Edinburgh BioQuarter hosts national Science Park event
Representatives from Science Parks and Innovation Centres across the country will converge on Edinburgh BioQuarter later this week for a prestigious industry event.
The United Kingdom Science Park Association (UKSPA) conference will meet at Edinburgh BioQuarter tomorrow and Friday (19 and 20 September) to discuss the current issues facing the UK science and innovation sector.
Managers and developers of science and innovation parks and property agents and brokers from across the UK are featured on the guest list.
They will hear from industry experts about a range of topical issues including innovation, start-ups and growth; the future of science and innovation; and Bio-Incubation - design and building companies.
The event will feature presentations from leading figures in UKSPA as well as from an introduction to Scottish Life Science from Julia Brown, Director of Life and Chemical Sciences at Scottish Enterprise. Edinburgh BioQuarter's Commercialisation Director Mike Capaldi will also talk about Edinburgh BioQuarter and the work of its Commercialisation Team.
Paul Wright, UKSPA CEO said: "I am delighted that Edinburgh BioQuarter are hosting the UKSPA AGM and Autumn conference and have lined up an impressive array of speakers across a diverse range of subjects and disciplines. UKSPA events demonstrate the UK's passion for innovation and our willingness to share our knowledge and good practice with each other, and the fact that this meeting is to capacity is testament to the interest in the tremendous work that is happening not just at Edinburgh BioQuarter, but also across Scotland."
Julia Brown, director of chemical and life sciences, Scottish Enterprise, said: "With a turnover worth over £3 billion per year to the Scottish economy and employing more than 32,000 people across 640 organisations, the Scottish life sciences industry is vital to our continued economic growth.
"This event will focus on some of the key elements of the Scottish life sciences industry - innovation, commercialisation, start-ups and growth. It aims to highlight the way in which the Edinburgh BioQuarter brings all of these together to further build on Scotland's reputation as the ideal partner of choice in major international life sciences projects."
Mike Capaldi, Commercialisation Director at Edinburgh BioQuarter said; "This is a great opportunity for us to showcase the unique nature of Edinburgh BioQuarter and to demonstrate why it continues stimulate a pulse of innovation, collaboration and commercialisation within Edinburgh that delivers benefits to patients around the world as well as putting Scotland at the forefront of translational medical research."
Edinburgh BioQuarter is a unique concept, bringing together scientists from the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian with commercial research companies to collaborate and accelerate the development of new drugs, diagnostic tools and medical devices to treat diseases. This huge enterprise has made Edinburgh a leading European destination for translational medical research, fast-tracking drug development from 'bench to bedside'.
About six years ago the University of Edinburgh joined forces with Scottish Enterprise and NHS Lothian to create the Edinburgh BioQuarter. The aims for this new organisation were: to foster deeper links with industry through collaborative research; to create new companies based on Edinburgh's research base, and to encourage a culture of commercialisation in the NHS and among academic researchers.
An experienced Commercialisation Team was established in 2010 to deliver these aims and in just over three years has spun out eight new life sciences businesses. New companies include i2eye Diagnostics - developers of the world's first visual field analyser for children; insulin pump cover supplies ipSOX and Aquila BioMedical - a pre-clinical contract research organisation for certain nervous system and neurological disorders.
For more information visit www.bioquarter.com
About the Event
More information on the UKSPA/Edinburgh BioQuarter event can be found here (please see attached release for the link).
For more information contact Shona Cameron, Head of Marketing and Communications on 0131 244 9249 or 07904983 126 or shona.cameron@bioquarter.com