MediWales The University Challenge Seminar
Copthorne Hotel, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff 8.45 – 4.30pm
Friday 24 June 2011
Programme
This event will focus on examples of successful academic and business collaborations, financial support available to
companies and collaborative projects, methods of working with academia, and a showcase of the academic expertise
available
Presentations will feature collaborations on wound healing, diagnostics, cancer genetics, nanohealth
technologies, and health economics, examples of TSB and A4B successful funding bids, Advanced
Professional Training, and PhD company placements
This seminar is designed for small to medium sized businesses, start-ups, university spin-outs and NHS staff
interested in the development of intellectual property and taking innovation ideas forward.
8.45 - 9.40
Coffee and registration
9.40 - 10.00
Gwyn Tudor, Forum Manager MediWales - Welcome and update
10.00 - 10.30
Daniel Smith, Collaboration Manager, HealthTech and Medicines KTN
10.30 - 10.45
Steve Conlon, Director, Centre for NanoHealth, College of Medicine, Swansea University
Centre for NanoHealth: An integrated collaborative base for businesses in Wale
10.45 – 11.00
Greg Coss, Centre for Complex Fluids Swansea University
11.00 - 11.15
Bill Johns, Managing Director, Haemair and Andrew Davidson, Managing Director, DTR Medical
11.15 - 11.30
Keith Williams, Biotechnology Services Bristol University, Business Development Manager
Small Scale Bio-manufacturing for clinical trials; an Introduction to the Clinical
Biotechnology Centre
11.30 – 11.45
Matthew Allsop, Senior Project Manager at BITECIC: ‘The Multidisciplinary Assessment of
Technology Centre for Healthcare’
11.45 - 12.00
Jarred Evans, Commercial Director, PDR
12.00 - 12.15
David Williams, Oral Microbiology, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University: “Healthcare associated
infections/medical devices”
12.15 - 12.30
Dr Yamni Nigam, Senior lecturer in Biomedical Science, Swansea College of Human and
Health Sciences and Dr Ed Dudley, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Swansea College of
Medicine: “Development of novel bio-therapeutic agents from medicinal maggots”
12.30 - 12.45
Discussion and Questions
12.45 - 1.45
Lunch and networking
1.45 – 2.10
Dr Chris Gwenin, Lecturer in Electrochemistry, Industrial Placement officer, School of Chemistry,
Bangor University: “Interdisciplinary Research”
2.10 – 2.25
Ian Weeks, Professor in Translational Biochemistry at Cardiff University School of Medicine
2.25 - 2.40
Chris Williams, COO Ig Innovations/Mologic
2.40 - 2.55
Simon Reed, Reader in Cancer Studies,Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Cardiff
University ‘Measuring DNA damage using microarrays: a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with
Agilent Technologies’
2.55 – 3.10
Ali Parker, Knowledge Transfer Officer, Swansea University: ‘Collaborative Funding Routes’
3.10 - 3.25
Kate Parkinson, Project Manager and Liz Bond, Advanced Professional Training in Bioscience,
Swansea University: ‘What Advanced Professional Training in Bioscience can do for your
Business’
3.25 - 3.40
Dr Daniele Doneddu, University of Wales Global Academy, and Mr Chris Moriarty POWIS
Scholar , Calon Cardio: ‘Bridging the Gap’
3.40 - 3.55
Lars Sundstrom, Director of Severnside Alliance for Translational Research (SARTRE):
‘Translating Academic Research’
3.55 – 4.10
Discussion and close.
4.10 – 4.30
Coffee and Networking
MediWales
MediWales is the representative networking body for the life science and healthcare sectors in Wales with over 130
subscribed members and is in regular communication with over 1,500 contacts. MediWales delivers a unique
environment for networking, collaboration and communication between industry, higher education and health service
members. This is achieved through an active schedule of seminar events, publications, and personal communication
with members and stakeholders.
Speaker Profiles
Dr Daniel Smith, , Collaboration Manager
Healthtech and Medicines KTN
Daniel Smith has BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology. He has worked in both academia and the
biopharmaceutical industry for more than 12 years and has gained experience of R&D, manufacturing and commercial
activities. He has more than 30 publications including research, technical and industrial articles.
Currently he is Collaboration Manager for the HealthTech and Medicine Knowledge Transfer Network. His role
includes building integrated industrial & academic networks to assist in knowledge transfer activities for the
Biopharmaceuticals & Bioprocessing, Regenerative Medicine and Stratified Medicine sectors. He sits on a number of
UK University inter-disciplinary research advisory groups helping steer industry engagement and several national
groups including the National Physical Laboratory’s Healthcare and Biotech Steering Committee and Cogent’s Life
Sciences Advisory Council.
Dr Matthew Allsop, Senior Project Manager
BITECIC
Matthew Allsop is a Senior Project Manager at BITECIC Ltd, a spin‐out company from the White Rose Universities
that manage collaboration, and provide professional services to industry, universities and healthcare professionals in
the fields of biomaterials, tissue engineering and related health technology. He joined the company to lead the
partnership between BITECIC and MATCH (Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare) and
develop the health economic modelling aspect of their services portfolio.
Dr David Williams, Reader in Oral Microbiology
School of Dentistry, Cardiff University
Dr Williams leads the Oral Microbiology Group based at the School of Dentistry, Cardiff University. His research
interests are focused in the field of Oral and Clinical Microbiology and especially microbial biofilms. Research into
clinically significant biofilms has involved investigating microbial colonisation of oral surfaces as well as materials used
in medical devices (e.g. silicone rubber, acrylic, titanium). Current research projects are evaluating anti-biofilm wound
dressing materials, establishing the involvement of oral biofilms in ventilator associated pneumonia and the use of
novel biomaterials for the management of urinary catheter associated infection.
Dr Yamni Nigam, Senior lecturer in Biomedical Science
Swansea University College of Human and Health Sciences
Yamni is Senior Lecturer at Swansea University where she has been teaching since 1997. Her first degree in Biology
was at Kings College London, followed by a Masters at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She arrived in
Swansea in 1988 to undertake her doctoral studies and never left! Her post-doctoral experience took her to Brazil,
where she worked for several months in the Fundaco Oswaldo Cruz in Rio. Her research into medicinal maggots
began in 2001 and has yielded the development of a novel antibacterial compound, Seraticin® , for which she is
named inventor. She is currently investigating the development of further bio-therapeutic agents from maggots and
other invertebrates.
Dr Ed Dudley, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry
Swansea University College of Medicine
Dr Ed Dudley is Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry in the College of Medicine and besides academia he has also worked
in the pharmaceutical industry. He was involved in the establishment of a new mass spectrometry facility for biological
and biomedical analysis, encompassing proteomic and metabolomic analyses at Swansea University. He has
experience in assisting businesses throughout the UK in the development of novel anticancer therapeutics, QC
analysis of products, identification of contaminants during product development, preparing scientific consultancy
reports and establishing product improvements. He is named inventor on two patents regarding the development of
novel antimicrobial compounds from maggot secretions.
Professor Ian Weeks, Professor in Translational Biochemistry
Cardiff University
Ian Weeks is a native of Cardiff and obtained BSc, PhD and DSc degrees from Cardiff University. He is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Medicine and Royal College of Pathologists. He is presently Professor in
Translational Biochemistry at Cardiff University School of Medicine and an Honorary Professor with the local
University Health Board. During the 1980s he was an inventor of the Medical School’s diagnostic chemiluminescence
technology that led to him co-founding a spin-out company during the 1990s which was subsequently sold to a major
US diagnostics company in 2003. This technology has had significant global impact during the last two decades and is
used in hundreds of millions of clinical diagnostic tests performed annually.
Dr Chris Gwenin, Lecturer in Electrochemistry, Industrial Placement Officer
School of Chemistry, Bangor University
Chris completed his PhD in 2006 within the School of Chemistry at Bangor University and was appointed to lecturer in
2009. Chris has since quadrupled the size of the electrochemical group at Bangor, obtained numerous patents and
now leads both the administration and scientific programme of a sensor development work package in a €11M, 25
partner EU grant. Using his multidisciplinary expertise, Chris has developed an extensive network of both local and
international collaborations in areas such as TB diagnostics, cancer targeting and the detection of Botulinum
neurotoxin.
Chris Williams, Director and COO
Ig Innovations Ltd
Ancient degree in microbiology & immunology, a Masters in Biotechnology, followed by an MBA in Technology
Management and Financial Strategy. Chris has had a broad career within the biotechnology sector: through lab, FDA
regulated biologics production to business development: both in the therapeutics and diagnostics areas. A brief
holiday in the public sector with the WDA/WAG as lead for the Life Sciences sector (Inward Investment) and now
returned to the private sector. Ig Innovations (now an Alere company) was formed through the purchase of part of
MicroPharm Ltd. Building upon over 28 years of antibody production expertise the company now offers a wide range
of immunoassay related services, including POC assay design and manufacture. Our customers include academia,
OEM diagnostic companies, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and others, e.g. environmental. As a small company we
strategically value and seek out assisted collaborations (in relevant areas) as an innovation and network driver for the
business. We currently have 2 TSB projects, 2 A4B projects and 2 KESS projects.
Simon Reed, Reader in Cancer Studies
Cardiff University
Dr Simon Reed is a Reader in Cancer Studies in the School of Medicine at Cardiff University. He has a
prestigious MRC background having received a five-year MRC Career Development Award, and a five-year
MRC Career Establishment Grant. He is a member of the recently established NISCHR Biomedical
Research Unit in Cancer Genetics. Reed gained a first class honours degree in Genetics in 1991, and a PhD
in Molecular Biology in 1995, both from the University of Wales. He was a Fulbright Scholar at
Southwestern Medical Centre at Dallase from 1995-2000. He is the current chair of the UK Genome
Stability Network, and in 2009 Reed received an AICR Cancer Researcher Award sponsored by Cell Press
for his work on DNA Repair.
Ali Parker, Knowledge Transfer Officer
Swansea University
Ali joined the Department of Research and Innovation in 2008 as Knowledge Transfer Officer. Ali previously worked
at senior level in marketing and commercial roles across household names such as Walkers Snack Foods, Pepsico,
Somerfield, Northern Foods and as an International Project Manager for University of California Berkeley. Ali has a
degree in Economics and an MBA from Exeter. Ali works with academics and business on collaborative projects
transferring R&D briefs into commercial outputs for the purpose of funding, in particular Technology Strategy Board,
Knowledge Transfer Partnership and Welsh Assembly Government A4B.
Dr Liz Bond, Advanced Proffessional Training in Bioscience
Swansea University
Liz has 5 years’ post doctorial experience as a biochemical mass spectrometrist and several years experience
working in and with industry in the South Wales region. Liz has extensive knowledge in bioanalytical techniques as
well as working within a clinical environment and GLP/GCP accredited laboratories. As a tutor on the Advanced
Professional Training in Bioscience team at Swansea University, Liz is keen to strengthen the links between industry
and academia through modern, practical teaching. Liz will provide an overview of what this Work-Based Learning
initiative can do to enhance skills and support Continued Professional Development in the Bioscience related sectors
in Wales.