4th March 2025
In this latest Conversation with our Network Series, we interview Lindsay Sharples, Associate Director of Innovation and Industry Partnerships for Health Innovation North West Coast (HINWC).
EIT Health Ireland-UK recently welcomed HINWC as the newest member of its network. As one of England’s 15 regional Health Innovation Networks, HINWC plays a pivotal role in advancing healthcare innovation by supporting the development and adoption of new solutions across the NHS and the UK’s life sciences sector.
Read on to find out more about their expertise in navigating the complexities of the healthcare system, combined with a strong track record of fostering international collaborations.
Q. What unique expertise and capabilities does HINWC bring to the EIT Health network?
HINWC has had a strong relationship with EIT Health since 2019. During that period, we were an established catalyst for the UK market and supported health and life science start-ups and scale-ups with tailored packages that met their specific needs.
A key strength is our role within the NHS in England as its innovation arm. Our deep understanding of the health and social care system enables us to implement transformative solutions more quickly and effectively. As a trusted partner across the NHS, we facilitate introductions and provide valuable insights that health and life science companies can use at every stage of product development.
Q. How do you see these strengths contributing to joint healthcare innovation efforts?
From idea assessment and development to evaluation, implementation, adoption, and spread, our team supports innovators throughout their journey.
The NHS faces many challenges, not all of which can be solved by UK-based solutions. We must look beyond our borders to embrace promising innovations from Europe and beyond. This partnership is a key way for us to do that.
Q. Could you highlight some of the most recent research or innovation projects HINWC is working on?
We have recently supported several European companies entering the UK healthcare market. We facilitated focus group sessions with key NHS clinicians and stakeholders to help the German company PGXperts explore the NHS’s unique requirements as they introduce their pharmacogenetics clinical decision support tool to the UK.
These sessions have been invaluable, allowing the company to assess current working practices, patient pathways, funding mechanisms, and other key factors to refine their technology and strategy for a successful market entry.
Our organisation was recently recognised for its work on fuel poverty. More than 1.5 million people in Cheshire and Merseyside have medical conditions that make them especially vulnerable to poorly heated homes. As part of NHS England’s Innovations for Healthcare Inequalities Programme, we led initiatives at ‘trailblazer’ sites where multidisciplinary teams delivered targeted interventions in healthcare, housing, and financial support. The project has delivered significant results, and it is truly rewarding to see the impact on individuals benefiting from this work.
Q. How is HINWC driving the adoption of AI and innovative healthcare solutions?
We are currently supporting Agora Labs from Rome, Italy, as they engage with NHS centres and support agencies to introduce their technology. Agora Labs focuses on maximising the potential of clinical data while ensuring full control remains with the data owner. By mathematically guaranteeing healthcare data anonymisation, they fast-track data governance and create multi-modal datasets for research and innovation. This could play a crucial role in developing clinical AI, helping the NHS address many of its challenges. Exposure to innovations like PGXperts and Agora Labs is essential to our role as the NHS’s innovation arm.
Q. How does collaboration with EIT Health and its network help HINWC drive healthcare innovation and tackle key challenges?
One of the key reasons behind becoming an EIT Health member is to access a steady pipeline of promising healthcare innovations from across Europe. However, this is not our only objective.
We are also eager to explore EIT Health’s emerging Special Interest Groups, connecting with individuals and organisations across the network who share our challenges. With many events, conferences, and meetings taking place across different countries and regions, we look forward to engaging with like-minded partners to exchange knowledge and best practices for mutual benefit.
One of our priority areas for collaboration is cancer. We work closely with Cancer Alliances in North West England, addressing critical challenges faced by both clinicians and patients. Healthcare inequalities, particularly in cancer outcomes, remain a significant concern, and we are committed to playing a key role in reducing these disparities.
We are keen to engage with organisations and individuals across the network who share these ambitions. Our partnership with EIT Health offers an effective way to connect with potential collaborators. Expanding cooperation in areas like cancer could lead to truly impactful outcomes for patients across Europe.
Interested in joining EIT Health and collaborating with top innovators in healthcare? Find out more here.
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