Life sciences industry partnering meetings now taking bookings
The IAX showcase event on Wednesday 16 May at Winstanley House, Leicester, is the first activity in the University’s new 18-month IAX programme funded through the Medical Research Council’s Proximity to Discovery Scheme.
The College of Life Sciences at Leicester has recently secured over £1 million from two Medical Research Council (MRC) translational funding schemes: Proximity to Discovery, P2D (£296,000) and Confidence in Concept, CiC (£767,000).
The aim of the Proximity to Discovery programme is to drive engagement and create relationships between academics, scientists and clinicians and healthcare, bio-medical and pharmaceutical companies from across the globe; to forge engagement opportunities through two-way secondments and identify future research project ideas for development.
As part of the IAX event, a section of the day has been set aside for businesses and academics to participate in ‘partnering meetings’ where they can meet and start to discuss further opportunities as well as potential people exchanges.
Everyone who registers to attend the showcase - which is completely free to attend - will be sent a link to an online booking system allowing them to see who is attending and available and how to set up their meetings.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Philip Baker, Head of the College of Life Sciences, said: “There has already been a lot of registrations so it is looking like this free showcase is going to be a popular event. I would urge anyone interested in attending to book as soon as possible, put their name or business forward to be included in the partnering sessions and start setting up their meetings.
“As well as having a unique opportunity to meet and forge relationships, a superb keynote speaker, Jo Pisani - a leading Pharmaceutical and Life Science Consultant at PWC, will be presenting a futuristic view of healthcare; and there will also be a series of fast-paced, snapshot presentations of previous exchanges showcasing how effective they can be.”
IAX has been developed by the University of Leicester College of Life Sciences. The College already has outstanding achievements including the development of DNA fingerprinting, vital advances in fighting heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes, and developments in forensic psychology.