InnoScot Health draws on the talents of a highly experienced, multidisciplinary team to accelerate healthcare innovation demand

The organisation is celebrating 20 years of working in partnership with NHS Scotland, and its long-standing core management team has collectively accrued almost five decades of service with the organisation.

InnoScot Health – launched initially as Scottish Health Innovations Ltd (SHIL) in 2002 – has established a new identity, website, and digital offering with the aim of inspiring more ideas, but it remains fundamentally about talented people with excellent know-how converging from a range of different sectors and backgrounds.

Its long-standing senior management team has meanwhile collectively accrued almost 50 years of service with the organisation, including Head of Regulatory Affairs, Elaine Gemmell who helped to establish it.

Continuously shaping its direction ever since, Elaine Gemmell is a true InnoScot Health stalwart who has since gained more than 15 years’ experience in medical device development.

Previously working with Motorola Semiconductors, gaining experience in manufacturing, design and technical marketing, she joined one of InnoScot Health’s spinout companies, Clear Surgical, as a Director, Head of Regulatory Compliance and laterally Chief Operating Officer, helping to establish it with ISO 13485 accreditation and launch two innovative devices – The Oplight™ and Cannulated Forceps – onto the market.

Elaine is now focussing on expanding InnoScot Health’s regulatory affairs offering for medical devices – a major growth area for the organisation given her expertise amid a regulatory landscape that is significantly in flux during the Brexit transition period.

Head of Innovation, Robert Rea joined InnoScot Health in 2014, previously being Automation Manager for Swedish biotech company Cellartis in 2007, then Intellectual Property Manager for French biotech company Cellectis in 2010, and Business Development Executive at the University of St Andrews from 2013 to 2014.

Executive Chair, Graham Watson came on board with InnoScot Health in 2015 having spent much of his career, both in the UK and USA, working with high-growth companies. He found the mission of InnoScot Health very attractive and wanted to offer his corporate skills and experience to help grow the business and bring ideas that would improve the delivery of healthcare in Scotland and throughout the world.

Amongst a diverse career, he was previously an investment banker and a former partner in a Big 4 accounting firm, with strong experience of working with SME clients, delivering business development, strategic planning programmes and leading change initiatives. During his career, he has initiated and executed over 100 corporate transactions, valued at over £2bn.

Head of Communications and Engagement, Fiona Fleming also joined the organisation in 2015, having worked in communications for over 15 years and specialising in health over the last 10 years, previously working with Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland (now Public Health Scotland). She is responsible for providing leadership and direction to marketing, communication, and digital engagement activity.

Head of Project Management, Gillian Henderson is a graduate in Applied Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde and has over 15 years’ experience in Medical Device development, sales and marketing. She has worked with InnoScot Health for five years, and prior to this was involved in a number of Scottish SMEs and medical device start-ups.

However, just like its mission to draw out new ideas from all levels of the NHS, InnoScot Health continues to recruit and welcome new talent in order to further deepen its significant well of experience.

Joining the organisation last year, Project Manager Paula Sweeten has worked at the interface of academia and industry as a Research Impact Officer at the University of Glasgow, assisting academic scientific research groups with the development of innovative new products and valuable industrial collaborations.

She has academic and NHS-based laboratory research experience, working in regenerative medicine and virology. Following her PhD, Paula worked with the pharmaceutical industry, in national and international clinical trials, as a medical writing professional.

Graham Watson said: “As we mark our 20^th anniversary with a new identity, website and digital offering, our chief aim has never been clearer – to make it as easy as possible to inspire and encourage health and social care professionals to come forward with ideas for products or services that improve patient care.

“That is why our team is so important. When coming to InnoScot Health, they are the first faces that budding NHS Scotland innovators will encounter. It can be a key moment in defining the path of a new idea so the commitment from our staff to supporting that journey has to be absolute.

“Our people fundamentally have a passion for innovation – they are the inspirers, the encouragers with the power to harness a rich natural wellspring of Scottish talent and help foster a sustained environment of forward-thinking NHS ideas across the country.”

He added: “It is vital that InnoScot Health correctly advises and educates NHS Scotland staff while also raising awareness of our activities across health boards and the innovation ecosystem. If we are to transform healthcare then our vision must expand along with, and foresee the future of, an ever-evolving system.

“Our strong track record of success, underpinned by decades of collective service, represents a unique asset as we aim to deliver on those ambitions.”