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  2. The UK's technology trade association
  3. Life Sciences Working Group

Life Sciences Working Group

This group looks to identify how to help decision-makers understand current and emerging technology solutions and their implementation, and aims to facilitate collaboration between the digital health industry and the pharmaceutical sector.

  1. You're here:
  2. The UK's technology trade association
  3. Life Sciences Working Group
  • Overview
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techUK's Life Sciences Working Group has been established to help identify how the technology industry can facilitate and deliver the Life Sciences Vision, setting out the role of digital health and care in achieving the ambition to set the UK apart as a world leader in life sciences and deliver life-changing innovations to patients. 

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This group is open to techUK members only. Find out more about the benefits of techUK membership, on our Become a Member page.

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Life Science Working Group members

Chair and Vice-Chairs

Nigel Brokenshire

Nigel Brokenshire

Consulting Director- Digital Health and Life Sciences, ARCA Resourcing

Nigel Brokenshire

Nigel Brokenshire

Consulting Director- Digital Health and Life Sciences, ARCA Resourcing

Alex Eavis

Alex Eavis

Proxemis

Alex Eavis

Alex Eavis

Proxemis

Alex joined EMIS Health, one of the UK’s largest point-of-care system suppliers, through acquisition in 2019. She now heads up the product teams across digital, data and analytics divisions, and the product experience and design team. Alex is passionate about the potential of technology to help those that need it the most. Her distributed ledger software company, Dovetail Lab, was set up to make primary and secondary healthcare data uses more citizen centric, and give patients greater control over the medical record data. 

Before founding Dovetail, Alex co-founded an Internet-of-Things care technology business called Alcove; and a social enterprise called HowDoI?, spun out of an outstanding special educational needs school, using NFC technology to launch step-by-step life skills training.

Alex advocates for greater investment in user-centric design, and use of data-driven technologies to enhance the experience of receiving and providing care, reduce inequalities and improve patient, population and provider outcomes.

Working Group Members

Alison Connor

Alison Connor

Programme Lead, Kainos

Alison Connor

Alison Connor

Programme Lead, Kainos

Alistair Stuart

Alistair Stuart

Director, Health & Life Sciences, Faculty.ai

Alistair Stuart

Alistair Stuart

Director, Health & Life Sciences, Faculty.ai

Andrew Moss

Industry Solution Lead, EMIS

Andrew Moss

Industry Solution Lead, EMIS

Chloe Ambery

Chloe Ambery

Manager , Deloitte

Chloe Ambery

Chloe Ambery

Manager , Deloitte

Colin Henderson

Colin Henderson

Country Manager, UK & Ireland, InterSystems

Colin Henderson

Colin Henderson

Country Manager, UK & Ireland, InterSystems

Dr Justin Whatling

Dr Justin Whatling

Chief Executive , Optum

Dr Justin Whatling

Dr Justin Whatling

Chief Executive , Optum

NHS medical doctor by background, Justin has 25 years of experience using technology and informatics to transform outcomes for patients.
He currently serves as Palantir’s Managing Director for Global Health & Life Sciences, and a non-executive director for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. He is also a member of techUK’s Life Sciences Working Group.

Justin holds voluntary roles as a trustee of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics and a member of the BCS Academy of Computing’s board, representing BCS on the management committee of the BMJ Health & Care Informatics Journal. He is a fellow of BCS, founding fellow of FCI, and a lead practitioner in FEDIP. He was previously an independent member of the NHS National Information Board.

Justin previously led population health management at Cerner, was clinical director at BT Health, and held roles at Accenture and Bupa.

Elias Altrabsheh

Elias Altrabsheh

UK Healthcare Lead, D-fine

Elias Altrabsheh

Elias Altrabsheh

UK Healthcare Lead, D-fine

Heather Cook

Heather Cook

CEO, Wellmind Health

Heather Cook

Heather Cook

CEO, Wellmind Health

James Norman

James Norman

EMEA Health & Life Science Director, Pure Storage

James Norman

James Norman

EMEA Health & Life Science Director, Pure Storage

Biography

James Norman is the EMEA Health and Life Science Director at Pure Storage. A world respected figure in change management and IT transformation, with more than 30 years experience within the health sector, including 24 years senior management within the NHS. James has led multiple major public sector transformation programmes and published several papers on the potential of Technology in healthcare. James was named Healthcare IT champion of the year in 2011 and later sat as an external advisor to Her Majesty’s Treasury, sitting on the Comprehensive Spending Review board. James was named Thought leader of the year in 2013, named one of the top 50 data leaders in the UK and has ranked in the top 10 CIO 100 list. James established the All4Health&Care (previously Tech4CV19) community to help frontline Organisations and Tech companies come together in the fight against COVID-19, in Partnership with NHS England and techUK.

What you will bring to the Health & Social Care Council and the techUK Health & Social Care programme’s work

My whole career has been dedicated to improving the services of healthcare institutions for better patient outcomes, through my early days in creating new applications for NHS organisations to improve access and equality of care, to my recent work in supporting Health Economy and Regional transformation through greater use of Technology and Intelligence systems. I work very closely with governments around the world to help them understand the potential for Technology to transform the way patients access care as well as with Health Tech suppliers large and small, to support them in understanding the market and provide services / technologies that will deliver improved care. Having previously sat on the Council for many years, I worked hard to embed it as the voice it now is, for suppliers, in shaping policy and supporting simplification of entry to the healthcare market. During Covid I helped techUK members to share services and technologies with healthcare providers to overcome the severe pressures they were under. If voted back on, I will strive to maintain and grow the value of the Council in ensuring the concerns of members are raised and heard keeping communication lines open and accessible to all.

 

Jason Heyes

Jason Heyes

Microsoft

Jason Heyes

Jason Heyes

Microsoft

Jenny Yu

Jenny Yu

Chemical and Life Sciences Practice Leader, Marsh

Jenny Yu

Jenny Yu

Chemical and Life Sciences Practice Leader, Marsh

Justin Whatling

Justin Whatling

Managing Director Health & Life Sciences, Palantir

Justin Whatling

Justin Whatling

Managing Director Health & Life Sciences, Palantir

Keith Tsui

Keith Tsui

CEO, Medwise

Keith Tsui

Keith Tsui

CEO, Medwise

Ken Banks

Ken Banks

Director of Future Data and Digital Self Management, Macmillan

Ken Banks

Ken Banks

Director of Future Data and Digital Self Management, Macmillan

Laura Taddei

Laura Taddei

Director of Business Affairs, Benevolent.ai

Laura Taddei

Laura Taddei

Director of Business Affairs, Benevolent.ai

Michael Watts

Michael Watts

Co-founder and CEO, Blüm Health Ltd

Michael Watts

Michael Watts

Co-founder and CEO, Blüm Health Ltd

Michael is Young Health Tech Leader of the Year 2024, an NHS doctor, NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow and MBA Graduate by background. Over the last few years he has been the Co-founder and Managing director of Blüm Health Ltd, an industry-disrupting digital health organisation that collaboratively works with NHS trusts, Universities and SMEs to design, build, and scale digital health software solutions, in the hope to empower public and private sector organisations to boost their digital maturity and unlock their innovative potential. Michael has extensive experience in supporting NHS organisations design, build and procure digital health ecosystems and understands the importance of digital inclusivity from a patient, workforce and organisational perspective.

Mike Denis

Mike Denis

Chief Executive, Akrivia Health

Mike Denis

Mike Denis

Chief Executive, Akrivia Health

Mike Roberts

Mike Roberts

Head of Innovation, Kahootz

Mike Roberts

Mike Roberts

Head of Innovation, Kahootz

I have for many years worked across different sectors, including health and Life Science. I was invited by NHS Innovation to attend an event in Guangzhou whereas head of innovation at ISeeU Global, we ended up partnering with Guangzhou University on a cancer project. I have also delivered many technical solutions across the NHS. My main skill set is joining the dots across technology and industry to come up with innovative ways to solve issues

Nicole Kayode

Nicole Kayode

VP Health & Care – Product Management, Advanced

Nicole Kayode

Nicole Kayode

VP Health & Care – Product Management, Advanced

Nicole Mather

Nicole Mather

Life Sciences Lead , IBM

Nicole Mather

Nicole Mather

Life Sciences Lead , IBM

Peter Ferguson

Peter Ferguson

Director, Connected Health, Intelligent Industry, Capgemini

Peter Ferguson

Peter Ferguson

Director, Connected Health, Intelligent Industry, Capgemini

Philip Lindstedt

Philip Lindstedt

Deployment Strategist, Palantir Technologies

Philip Lindstedt

Philip Lindstedt

Deployment Strategist, Palantir Technologies

Philip Lindstedt is a deployment strategist at Palantir Technologies where he leads technology development and delivery across healthcare and life sciences. His various roles at Palantir include as a regional lead for the NHS’s Federated Data Platform (FDP) programme, establishing himself as the technical assurance lead for clinical safety and information governance for the entire FDP programme, and heading Palantir UK’s work with the NHS Genomics Medicine Service and the Institute for Cancer Research. Before joining Palantir, Philip earned a PhD and an MPhil in Chemical Biology from the University of Cambridge, where he published several highly cited papers on protein folding and bio-orthogonal chemistry under the mentorship of Professor Sir Christopher Dobson. At Cambridge, Philip’s PhD was awarded the Chemistry Department’s Outstanding Thesis Award in Biological Chemistry. His early career as a research scientist at Seattle Children’s Hospital also saw him contribute to the development of some of the first CAR T-Cell therapies to enter paediatric clinical trials.

Polly Shepperdson

Polly Shepperdson

Partnerships and Alliances Manager, First Data Bank

Polly Shepperdson

Polly Shepperdson

Partnerships and Alliances Manager, First Data Bank

Rich Cassidy

Rich Cassidy

Impact and Partnership Development Manager, Exeter University

Rich Cassidy

Rich Cassidy

Impact and Partnership Development Manager, Exeter University

Ryan Palmer

Ryan Palmer

Acting VP of Developer Sales, ORCHA

Ryan Palmer

Ryan Palmer

Acting VP of Developer Sales, ORCHA

Scott Dinkle

Scott Dinkle

UK Life Sciences Implementation Lead , Epic

Scott Dinkle

Scott Dinkle

UK Life Sciences Implementation Lead , Epic

Stephanie Caird

Stephanie Caird

Principal Associate, Mills & Reeve

Stephanie Caird

Stephanie Caird

Principal Associate, Mills & Reeve

Stephen Jowett

Stephen Jowett

Senior Director, Head of Healthcare Consulting , IQVIA

Stephen Jowett

Stephen Jowett

Senior Director, Head of Healthcare Consulting , IQVIA

Tobias Alpsten

Tobias Alpsten

Founder & CEO , iPLATO Healthcare

Tobias Alpsten

Tobias Alpsten

Founder & CEO , iPLATO Healthcare

Una Kessi

Una Kessi

Product Management Director, Safety and PV, Oracle

Una Kessi

Una Kessi

Product Management Director, Safety and PV, Oracle

 


Life Sciences Working Group insights 

Drug Discovery.jpeg
28 Apr 2025

Event round-up: NQCC and techUK | The Future of Quantum Computing in Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Insights paper launch

techUK and the NQCC held the online webinar "The Future of Quantum Computing in Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals" to launch the latest Insights paper on this topic by the NQCC. The webinar consisted of government and industry speakers showcasing latest policy thinking on this crucial topic

Event round-up
Health-scientist- DNA sequence-483291233.jpg
25 Apr 2025

Event round-up: Quantum readiness: How can quantum unlock benefits in life sciences and drug discovery?

Watch techUK's webinar "How can quantum unlock benefits in life sciences and drug discovery?" below, as part of the quantum readiness series.

Event round-up
Drug Discovery.jpeg
25 Mar 2025

The NQCC unveils Insights Paper on the transformative potential of quantum computing in healthcare and pharmaceuticals

In an event hosted by techUK, the NQCC unveiled a new Insights Paper on the transformative potential of quantum computing in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. This report explores the current landscape, near-term opportunities, and future potential of quantum computing to transform the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

Industry views
Health-analysis-data-screen-stethoscope-1206797366.jpg
Members only
23 Jan 2025

Life Sciences Working Group Roundtable on Secure Data Environment (SDE) challenges: translating research to operational practice

The Life Sciences Working Group recently held the final session in its roundtable series, focused on the challenges identified within the NHS Research SDE Network (“Network”). This session explored the difficulties of translating research into operational practice, featuring insights from industry representatives and representatives from the North West and East of England SDEs as well as representatives from the Data for R&D Programme at NHS England.

Event round-up
Growth Plan Front Page.png 1
Members only
02 Dec 2024

Roundtable on Data Federation across Secure Data Environments

Event round-up
Health-tablet-stylus-1097297162.jpg
22 Oct 2024

Announcement roundup: Catch up on the latest health and life sciences news!

techUK news and views
immersive-tech-network-hero-e1706279475660.png
Members only
11 Sep 2024

Roundtable on technical consistency and maturity in SDEs

techUK’s Life Sciences Working Group’s was pleased to convene a roundtable discussion on the first challenge identified facing the SDE network: technical consistency and maturity.

Event round-up
Health-cardiogram- monitor-surgery-1130114408.jpg
21 Aug 2024

techUK's Response to NHS England and NICE's Consultation on a New MedTech Pathway

Representing the voice of industry leaders, techUK responded to the NHS England and NICE's consultation on a new integrated, rules-based medical technology pathway. This project could significantly influence the future of healthcare innovation in the UK. Here are the key perspectives.

Consultation responses
Health-cardiogram- monitor-surgery-1130114408.jpg
19 Jun 2024

How can the technology industry help tackle challenges around Secure Data Environments?

The Life Sciences Working Group outlines challenges the Secure Data Environments Network may face and how the tech industry can support and empower the project.

Industry views
life_sciences_image_header_1500x600px.jpg
26 May 2023

Chancellor announces ‘Life Sci for Growth’

techUK news and views
life_sciences_image_header_1500x600px.jpg
06 Apr 2023

Briefing with Life Sciences Hub Wales

Catch-up on techUK's briefing with the CEO of Life Sciences Hub Wales.

Event round-up
testtubes.jpg
06 Feb 2023

Data for Life: Developments in Data and Privacy for Life Sciences (Guest Blog)

Rachel Dunscombe explores the developments in data which increase the capabilities and data privacy for Life Sciences and Research.

Industry views

For more information please contact:

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Head of Health & Social Care, techUK

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Head of Health & Social Care, techUK

Robert joined techUK in October 2022, where he is now Programme Manager for Health and Social Care.

Robert previously worked at the Pension Protection Fund, within the policy and public affairs team. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Parliament, advising politicians and industry stakeholders on a wide range of issues, including rural crime and health policies.

Robert has a degree in Politics and International Relations (MA Hons) from the University of Aberdeen, with a particular focus on strategic studies and energy security. Outside of work he enjoys activities such as running, rugby, boxing and cooking!

Email:
[email protected]
Viola Pastorino

Viola Pastorino

Junior Programme Manager, Health and Care Team, techUK

Viola Pastorino

Viola Pastorino

Junior Programme Manager, Health and Care Team, techUK

Viola Pastorino is a policy, governance, and strategic communication specialist.

She joined techUK as the Junior Programme Manager in the Health and Care Team in April 2024. 

She has obtained a Bachelor of Sciences in Governance, Economics, and Development from Leiden University, and a Master's programme in Strategic Communications at King's College London.  Her academic background, leading up to a dissertation on AI policy influence and hands-on campaign development, is complemented by practical experience in international PR and grassroots project management.

She is skilled in qualitative and quantitative analysis and comfortable communicating findings to varying stakeholders. Above all, she is deeply passionate about the intersection of technology and government, especially how technology and global discourse shape one another, the processes that lead to belief polarisation and radicalisation of communities, and crafting strategic narratives that steer public discourse.

Outside of work she loves reading, live music light operation, and diving.  

Rachel Kennedy

Rachel Kennedy

Programme Manager Health and Social Care, techUK

Rachel Kennedy

Rachel Kennedy

Programme Manager Health and Social Care, techUK

Rachel joined techUK in December 2024, as a Programme Manager in the Health and Social Care team.

Prior to this, Rachel worked at a specialist health and social care public affairs agency, working with a range of organisations and trade bodies across the medical technology, pharmaceutical, digital health and social care sectors. As well as this, Rachel was part of the Secretariat for a number of health and care related All-Party Parliamentary Groups.

Rachel has a Masters in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Leeds, as well as a first-class honours in Politics BA from Newcastle University.

Tracy Modha

Tracy Modha

Programme Marketing Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK

Tracy Modha

Tracy Modha

Programme Marketing Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK

Tracy supports the marketing of several areas at techUK, including Cyber Exchange, Central Government, Cyber Resilience, Defence, Education, Health and Social Care, Justice and Emergency Services, Local Public Services, Nations and Regions and National Security.

Tracy joined techUK in March 2022, having worked in the education sector for 19 years, covering administration, research project support, IT support and event/training support. My most outstanding achievement has been running three very successful international conferences and over 300 training courses booked all over the globe!

Tracy has a great interest in tech. Gaming and computing have been a big part of her life, and now electric cars are an exciting look at the future. She has warmed to Alexa, even though it can sometimes be sassy!

Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
02073312000
Website:
www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracymodha83

Francesca Richiusa

Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK

Francesca Richiusa

Programme Team Assistant for Public Sector Markets, techUK

Fran serves as the Programme Team Assistant within techUK’s Public Sector Market Programmes. 

In this role, she is responsible for delivering comprehensive team support, managing administrative functions, and fostering strong relationships with members.

Prior to joining techUK in May 2025, Fran built a meaningful career in the charitable and local government sectors. She worked extensively with both victims and perpetrators of crime, and notably led the coordination of Domestic Homicide Reviews across Surrey—an initiative aimed at identifying lessons and preventing future incidents of domestic abuse.

Outside of work, Fran is an avid traveller and a proud cat mum who enjoys unwinding with her feline companions.

 

Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.techuk.org/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-richiusa/

 

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