Blog

The image of the lone genius coming up with a scientific breakthrough, like Archimedes’ ‘eureka moment’ is very appealing; but the reality is quite different.

All the great advances in science, technology and manufacturing have come from building on others’ work and drawing feedback from colleagues – in other words, from collaboration.

This was my reflection after a busy few weeks speaking at events which brought together life sciences and health leaders, sharing our experiences of innovation and transformation.

It was the theme of many presentations, that collaborations across organisations and with different sectors and skills sets, were the essential ingredient in their success. We can’t do it alone.

It was particularly evident at the Civil Service World Collaboration Conference in Leeds, where I was part of a panel with Fiona Bolam of Leeds City Council and Zandra Moore MBE of AI consultancy Zygens.

The importance of collaboration was flagged in the event title – this was very much about aligning ambitions and also ‘doing the knitting’ at a local level, joining up interested parties and making sure that local people benefit from growth and innovation partnerships, for instance with training and work opportunities.

At the International Hospitals Federation World Hospital Congress in Geneva, everyone agreed that we need to do more together across international boundaries.

An urgent example of where this is needed is in the use of artificial intelligence. I am a member of the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, set up recently by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority. This brings together global AI leaders to develop a new regulatory framework for AI in healthcare.

World-wide collaborations are essential in addressing world-wide challenges.

The development of Covid vaccines at unprecedented speed was only made possible through global collaborations.

Even earlier, the Human Genome Project was a collaboration of hundreds of researchers working together in more than 20 universities around the world to sequence the human genome. The project began in 1990 and was completed in 2003 – the largest biological research project ever undertaken. Truly global collaboration.

Back to our busy events season – and there were three key conferences in Yorkshire in the last month which highlighted regional collaborations which will have a national impact.

Driving the future of innovation: West Yorkshire’s Health Tech Cluster was a great showcase of collaborations which are as much about boosting the local economy as about transforming healthcare.

Delegates were left in no doubt about the region’s ambition to be the UK’s number one choice for innovation, attracting R&D and supporting businesses through the Investment Zone.

A great example is the Propel Healthtech accelerator programme, delivered by Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber and now expanded and funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the UK Investment Zone.

At the South Yorkshire Life Sciences Summit, leaders from across industry, academia and healthcare were united in supporting Mayor Oliver Coppard’s launch of the South Yorkshire Growth Plan. This builds on the area’s proud history of manufacturing and aims to position South Yorkshire at the forefront of the UK’s £100 billion life sciences sector.

Those of us championing Yorkshire and Humber think big – we know we have all the assets, talent and strong networks to be world leaders. But our team sheet is always open to new players, whether from other parts of the north, or in other parts of the country or on the other side of the globe.

While our aim is to put Yorkshire and the Humber at the forefront of life sciences investment and growth for the benefit of local residents, we also want to pack a punch which leaves an impact on populations everywhere.

And we mustn’t forget that collaborations are important at the grass roots too. Innovators will fail if they don’t understand the needs of the people they are trying to help. Their bold ideas must be co-produced with patients and citizens, to have any chance of success.

At Health Innovation North, one of the most impactful speakers was Wendy Westoby, a stroke survivor who has atrial fibrillation – and is an active patient champion, working with researchers, innovators and clinicians on a wide range of projects.

Her clear call to action was to involve patients in research and in developing innovations. “Patients are usually quite good judges of their levels of ability and commitment and can often contribute a lot to success or failure,” she told our esteemed audience.

Let’s be less like Archimedes – and collaborate with more people like Wendy.