On 12 February, the Academy hosted its 13th FORUM Annual Lecture during which the Minister for Life Sciences, Mr George Freeman MP, and the Government’s Life Sciences Champions, Professor Sir John Bell GBE FRS HonFREng FMedSci, Mr Chris Brinsmead CBE and Mr John Jeans CBE, met to outline their visions for the life sciences sector.
In his keynote speech, the Minister highlighted the need to transform the healthcare landscape to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Increasing innovation in the NHS was a key theme, as was the importance of attracting the best science to the UK. Other topics discussed included: harnessing the power of genomics, data, new technologies and social media; accelerating patient access to new innovative treatments; and maximising the UK’s ‘test bed’ sites for adopting innovation at scale.
The Minister also spoke about the importance of creating of an ecosystem supportive of research translation, encouraged by a policy landscape that promotes innovation. Challenges for the future were highlighted, such as the need to engage and empower patients, consider novel reimbursement strategies, and break down barriers between disciplines to encourage more collaborative research. The Minister also highlighted the ‘Innovative Medicines and MedTech Review’ that will be launched to examine these important issues.
Following the Minister’s speech, a panel session and lively discussion took place with the Life Science Champions, building on the key points raised around future challenges. A wide range of additional issues were also discussed, including how innovation can be brought to the heart of the NHS and the role of basic research in the life sciences ecosystem.
The full report of the event will be published in due course and film footage will shortly be available on our YouTube channel. You can also catch-up on the twitter discussion accompanying the Lecture.
The Academy of Medical Sciences’ FORUM was established in 2003 to recognise the role of industry in medical research, and to catalyse connections across industry and academia. Since then, a range of FORUM activities and events have brought together researchers, research funders and research users from across academia, industry, government, and the charity, healthcare and regulatory sectors. For more information about FORUM and future events, please visit the FORUM homepage or contact FORUM coordinator Dr Claire Cope ([email protected]).