Report of the FORUM Annual Lecture 2015

The Academy of Medical Sciences is delighted to publish its report of the 13^th FORUM Annual Lecture, held on 12 February 2015 at its headquarters in London.

The report summarises this year’s Lecture, which was delivered by Mr George Freeman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences, and the vibrant Q&A discussion session that followed, during which the Minister was joined by the Government’s three independent UK life science champions:

• Professor Sir John Bell GBE FRS HonFREng FMedSci, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford
• Mr Chris Brinsmead CBE, Life Sciences Business Adviser
• Mr John Jeans CBE, Chairman of Imanova, Chair of Cardiff University, Chair of UK Biocentre

During the Lecture and subsequent debate, the Minister and Lecture participants elaborated on the following key discussion points:

• The important role of the UK life sciences sector in driving economic recovery and securing better treatments for patients.
• The need to transform the UK healthcare landscape to meet the challenges of the 21^st century.
• Increasing research and innovation at the heart of the NHS.
• Enhancing cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration and attracting investment.
• Improving patient engagement and empowerment.
• Evolving pricing and reimbursement strategies.

The meeting report can be downloaded from the right-hand side of this page. A video of this event and a summary of the Twitter discussion accompanying the Lecture are also available.

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 the FORUM team at the following address: FORUM@acmedsci.ac.uk.