How this new academic-business tie-up aims to accelerate cutting-edge medical research

Heriot-Watt University has agreed a tie-up that it says will accelerate cutting-edge medical research, supporting innovators in accessing global markets and attracting foreign investments to Scotland.

The university has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), a UK trade body for health technology, whose members supply products from syringes and wound dressings to surgical robots, diagnostics and digitally enhanced technologies.

The ABHI, is set to, working with more than 150 academics in the university’s new Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies, leverage its existing relationships with firms spanning small and medium sized companies to multinationals to “nurture an industry-wide spirit of co-creation”.

The new university facility works to turn cutting-edge research into “impactful and practical” offerings to benefit people’s lives, the NHS and health and care globally, developing research from its campuses in Scotland, Dubai, and Malaysia.

The MoU has been create to see the two bodies collaborate to increase the profile of Heriot-Watt as a hub of academic excellence. The partnership will take a "triple helix" approach, engaging academia, health systems, and industry partners throughout Scotland and the UK, with a commitment to understanding the challenges innovators face in healthtech research and commercialisation, working to tackle these through supported processes and policy lobbying.

The university said healthtech is the largest employer in the broader UK life sciences sector, with 154,000 workers in 4,465 companies, and a combined turnover of £34.3 billion. It added that the industry has enjoyed growth of around 5 per cent in recent years, and the ABHI’s 400 members comprise about 80 per cent of the sector by value.

Steve McLaughlin, vice-principal and provost at Heriot-Watt, said: “This collaboration is an important step in advancing our global research in health and care technology solutions. We will work together to co-develop research, address regulation, enhance data and insight, while meticulously championing patient privacy and protection.

From left: Anthony Harford, head of business development at Heriot-Watt; Mark Cook, chair of both the ABHI and Scottish Brain Sciences; and Michelle Beukes, business development manager at Heriot-Watt. Picture: contributed.

“The ABHI provides valuable insights into market trends and cross-territory landscapes. By leveraging our combined international connections, we aim to support innovators in accessing global markets and attracting foreign investments to Scotland. The mission of our new Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies is to collaborate closely with industry and sector partners to deliver innovative, sustainable, and practical solutions to global health challenges. This MoU exemplifies the kind of collaborative approach we want to promote.”

Peter Ellingworth is chief executive of the ABHI, which recently unveiled its manifesto, The Plan for HealthTech that is designed to harness the full potential of the sector to benefit patients, clinicians, and the UK economy.

He said: "Scotland boasts some of the world’s finest universities, and institutions like Heriot-Watt continue to excel across key disciplines like engineering and life sciences, as well as burgeoning areas like quantum technology. Growing healthtech credentials, like [Heriot-Watt’s] Medical Device Manufacturing Centre, are helping to translate academic capabilities into healthtech solutions, and ABHI is well placed to aid in accelerating this journey.

"By fostering such collaborations, we can drive sustainable innovation, enhance patient care, support economic growth, and ensure that groundbreaking technologies reach the market more efficiently.”