Senior leadership, spinout founders and academics at King's met the leader of UKRI to discuss how the university can support and contribute to government objectives.
Senior leadership, spinout founders and academics at King's met the leader of UKRI to discuss how the university can support and contribute to government objectives.
From a King's spinout aiding surgeons' ability to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy tissue, to England's only whole-body PET scanner which is speeding up diagnoses for NHS patients - the visit demonstrated how King's and its clinical partners are tackling real-world challenges and improving the lives of patients.
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UKRI, began the tour at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) - a building which is driving MedTech innovation by connecting experts, clinicians and innovators - before a short-walk to nearby St Thomas' Hospital, where several King's clinical partners are based.
Professor Chapman was greeted by senior leadership from King's - including Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Senior Vice President (Research & Special Initiatives), Professor Ajay Shah (Executive Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine), Professor Matthew Hotopf (Executive Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience).
It was a pleasure to welcome Professor Sir Ian Chapman to King's to showcase the impact of our research and innovation. Serving society through academic excellence is at the heart of King's Strategy 2030, and we were delighted to share examples of how our researchers are delivering meaningful benefits for patients, communities and industries in the UK and internationally.Visiting the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE), we introduced Sir Ian to King's medtech incubation ecosystem through meetings with the founders of our spinouts, Fraiya and Hypervision Surgical. We highlighted the strength and breadth of our research, demonstrating how we are responding to national priorities, including AI, data and technology, the creative industries, health and life sciences, global security, and driving economic growth. Our meeting with Sir Ian was a welcome opportunity to explore how King's can further support UKRI's objectives.
Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi
One spinout based at the LIHE is Fraiya AI, which is already having an impact on maternal care. Dr Jackie Matthews, co-founder of Fraiya AI, explained to Professor Sir Chapman how the technology is assisting sonographers during routine fetal anomaly scans as part of the NHS's antenatal screening programme.
Another King's spinout, Hypervision surgical, also based at the LIHE, aims to break down visual limitations for surgeons. Josh Gibson, Head of Technology at Hypervision surgical explained how, despite advances in digital and robotic surgery, surgeons still mostly rely on sight examination to guide important intraoperative decisions. Hypervision surgical addresses this by using AI-powered hyperspectral imaging, enabling surgeons to see what is not visible with the naked eye. The spinout, which could improve clinical decision-making and tissue health diagnosis during operations, announced it had raised £17 million to progress its UK-certified and FDA-cleared technology earlier this year.
Professor Sir Chapman was then accompanied to nearby St Thomas' Hospital, where he was presented a whole-body PET scanner. The scanner, demonstrated by Professor Alexander Hammers, Head of the King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' PET Centre, explained how the scanner is quicker for the patient and produces higher quality images than standard scanners. Already operating at several NHS sites, the scanner enables faster and earlier diagnosis and treatment of illnesses like cancer and heart conditions.
It was a real pleasure to see firsthand how King's is bringing together researchers, clinicians and innovators to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing healthcare. The work underway at the London Institute of Healthcare Engineering is a great example of how collaboration can turn cutting-edge research into technologies that improve lives and support the UK's ambitions for better health, innovation and economic growth.
Professor Sir Ian Chapman
Dr Valentina Vitiello, Head of Clinical Translation and Governance at the LIHE, added: "It was a privilege to welcome Sir Ian to LIHE and demonstrate how we bridge the gap between research excellence and real-world impact. By bringing together researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, industry and investors, we help promising health technologies navigate the journey from discovery to adoption, improving patients' lives while creating the conditions for innovative companies to grow. It was a powerful demonstration of how we can advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth together."
The visit concluded with presentations delivered by Dr Tom Foulkes (Director of Research Strategy & Performance), Dr Chris Banerji (AI+ Senior Fellow), Professor Sarah Atkinson (Professor of Screen Media, Creative Industries) and Professor Wyn Bowen (Professor of Non-proliferation and International Security, War Studies).
The visit forms part of King's wider engagement with government, industry and other partners, creating opportunities to share expertise, build relationships and contribute research and ideas to some of the UK's most important policy and economic priorities.
A key focus of King's new Strategy 2030 is to further strengthen the power of research and education for the public good, including by strengthening partnerships with industry, government and other organisations and supporting the translation of research into real-world impact.
