Tracy Brabin is the Labour Mayor of West Yorkshire, who was re-elected with more than 50% of the vote in May 2024. Tracy has served as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire since 2021 and was the first ever woman Metro Mayor in England. She Chairs the UK Mayors Network, the group of 12 Metro Mayors in England. During her re-election campaign, Tracy pledged to improve access to culture and grassroots sports for all children, to develop a new strategy to reduce serious violence, and to create a 'region of learning'. In her first term, Tracy took the decision to franchise the bus network and is committed to having spades in the ground for a new tram system by 2028. Prior to her election as Mayor, Tracy was the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen, from 2016 to 2021 and spent three decades working in the creative industries.

Prof Liz Towns-Andrews OBE is a chemist by trade and has held numerous directorships of spin-out and start-up companies. She played a pivotal role in establishing the pioneering 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Huddersfield as a platform to facilitate academic and industry collaborations and provide SMEs with the right tools to grow and succeed. She holds the title 3M Professor of Innovation at the University of Huddersfield and is also Regional and Business Lead for the University’s new National Health Innovation Campus. The new campus will be dedicated to advancing healthcare innovation by accelerating the development and commercialisation of breakthrough solutions in health and wellbeing through interdisciplinary collaboration, cutting-edge research and entrepreneurial support. Its first building is due to be complete in Autumn 2024 and its second building in 2025.

Nathan is responsible for leading high level collaborations between Nexus member businesses, senior academics at the University of Leeds and key stakeholders in the region’s thriving health tech ecosystem. He also advises on regional, national and international opportunities for our community.

Nathan is responsible for leading high level collaborations between Nexus member businesses, senior academics at the University of Leeds and key stakeholders in the region’s thriving health tech ecosystem. He also advises on regional, national and international opportunities for our community.

Having previously worked in industry, Nathan has extensive experience in health-related businesses and across the University of Leeds, including within the Faculty of Medicine and Health and the Research and Innovation service.

Dr Neville Young is Director of Enterprise and Innovation at Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber. He has a real interest and track record in supporting the delivery of high-quality research and innovation that improves patient outcomes and drives health system efficiencies.

Neville is focussed on helping innovative businesses succeed and grow. He is a National Institute of Health Research i4i reviewer, a Board member of the NHS Innovation Accelerator and of Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park, Vice Chair of the NHSE funded Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Cancer Programme and Chair of the National Pathology Imaging Collaborative steering committee. He also acts as an advisor to the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub in Canada.

He created Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber’s Propel@YH digital health accelerator programme. Now in its sixth year, the accelerator supports both UK-based and international businesses to succeed in the UK health market.

He also has an interest in supporting international activities, promoting export opportunities for UK-based innovators and creating a safe landing space for successful international companies looking to enter the UK market via the Propel@YH International Boot Camp.

Neville has worked as an academic researcher, a drug trial manager, a consultant, as a director for a health tech start-up and is focused on helping to identify and support the ‘pull’ from the healthcare systems for innovative health technologies.

He completed his doctorate in Molecular Embryology from Kings College London, before working at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and then the Institute of Molecular Biosciences in Queensland, Australia before returning to the UK and developing a career focussed on supporting innovation across the breadth of Health and Life Sciences industry.

Jessica Köhne is the Sr. Human Factors Consultant, Manager, Site Lead Leeds UK Office at ClariMed. With over 10 years of experience as an Exercise Scientist and Ergonomist, she is an expert in developing Human Factors engineering strategies and leading Human Factors activities for medical devices, from early-stage development to post-market support. Jessica excels in planning and moderating usability studies, preparing HF documentation for health authority submissions, and promoting human-centered design across projects throughout product development. She leverages her bilingual skills and versatile experience working with diverse stakeholders to bring safe, effective, and user-friendly medical technologies to market. Jessica's analytical approach and commitment to process improvement make her a valuable asset in guiding clients through product development and regulatory compliance.

Luella joined ABHI in 2019, with over 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and HealthTech industries. Her career has seen her hold numerous specialist manufacturing and commercial roles at Baxter Healthcare, with responsibility for a range of product portfolios across the HealthTech spectrum within the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In 2012, Luella was seconded to the Department of Health for nine months as the Industry Liaison for the NHS Procurement Review, a role which saw her engage with government and the wider Life Sciences sector to facilitate the sharing of ideas and best practice.
From 2015, Luella led Baxter Healthcare's Government Affairs and Public Policy agenda, where she was tasked with managing key policies impacting the HealthTech sector and the NHS - supporting change that enabled the adoption and spread of innovations that deliver whole-system value across healthcare settings.

Before joining ABHI, Luella Chaired the Association's Public Affairs Policy Group, and has been a Director of the Board at the British Specialist Nutrition Association.

A holder of a first-class honours Batchelor of Pharmacy degree, Luella and her husband have two daughters, and live in Berkshire.

Felix has over 20 years of experience in policy-making and delivery. Prior to his current role at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Felix’s career had spanned both the public and private sectors including academia, local government, regional development, and international consultancy.

He has worked for South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Mott MacDonald, Leeds City Council, Yorkshire Forward and Leeds Beckett University.

He leads a team of circa 130 and is responsible for developing policies, strategies and partnerships that drive investment, nurtures innovation, and enables West Yorkshire’s circa 2.5m residents and 100k businesses to reach their full potential and create a thriving economy that works for all.

Felix is married with two teenage children.

John heads up the life sciences side of the business and has been instrumental in bringing our newest product, Recruit, to market. Recruit helps GPs to match patients to relevant clinical trials, it’s been well received so far by customers and the life sciences industry. It’s even managed to scoop a few awards – the 2024 Clinical Trials Arena Excellence Award – Innovation in Clinical Trials and 2024 Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Award – Innovation in Clinical Trial Recruitment. So hopefully we’ll be able to add some value to the panel with some experience of how we’re working on bridging the gap between clinical trials and the patients they need to recruit for the trial to go ahead.

Nick Hex has been Associate Director for the NHS and Public Sector at YHEC since 2010 and is a qualified accountant (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy). He leads YHEC’s programme of work with the clients from organisations across the NHS and the public sector, providing services such as economic evaluation and modelling, literature and evidence review and analytical support.

Nick’s evaluations examine efficiency and productivity as well as using techniques such as return on investment and cost benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis to provide decision-making information. ​Nick is a former advisor​ to​ the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (​NICE)​ ​as​ ​part of the ​National Collaborating Centre for Indicator Development. He has carried out economic evaluations for NHS England, the Department of Health and Public Health England, including the recent evaluation of Babylon GP at Hand.

Nick previously worked at Audit Scotland and the Audit Commission. During his time in Scotland, Nick led reviews into health and social care issues including the free personal care policy and locum doctors, presenting findings in the Scottish Parliament. Starting his career at the Audit Commission gave Nick an insight into financial and economic issues affecting the NHS and local government bodies at a local level.

Vee is the Co-Director for the NIHR Leeds Healthtech Research Centre focussing on accelerated surgical care. She is responsible for the operational and strategic delivery of the HRC’s aims and objectives. She has a proven track record of working cohesively to build interdisciplinary partnerships and training networks to accelerate the translation of innovation into the NHS.
Vee will introduce the Accelerated Surgical Care HealthTech Research Centre funded by the NIHR, and how it works with medical device, diagnostic and digital health technology companies to develop, evaluate and validate new medical technology and diagnostics.