Panel and Q&A
It can feel that the world has changed significantly in the last year, and there are a number of macro challenges at play. However, the UK also has access to assets and resources that make us world-class in a number of techbio fields, and the potential to build further. How can we best seize on these to manage macro challenges and thrive?
Dr. Claire Bloomfield is a highly accomplished senior leader in life sciences, renowned for her deep expertise in real-world data and AI. With a proven track record of attracting over half a billion in investment, she excels at fostering cross-sector collaborations to drive transformative change and build complex health data infrastructure. Currently, she leads strategic initiatives at Isomorphic Labs to accelerate precision medicine drug discovery. Her career also includes significant leadership roles at NHS England, where she directed the Centre for Improving Data Collaboration and oversaw the £185M Data for R&D Programme, and as CEO of the National Consortium of Intelligent Medical Imaging (NCIMI) at the University of Oxford. Claire holds a DPhil in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford and is a frequent global speaker and advisor on health data and AI.
Dr Melanie Ivarsson, OBE, was appointed the CEO the Health Data Research Service (HDRS) in January 2026. HDRS is the new organisation backed by the UK government and Wellcome that will revolutionise how we use our uniquely deep and diverse UK healthcare data for research. With a background in industry and academia, Mel's career spans research, clinical drug development and commercial acumen. At Moderna, Mel led the development of their mRNA vaccine against Covid-19. Prior to this, Melanie held senior roles at Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Shire and Takeda, working across all phases of clinical drug development. She holds a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Bristol and started her career as a neuroscience researcher at Lund University and New York University. More recently, she earned her Executive MBA from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for services to public health.
