On March 12, the Academy of Medical Sciences FORUM and the Wellcome Trust held a joint-workshop to explore how geographical clusters can work together effectively to drive medical research and innovation, and to discuss barriers to, and opportunities for, future development.
A roundtable chaired by Sir William Castell LVO FMedSci, Chairman, Wellcome Trust, was held in the afternoon, with representatives of regional cluster organisations, science parks, trade bodies and the pharmaceutical industry contributing to the discussion. In the evening, participants were joined by senior figures from across the life sciences sector. Professor Sir John Tooke PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences summarised the key challenges and opportunities arising from the earlier roundtable discussion session, and attendees had the opportunity to continue conversations arising from the earlier discussion. The event bought together representatives from a wide range of cluster organisations from across the UK, who were able to meet and share experiences.
A full report of the event will be published in due course, and discussions about how to take this work forward in the future are underway.
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. Further information and details of future events can be found on the FORUM homepage.