Cambridge Tech Week Launch Event 2025

Dr Kathryn Chapman

Executive Director, Innovate Cambridge

A molecular bioscientist, Kathryn has had a distinguished career in diverse leadership and strategic roles across the public and private sectors.

Following a successful research career at the University of Manchester, Harvard Medical School, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and GlaxoSmithKline, Kathryn has played a pivotal role in shaping inclusive innovation landscapes, building cross-disciplinary virtual and physical communities and creating novel models to remove barriers to success.

This includes a decade building and leading the innovation strategy for NC3Rs, a UKRI Research Council where Kathryn founded and directed a new challenge-led open innovation platform, CRACK IT which increases cross-discipline and cross-sector industry/academic partnerships in applied research. Kathryn also co-established the Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge, providing a physical hub for translational science and collaboration between industry and academia. The Institute is a centre of excellence for target validation through artificial intelligence, machine-learning, functional genomics and tool compound analyses. Most recently, prior to joining Innovate Cambridge, Kathryn directed the innovation strategy at the Babraham Research Campus, launching LiveLabs incubator space and leading the Campus accelerator, entrepreneurship and innovation activities.

Throughout these roles. Chapman’s focus has been on spearheading initiatives that propel startups, entrepreneurs and businesses towards success and driving meaningful change at a national and international level.

Kathryn has 50+ research publications and has been on a wide-range of national and international review panels (Innovate UK, Innovative Medicines Initiative and BBSRC). She holds an honorary professorship at the University of Coventry where she sits on the Vice Chancellor’s advisory group.

---

Dr Tom Diethe

Head of the Centre for AI, DS&AI, Biopharma R&D, AstraZeneca

No bio provided

---

Michaela Eschbach

CEO, Cambridge Wireless and CTW24 Steering Committee

---

Dr Nik Johnson

Mayor, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

Dr Nik Johnson has been Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority since 2021, and lives near St Neots with his family. He remains a practicing NHS paediatrician at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and is the most recent Mayor to adopt a franchised Bus Model.

---

Neil Lawrence

The DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning, University of Cambridge

No bio provided

---

Robert Pollock

Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge City Council

No bio provided

---