- Collaborate
- Innovate
- Elevate
Hosted by the Health Innovation and Research Alliance NI (HIRANI), Health Tech Spring is taking place in Belfast on 20th and 21st May 2027.
Countdown
20th May – 21st May 2027
Health Tech Spring 2026 Showreel
Event Agenda
Hosted by the Health Innovation and Research Alliance NI (HIRANI), Health Tech Spring is taking place in Belfast on 23rd and 24th April 2026.
Life Sciences Life Support Day
Day one of our conference is free to attend and has a festival feel – with Masterclasses, Student Skills roundtables, Lab Tours, Innovators Showcase, Place-based health art exhibition, over 40 exhibitors, lots of networking opportunities and much more.
Cranmore Executive 5K Run (Outside Titanic Building)
6.30AM
Breakthrough lab tours at Queens University, Ulster University and Future Medicines Institute
9AM
Place-based Art Exhibition (Olympic Suite)
1PM
MHRA Industry Liaison session (The Bridge)
1.30PM
Meet the Ecosystem expo (Titanic Suite)
2PM
ABPI Careers and skills for innovation-based industries roundtable (Titanic Suite)
2PM
Masterclasses (Olympic Suite)
2pm to 3pm: Department for Business and Trade
3.10 pm to 3.40 pm: CGI
3.50pm to 4.20pm: AstraZeneca
4.20 pm to 5pm: Roche DIA
2PM
Spotlight on Launchpad Innovators hosted by Professor Claire Thompson, CEO Agility Life Sciences and Hassan Chaudhury, Commercial Director at DATA-CAN, with speakers and Q&A from the MHRA and NICE (Britannic Suite)
3PM
HIRANI Networking (all delegates) Titanic Suite sponsored by Matrix with Prof Sam Turner launching new report.
5PM
Speakers Gala Dinner Captains Table (Invite only) Sponsored by Visit Belfast (The Bridge)
6PM
Titanic Building
Breakfast Session roundtable: Beyond the Lab: Building a Community-Ready Diagnostic Ecosystem sponsored by Roche Dia (Britannic Suite).
8.30AM
Registration, coffee and networking (North Viewing Gallery)
From 8.15AM
Opening with MC Sarah Travers (Titanic Suite)
9.45AM
Welcome from Professor Joann Rhodes CEO HIRANI
9.50AM
Keynote OFM Michelle O’Neil and DFM Emma Little-Pengelly
10AM
Keynote Tom Keith- Roach President AstraZeneca UK
10.15AM
In Conversation with Professor Helen McCarthy, Chief Scientific and Technology Adviser and Mike Farrar, Permanent Secretary Department of Health NI
10.30AM
Morning panel session – Life Science innovators are the corner stone of prosperity – how are we supporting them now and in the future?
With exceptional expertise in precision medicine, digital health, and medical devices, Northern Ireland’s Life and Health Sciences sector has progressed remarkably in recent years.
Innovation has remained at the core of our ecosystem, with a legacy dating back to the development of the world’s first portable defibrillator in 1965.
Today, the sector continues to thrive, with Northern Irish expertise reshaping the future of healthcare so how are we supporting our innovators to activate and scale their products and services?
Who should attend? Anyone interested in health and life sciences in Northern Ireland
Dr Glenn Crocker, Executive Director at The Pioneer Group
11AM
Entrepreneur in Residence at The Francis Crick Institute and KQ Labs Chair, Barbara Domayne-Hayman
11.15AM
Panel session chaired by Chief Executive of Innovation Ulster, Tim Brundle
CEO GenoME, Dr Shannon Beattie
Entrepreneur in Residence at The Francis Crick Institute and KQ Labs Chair, Barbara Domayne-Hayman
Executive Director at The Pioneer Group, Dr Glenn Crocker;
Assistant Director in Quality Improvement and Innovation at SEHSCT, Ruth Gray
Tamsin-Holland Brown, Co-Clinical Lead for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme
11.30AM
Lunch
12.30PM
Lunchtime pitching session chaired by Hassan Chaudhury, Digital Propositions Lead for Medica, Head of UK & Ireland for Welcome Health Ventures, and an Expert-in-Residence at The London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), at King’s College London with Brian Cummings, Clarendon Fund Managers and CEO NI Chamber, Suzanne Wylie
Hear from Northern Ireland innovators and disruptors in the life science space
Sponsored by Clarendon Fund Managers
1PM
Lunchtime roundtable: Our infrastructure and assets – Supercharging translation and commercialisation with a focus on our City & Growth Deals hosted by Mark Goldstone, Chair US Life Sciences Advisory Board and partner at Eckuity
1PM
Welcome back with Sarah Travers with a recorded message from Mike Nesbitt (3 mins)
2PM
Paul Rice NI Chief Digital and Information Officer
2.05PM
Dr Chloe Williams, Head of Healthcare System Partnering at Roche Diagnostics
2.20PM
Afternoon Panel Session – Creating Value for Life and Health Sciences Innovation in NI
Panel Session Chaired by Vice President Health, Care and Life Sciences for UK & Australia at CGI, Justene Ewing with:
Director of Health Innovation Hub Ireland, Dr Tanya Mulcahy
Dr Chloe Williams, Head of Healthcare System Partnering at Roche Diagnostics
GP, Dr Anne Marie Cunningham
Paul Rice NI Chief Digital and Information Officer
Professor Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer
2.35PM
Coffee
3.40PM
Final panel session – Activating our collective power
You have heard about our people and assets; this final session will focus on how NI fits into the global picture.
Aligning with both the UK and Ireland industrial strategies and life sciences clusters, NI is “punching above its weight”; learning from our neighbours, building supply chains, resilience and leveraging NI connectivity as a test bed.
How do we use our collective power to enhance our global competitiveness?
Panel Session Chaired by Professor Catherine Ross, Chief Scientific Officer Scotland with:
Byron Hickman, UK Oncology Business Excellence Director, AstraZeneca
Hassan Chaudhury, Digital Propositions Lead for Medica, Head of UK & Ireland for Welcome Health Ventures, and an Expert-in-Residence at The London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), at King’s College London
CEO at Qubis Ltd, Marina Donohoe
Professor Victor Gault, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Faculty of Life Sciences Ulster University
4PM
Closing comments and reflections with HIRANI CEO Professor Joann Rhodes
4.55PM
End of conference networking
