The Cambridge University Enterprise Zone (UEZ), Connect: Health Tech, has launched a roadmap outlining its plans to bridge the gap between two key specialisms: biomedical research and cutting-edge technology. 

The UEZ’s report identifies five key challenges in supporting the future growth of the life sciences cluster in Cambridge and provides solutions. A notable aspect of the report is the recommendation to improve connectivity between medicine and technology. 

The roadmap also offers steps to improve the foundations of the “Cambridge cluster”: the region around Cambridge that is home to a large number of high-tech businesses. The steps will support the region’s economic recovery post-pandemic, bringing cutting-edge research, innovators and businesses together over the next 20 years.

The UEZ also hopes to increase the level of growth and investment across the East of England and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. 

Professor Andy Neely, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations at the University of Cambridge, commented: “Cambridge has a deep and rich history of discovery and collaboration, and its interdisciplinary environment is the perfect testbed for new models of innovation in the life sciences.”

Neely added that the roadmap “will ensure that Cambridge remains a global leader in health technology into the next generation.” 

Professor Tony Kouzarides, Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge, stressed that the pandemic has highlighted the need for “rapid innovation in healthcare.” 

Kouzarides stated: “We are determined to harness the power of innovation, creativity and collaboration in Cambridge, and apply this towards solving some of the biggest medical challenges facing the country, and the world.”

Connect: Heath Tech UEZ is an online community that aims to strengthen “interdisciplinary bridges between academia, industry and healthcare” to facilitate “positive interventions” related to health technology. The UEZ aims to “shape the future success” of health technology within the Cambridge cluster.