8th November 2023
EIT Health Ireland-UK, a Co-location Centre of EIT Health, which is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, today announced two key appointments within its team. Shona D’Arcy joins as Entrepreneurship Lead, And Patrick Reidy assumes the role of Collaboration Lead. Both will help health innovators in Ireland and the UK access collaborative opportunities within Europe’s largest health innovation network, made up of 130+ leading organisations across business, education, research and health service delivery.
An electronic engineer with a PhD in speech recognition, Shona D’Arcy established Kids Speech Labs in 2018, to address the issue of waiting lists for children’s speech and language therapy within national health services. She is a digital health expert and has worked on all aspects of developing and validating digital health solutions. Shona designed and ran the world’s largest multisite trial for evaluating a medical device for tinnitus, one of the first digital-first clinical trials run out of the clinical research centre in St. James Hospital, Ireland. At EIT Health, Shona will build the Partner network in the Ireland and UK markets, and drive growth of the organization locally.
“I’ve worked at all stages of the digital health product lifecycle from ideation and prototyping to clinical validation. This journey has helped me build a great network of resources to support EIT Health companies as I take up my new role,” said Shona. “I’m looking forward to leveraging my experience in digital health and the fantastic EIT Health ecosystem to help European SMEs grow and solve the biggest problems in healthcare worldwide.”
Before joining EIT Health Ireland-UK, Patrick Reidy was Executive Director of the ENABLE Research Programme,funded by Science Foundation Ireland, hosted at Trinity College Dublin. Prior to this, Patrick was Business Development and Commercialisation Manager at the CONFIRM Centre for Smart Manufacturing, another SFI research centre hosted by the University of Limerick. In these roles he established strong relationships between academia and industry stakeholders. Patrick previously held management positions in both national and international markets, working with several Irish SMEs and a large UK-based corporation. At EIT Health Ireland-UK Patrick will be responsible for the management of the local member network and building relationships with new and existing Partners.
“Having worked with esteemed partners from both industry and academia, it is clear that the most pressing societal challenges demand a collaborative approach,” said Patrick. “Both Ireland and the UK have renowned academic institutions, a world-leading ecosystem of MedTech and biopharma companies and thriving innovation ecosystems. This positioning allows us to spearhead the resolution of Europe’s most formidable health challenges. I’m thrilled to embark on a new journey as the Collaboration Lead and eager to work together with colleagues and partners from the extensive EIT Health network across Europe.”
Both team members offer a wealth of experience and expertise that will play a crucial role in advancing EIT Health’s mission to drive innovation and transform healthcare in the region.
EIT Health Ireland-UK will sponsor the upcoming Medtech Rising event on 7 December 2023 in Galway. Meet new team members at the EIT Health exhibitor’s booth by setting up a meeting.
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