'A great opportunity' - Visitors to the North East Life Sciences Conference share their thoughts on the event

The North East Life Science Conference 2024 welcomed a variety of people from across the life sciences industry to Newcastle on Thursday, March 21.

The event, which was hosted by National World, was held at The Catalyst in Newcastle, giving those who attended the chance to network and share their ideas with each other.

With five panels and more than ten exhibitors at the venue, there was undoubtedly something for everyone within the life sciences industry.

As the conference came to a close, we took the opportunity to ask those in attendance what they thought about the day.

Herb Kim, founder of the Thinking Digital Conference and TEDxNewcastle, was the host of the conference and he highlighted that it was a great day for networking.

He said: "This is the second North East Life Sciences conference and it is great to see it still happening.

"The first one was about two years ago and it is great that we've had more than triple the number of exhibitors this time.

"It is lovely to see that more and more local industries and organisations are hearing about it and wanting to participate.

"For me personally, it was a great opportunity for learning all day, both from the panels and from networking."

Michelle Dixon, from Durham University, hopes to take what she has learnt at the conference and apply it to her work.

She stated: "I've found the day to be really good, really pleased I came as I've made lots of new connections.

"I've also heard really inspiring and interesting discussions on the different panels all about the power of shouting about what we do, which is fantastic in the North East.

"So I've now got lots of inspiration to go back to Durham University and do more of our amazing collaboration with the NHS, different industries and the other universities in the North East."

Reuben Ash, director of sales and business development UKI at Stratesys, was at the North East Life Sciences conference to make connections for the company, which only launched in the UK last year.

He commented: "It's been a really good day, we're a software company which specialises in the life sciences industry and has just launched into the UK about a year ago.

"So it is really interesting to meet people who are in the life sciences industry who have all got the same sort of mentality and all looking to move forward.

"It is ideal for us and it has been a really good event and really enjoyable."

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Dr Ashmita Randhawa, director of R&D at Sunderland Software City, praised the passion of those who attended the event in Newcastle.

She added: "I had the privilege of sitting on a panel with some fantastic colleagues from Newcastle University and the NHS.

"It is actually fantastic to hear about the single-minded focus on wanting to work together and bring the region together when thinking about innovation and skills, particularly about the incorporation of digital technologies for the life sciences and health sector."

Lauren Tough, industry operations manager at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), looked ahead to the future after a day of networking.

She said: "I've had a brilliant day meeting lots of really interesting innovators and companies who work in the life sciences space.

"It has been really engaging and it will be interesting to see what we can do next with the contacts that we have made."