields of noninvasive surgery and delivery through the blood brain barrier using focused ultrasound. James Choi’s work at the laboratory is currently focused on treating several dieseases, including Alzheimers, using non-invasive devices for delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier.
Sam Barker
Sam Barker is the Chief Business Officer at Somaserve, a genetic medicines company that is pioneering new medicines for crossing the blood brain barrier and other biologicial barries. Using a proprietary targeted polymer nanoparticle technology, PolyNaut®, Somaserve is delivering genetic materials to cells and tissues of choice, including targeted delivery to the central nervous system. Sam Barker has deep experience in start-up and growth stage companies across drug development from discovery to delivery, with expertise in developing and commercialising innovative platform technologies.
Small Molecules: can new classes of drug target reinvigorate drug discovery?
In the pharmaceutical industry, there is a desire to go beyond the traditional ‘compound x acts on protein y,’ and achieve a more nuanced effect on the underlying biology. So, could innovative approaches to small molecules open up a wider application space? And what benefits might this bring to cash-strapped healthcare systems?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Anne Horgan
Anne Horgan is a partner at Cambridge Innovation Captial, a venture capital firm that invest in IP rich businesses in both deep tech and life science. With a robust academic foundation in organic and medicinal chemistry, Anne’s career path began in Ph.D and postdoctoral research which culminated into a role in a small cambridge-based company dedicated to the creation of small molecules for therapeutic applications. Her journey then took her into the fascinating domain of technology transfer, where she honed her skills at Cancer Research UK (formerly known as Cancer Research Technology), helping bridge the gap between groundbreaking research and practical applications, now under the banner of Cancer Research Horizons. Now, Anne’s expertise and experience has found their home at Cambridge Innovation Capital, where she continues to play an instrumental role in shaping the future of innovation and technology-driven businesses.
Rabia Khan
Rabia Khan is the founder and CEO of Serna Bio. Serna Bio (previously Ladder Therapeutics) is using an AI-based, data-first approach to write the rules that define RNA-small molecule interactions. Rabia’s educational pursuit took her from Pakistan to Canada, where she pursued a degree in genetics, followed by a Ph.D and an MBA. Rabia would also go on to complete a postdoc on IPS derived macrophages in the UK. Rabia’s passion for genetics stemmed from the elegance of the four-letter genetic code (ATGC) that defines all living beings, eventually leading her to a company called Sensyne Health, working at the intersection of computational methods and patient data to enable drug discovery. Rabia’s journey has traversed both geographic and scientific landscapes, now, Rabia’s work at Serna Bio is driving towards the world’s first map of the druggable transcriptome.
Cell and gene therapy: how can we transform artisan treatments into mass-market cures?
Cell and gene therapies are extremely effective but their complex production processes, arduous supply chain, and life-critical logistics have prevented mass market adoption. Could digitisation and AI provide a breakthrough in manufacturing? Would more companies be willing to work together on standardisation to provide more flexibility?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Matthew Durdy
Matthew Durdy is a biologist, investor, entrepreneur, and the Chief Executive of the Cell and Therapy Catapult. Previously responsible for the development of the business and strategy arm of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, Matthew’s work now combines three sets of experience: corporate investment banking; new venture and innovation management, and biotechnology leadership, into one passion; creating the environment for, and leading the commercialisation of brilliant science into life-changing products.
Alexander Seyf
Alexander Seyf is a business leader, entrepreneur, and one of the co-founders and CEO of Autolomous. Autolomous offers pragmatic digital solutions for cell and gene therapy manufacturing and was founded in 2019 with a mission to revolutionise cell and gene therapy manufacturing through digital innovation. Alexander brings a unique perspective to this endeavor, drawing from his background in physics, the telecom industry, and extensive experience in management consultancy and startups.
mRNA: What did Covid teach us about drug development and distribution?
The Covid vaccination campaign demonstrated the effectiveness of mRNA-based treatments, so what else is this technology capable of? How can we improve our manufacturing and distribution to ensure treatments are available to those who need them most?
To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.
What is mRNA and what is the importance of mRNA treatments?
Messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA for short, is a crucial molecule in the process of making proteins in our bodies. Proteins are essential for the structure, function, and regulation of the cells, tissues, and organs in our bodies.
mRNA treatments, also known as mRNA therapeutics, are a type of medical technology that uses synthetic mRNA to treat or prevent various diseases and medical conditions. Vaccines are one of the most well-known examples of mRNA treatments. These treatments are a relatively new and exciting area of medicine with the potential to revolutionize how we approach healthcare.
This Week’s Guests
David Sokolowski
David Sokolowski is the Global Workflow Manager for the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics business unit within Cytiva. Cytiva is a global life sciences leader dedicated to helping customers discover and commercialise the next generation of therapeutics. David has been closely monitoring the RNA field and its evolving applications and manufacturing technologies.
Dan Peer
Dan Peer is a Professor at Tel Aviv University and the Director of the Laboratory of Precision Nanomedicine at Tel Aviv. Dan has been actively engaging in nanomedicine for the past 20 years and is also the university’s Vice President for Research and Development. Dan is at the forefront of mRNA research and shares his insight on the rapid expansion of mRNA applications.
Introducing Invent: Life Science Series 2
Invent: Life Sciences is back for Season 2!
Invent: Life Sciences is a podcast about the future of life science and technology, hosted by Head of Cell Gene Therapy and Biotechnology at TTP, Stuart Lowe.
Each episode, we’ll be joined by the top scientists, designers, business leaders, and academics working at the vanguard of this vital industry, to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the world of life science.
In this new season, we now turn our focus onto advances driving forward the pharmaceutical sector, and how life scientists are dedicating their lives to bringing the benefits of medicine to those who need it most.
Listen to the full trailer now!
Introducing Invent: Health Series 2
Calling all Invent: Life Sciences Subscribers! While you wait for more episodes, make sure to subscribe to our sister podcast, Invent: Health, which has just begun its second season. Listen to the trailer here now!
Invent: Health sees host Matt Parker explore the fascinating future of Health technologies. From new closed-loop systems for diabetes to sensing innovations in cardiac health, Matt will be taking a look behind the scenes of these technologies and meeting the people working to transform our collective health.
Listen and subscribe from anywhere you get your podcasts, just search ‘Invent: Health’.
You can also follow the Invent: Health series from our Transistor page and listen to the recent episode on the future of epilepsy treatment: inventhealth.transistor.fm
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com
Life Science Investment: How to invest in change
The pandemic drastically altered the landscape for investment flowing into the Life Sciences. Not only was there more money going in, but the market needs changed too, with an unprecedented focus on scaling sectors like testing and vaccines. But what did this mean for sectors which were not on the Covid front line? What happened to the trends that were in train before the pandemic hit? And what have we learnt from this experience that we can deploy in the face of the next global challenge? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences, we look at the past, present and future of investing in the sector, to explore the profound effects that the pandemic has had on it as a whole – and find that, when we pull together, amazing things can happen.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Gonzalo Garcia
Gonzalo Garcia is a Biotech investor, company builder and partner at Syncona limited. Syncona are a company who found, build and fund early stage companies to turn science into transformational treatments, in fields ranging from cell and gene, to biologics and small molecule. Prior to this, Gonzalo completed a PhD in Protein Biophysics from the University of Cambridge, an EMBO Short Term Fellowship in Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and was a project leader at Boston Consulting Group. His work at Syncona includes his role as Chief of Staff and Board observer at Resolution Therapeutics.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gonzaloagarciag/?originalSubdomain=uk
Dr. Jason Mellad
Jason Mellad is the CEO and co-founder of Start Codon. After a phd in medicine from the University of Cambridge, Jason worked in various directing roles for a number of exciting Life Sciences companies, like Cambridge Epigenetics, before founding Start Codon in late 2018. Start Codon are a venture capital investor and venture builder who support aspiring entrepreneurs in development and commercialisation of their businesses. They look for the most disruptive innovations in the life sciences space, and have already seen dozens of successful start ups come through their programme to bring their ideas to the world.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-mellad-54890622/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Diagnostics: How to do self-testing better
In the past decade, two events have sent shockwaves through the diagnostics industry: Theranos and Covid. The first, is a parable against faking it in an industry which rightly prizes accuracy and safety. The second was an almost insatiable demand for diagnostic testing kits, where the speed of information took second place to accuracy. Was Elizabeth Holmes onto something when she founded Theranos? What if her devices had been able to live up to the hype? And what reputation does self-testing now have in the diagnostics industry? In this episode of Invent Life Sciences, we take a look at the Theranos story and the Covid pandemic and see what lessons can be learned from each.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Tony is a professor of chemical biology at Imperial College London, an institution he has been a part of for the best part of three decades. Alongside his fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Tony pioneered the use of synthetic electron transfer mediators for enzyme biosensors, and his work in this area led to the development of the first electronic blood glucose measuring system.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonycass/?originalSubdomain=uk
Dr. Giles Sanders
Giles is the head of In Vitro diagnostics at TTP and has been with us for two decades. During that time he has been influential in the development of numerous diagnostics systems that have been successfully placed on the market. He works across all aspects of In Vitro diagnostics, from automated central lab, to point of care and home use devices.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilessanders/?originalSubdomain=uk
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Cell Therapy Manufacture: How to scale the manufacture of living drugs
Following our first episode of two focusing on cell and gene therapies, outlining the promise and practicalities of delivering curative therapies for chronic diseases, we now focus on cell therapies – so called ‘living drugs’ that are both as powerful as they are complex. Despite the impressive trials and life-changing impacts at the individual level, it’s still not possible to manufacture cell therapies at scales that could benefit a wider range of patients. So what are the differences between cell therapies and conventional medicines that make them so difficult to manufacture? Can we redeploy hardware and learnings from other industries or are custom solutions needed? And does the ‘where’ we manufacture these therapies matter more than the ‘how’? As we discover in this episode, efforts to address these questions and provide scalable manufacturing solutions could unleash a new wave of pharmaceutical innovation that promises to revolutionise the way we develop medicines.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Edwin Stone
Ed is our head of cell and gene at TTP. After a PHD specialising in Vehicle Dynamics from the University of Cambridge, Ed started working at TTP some 18 years ago, most of which has been spent specialising in cell and gene. He’s been focusing on the manufacturing realm of cell and gene for the past seven years. His work spans everything from commercial strategy through to technology development and on to production.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-stone-98560212/
Mike Lehmicke
Mike is the Senior Director of Science and Industry Affairs at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and has over 20 years of R&D experience in biomaterials, medical devices, and regenerative medicine. His work focuses on cell based tissue engineering, bioceramics and medicines which have the ability to help repair or replace damaged human cells or tissues.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-lehmicke-76b45435/
Dr. Félix A. Montero-Julian
Félix is a Scientific Director of the Healthcare Business of bioMérieux. With over 25 years of experience in industrial and clinical diagnostics, Félix is extensively involved in the implementation and acceptance of rapid and alternative microbiological methods, with an array of technical experience across the cell and gene therapy manufacturing process.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/f%C3%A9lix-a-montero-julian-phd-0a3a501b/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Cell and Gene: How to make advanced therapies accessible
With therapies like cell and gene – amongst some of the most significant innovations in modern medicine – the idea of delivering cures for conditions from cancer to diabetes is now within the realm of scientific possibility. But will it be possible to provide the benefits of advanced therapies to all? Should we expect our healthcare systems to foot the bill? And can we re-imagine the development ecosystem to truly realise the potential of cell and gene therapies? In this first of two episodes about curing diseases and cell & gene therapies, we outline why we would want to treat diseases in this way, the main economic barriers to achieving it, and where these exciting new therapies are going next.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Dan Strange
Dan is a technologist and engineering leader with a background in tissue biomechanics, regenerative medicine, and mechanical engineering. He’s been at TTP for the past decade, driving forward large development programs from start to finish, as well as being a huge advocate for cell and gene therapies.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanstrange/
Professor Jacob Petersen
Jacob is the head of cell therapy research & development at Novo Nordisk and an adjunct professor in biomedicine at Copenhagen University Medical Faculty. With over 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology spaces, Jacob has worked in R&D for everything from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and through his current head of cell therapy R&D role, he is involved in the creation of new treatments in this space from start to finish.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-petersen-820529/
Dr. Kath Mackay
Kath is the director of Life Sciences for Bruntwood SciTech, a company that provides companies with the infrastructure around Cell and Gene. Previously on the executive management team at Innovate UK, Kath has a track record which proves her passion for growing the UK’s life sciences sector, and in her new role is responsible for developing Bruntwood SciTech’s life sciences vision, strategy and services in their campuses, which includes Alderley Park, Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, Citylabs, Manchester and Melbourn Science Park.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkathmackay/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Preclinical drug development: How to simulate the human body
From cosmetics to medicines, animal testing is still widely mandated by regulators. Up to now, there have been few other ways to gather information about the potential human response to drug candidates. But are animal models still the most effective way to test drugs before we use them in humans? Or are these in vivo models outdated, ready to be replaced by innovative new in vitro models of drug development? In this episode of TTP Invent: Life Sciences, we take a look at some of the fascinating alternatives to animal testing in drug development, before assessing what new realms of medicine these new methods could soon open up – from replicating your organs on a chip, to regenerating entire tissues.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Professor Molly Stevens FRS FRENG
Molly is Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine in the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London. Following a postdoc working on tissue engineering methods with Bob Langer at MIT, Molly set up her own group at Imperial in 2004. The Stevens Group is a multidisciplinary research group using innovative bioengineering approaches to address key problems in regenerative medicine and biosensing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-stevens-81742822/
Dr. Lorna Ewart
Lorna is the CSO at Emulate, a company that creates advanced in vitro models for understanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods affect human health. Lorna is passionate about the pursuit of drug discovery and development. After working in the Microphysiological Systems Centre of Excellence within AstraZeneca, and beginning her own firm Veroli Consulting, Lorna is now renowned for her expertise in Organ-Chips and Organoids.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lornaewart/
Maria is best known for her pioneering work in children’s cancer. Last year she and collaborator Justin Gooding were awarded the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes for their contribution to a 3D bioprinting technology that promises to revolutionise cancer research, and her work on tumour cells, drug resistance, nanotechnologies and bioprinting have produced countless new discoveries to the field.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariakavallaris/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
AI: How to think differently
The hunt to discover new pharmaceuticals in areas of high unmet need can be complex, time-consuming, and costly. For every life saving therapy that hits the market, thousands and even millions of candidate drugs are rejected. A new technology could be changing the way we home in on the most effective therapy: AI. The use of AI in drug discovery – whether through mining research or in highlighting new experimental insight – is one of the most exciting new sectors in the field. But how does it really work? What are the conditions needed to implement it? Is it really anything more than just a useful tool? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP, we take a look at this fascinating new frontier for drug discovery.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Sarah Morrow
Sarah is a Life Sciences Consultant at TTP, joining in 2020 after getting her PhD specialising in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford. Sarah brings a chemist’s perspective on the challenges encountered within drug discovery, as well as focusing on the technology – both hardware and software – that could enable and accelerate the field.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-morrow-841719146/
Aaron Morris
Aaron Morris is the CEO and co-founder of PostEra, a company building an end-to-end medicinal chemistry platform to advance drug discovery, using machine learning and AI to do so. After seeing the limiting nature of drug discovery on bio tech companies and pharma, Aaron set up PostEra to come in at this early stage and work alongside them to reduce these issues, and to serve the world’s ever expanding community of drug hunters.
https://postera.ai/
Dr. Andreas Bender
Andreas Bender is a Professor of Life Sciences informatics interested in developing new life science data analysis methods for their application in drug discovery. After over a decade at Cambridge University working in molecular informatics, Andreas is now the CSO at Terra Lumina, a company building the world’s largest dataset of natural compounds, using AI that unlocks the connection between nature’s small molecules and the human body.
https://terralumina.bio/
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
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Synthetic Biology: How to change your genes
What is the potential of synthetic biology? A chance to create life-changing therapies by speaking cells’ very own language? Or could rogue researchers use it to turn our own biology against us?
Since synthetic biology emerged as a field, the aspirations for its benefits have been as speculative as the concerns about its misuse, making one of the most fascinating and divisive fields in life sciences. But what are its real applications today? And where is it going next? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences we break down the history of this field, focusing in how breakthroughs in our understanding of DNA allowed it to flourish, before assessing whether its applications today will live up to its incredible potential.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Michael Chen
Michael is the CEO and founder of synthetic biology startup Nuclera. With a PHD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, Michael has ten years experience in scientific research, from nucleic acid chemistry to protein expression and crystallography, resulting in twelve published papers. Nuclera is the outcome of this work – it’s a company whose fundamental goal is to make biology accessible, through their groundbreaking desktop bioprinter, which combines eProtein synthesis and eDrop digital microfluidics, to enable protein printing within 24 hours.
https://www.nuclera.com/
Dr. Gary M. Skinner
Gary is a consultant in applied biophysics at TTP, and his research focuses on various fields within the syn bio space. In his career, Gary has worked everywhere from York to Arizona to the Netherlands on projects as far afield as using optical tweezers to observe initiation of transcription of DNA, to applying super-resolution imaging technology to DNA sequencing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmskinnerbioscience/
Tom is a Professor of Synthetic Genome Engineering at Imperial College London. He currently leads a research team in synthetic genome engineering and synthetic biology in the Department of Bioengineering. His research, for which he has one multiple awards, focuses on developing the foundational tools for accelerating, automating and scaling design-led synthetic genomics and synthetic biology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomellisphd/
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Genomics: How to use a $100 genome
When the first human genome was sequenced, the whole project was estimated to have cost some 3 billion dollars and took over 13 years. Now, with massively parallel Next Generation Sequencing it is possible to sequence the human genome in less than 24 hours at a cost of under $1,000. With a rapid decline in sequencing costs, both the number of applications and the amount of data produced have boomed, driving a revolution in medicine. However, with the advent of new enabling technologies, what is next? What are the new and exciting technologies in the sequencing space which will be truly disruptive in the future? And what technical innovation is required to bring these technologies to the mainstream user or even the clinic?
In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences, we explore the race to innovate in the sequencing arena, what’s happened so far, and what’s going to happen next.
Find out more on this week’s episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.
This Week’s Guests
Dr. Geoff Smith
Geoff is a next generation sequencing pioneer who has built and led many of the teams that invented and developed the entire NGS workflow – from sample prep, to the core sequencing technology, to new instrument systems. Previously Ilumina’s global head of technology development, he is now an independent board member of various exciting start ups.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-smith-328b5b9/
Dr. Lauren Laing
Lauren leads the ‘Omics Team at TTP – a team addressing current needs in DNA and RNA sequencing and also looking to develop tools for future multi- proteo- and other ‘omic workflows. Prior to this Lauren has worked in developing new sequencing technologies, novel chemistries, approaches to automating sample preparation, and research applying sequencing in single cell and epigenetic applications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/epigenomicslvl/
Dr. James Hadfield
James is the Senior Director of Oncology Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca and author of the CoreGenomics blog, enseqlopedia. A life-sciences researcher and senior operational manager with over 20 years’ experience in Genomics technologies, James is a thought leader in genomics with a broad network across academia and industry.
http://enseqlopedia.com/coregenomics
The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/
Invent: Life Sciences from TTP – Trailer
Following our thrilling first series of Invent all about health technology, the team at TTP are back with a new series all about the Life Sciences, to explore the impact of biology and technology on the life sciences sector.
Life sciences are often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, deploying biology and technology in real-world applications to transform medicine, diagnostics, and ultimately our ability to engineer the building blocks of life itself. From delivering cures using cell therapies to harnessing the genetic code, from learning from the Theranos scandal to understanding disruption in drug discovery, Invent: Life Sciences will take a deep dive into the most exciting developments in the field.
The new series begins May 31st – see you then!