Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became involved in the CSEP project on the UK MedTech sector?
I trained as a mechanical engineer and then pursued a PhD in biomechanics. Specifically, looking at the role of blood flow in disease development and treatment. That led me into inventing and developing cardiovascular implants. I was part of a few start-ups early in my career and continue to develop devices. Most of my research and development efforts these days is focused on the lymphatic system. For example, we are developing a device to prevent/treat lymphoedema in the arms of breast cancer survivors (lymphamotus.com). I teach medical device entrepreneurship and fluid mechanics in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial. All this provided some good background to get involved in CSEP to analyse the UK MedTech Sector.
What inspired your involvement with CSEP?
The potential to have a positive impact on the UK MedTech sector is exciting, and my main motivation for working at CSEP. It is a strong but under-appreciated sector of the UK economy, so there is a lot of potential already.
What drew you to take on the challenge of analysing the UK MedTech sector, and how did that experience shape your perspective on the intersection of technology, business, and policy?
I was fortunate to be invited to lead the analysis of the UK MedTech sector back in 2020. That work was generously supported by Lord Sainsbury. I had to climb quickly up the learning curve on economics! Along with others at Imperial that did reports on the BioPharma and Telecomms sectors, those projects led to the establishment of CSEP. I am intrigued by the vision to have technical and business experts collaborate to improve productivity and societal benefit. The MedTech activity has led to the formulation of a strategy to grow the entire HealthTech* sector, written in collaboration with the Association of British HealthTech Industries. That is the first strategy document produced by CSEP, and I look forward to seeing more strategies being developed for other sectors.
*HealthTech refers to technologies that might enable anyone to monitor or improve their health, whereas MedTech refers to the subset of those technologies that claim medical benefit and therefore require regulatory approval.
Could you share some of the major inspirations that have guided your career and intellectual interests?
My career has benefited from the influence of many scientific discoveries, technological developments, and even other musicians. It’s difficult to name a single one but a fantastic book that combines all these interests is “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel Levitin.
What are your interests outside your work?
Music is my main hobby. I’ve wanted to be a musician since I was about 10 years old, so you could say that I am still trying! I play several instruments and sing in two different bands. One is a group of biomechanics profs that has been playing at conferences for over 20 years. The other is our departmental band that plays at functions like the Christmas party. It’s all good fun. I’m also working on an album of mainly original music. Otherwise, I used to play Ultimate Frisbee competitively.