Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland, 3 Dargan Crescent, Belfast (2026)

23/01/2026

6D-Dementia is a clinically developed digital workforce development platform that supports health and social care staff and family caregivers to better understand dementia, recognise and respond to distress, and deliver consistent, person-centred support.

The company was independently developed by Dr Frances Duffy, informed by insights gained through years of frontline clinical practice supporting people living with dementia. “After more than 15 years working in older people’s mental health services, I repeatedly saw people living with dementia experience distress not because of dementia itself, but because their needs were misunderstood or responses were shaped by pressure, fear or risk. Staff and carers wanted to help, but often lacked a shared framework, confidence or practical tools to guide their decisions.

“6D Dementia was created to bridge that gap, translating psychological theory and evidence into practical, accessible training that supports real-world care. While early delivery focused on in-person training and consultancy, it quickly became clear that digital delivery was essential to achieve scale, consistency and sustainability,” said Frances.

The company has been supported through a combination of clinical networks, academic partnerships and innovation programmes, including the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, Invest Northern Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Innovate UK, national Health Innovation Networks, regional support through HIRANI, and Awaken Hub. This support has provided both practical and strategic insight to enable platform development, evaluation and sustainable growth.

Find out more here: https://hira-ni.com/creating-an-informed-dementia-framework/

22/01/2026

Our Chief Communications Officer, Caroline McEvoy, was excited to be at Ulster University this week to celebrate the official launch of the Health Frontiers–Technology Innovation Centre, a flagship €9.1M project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) - European Funding.

The project is designed to accelerate next-generation digital health and medical technology innovation across Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Scotland.

Delivered under Ulster University’s Centre for Digital Healthcare Technology, the Health Frontiers project will drive cutting-edge research and development in medical devices, artificial intelligence, and digital health systems, supporting clinicians and health systems to embed technology-driven care pathways.

Department for the Economy NI Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said:

“By driving commercially focused research, supporting SMEs and building skills, Health Frontiers will boost productivity, strengthen cross-border partnerships, and create high-value jobs, positioning the north as a key player in MedTech innovation.

“I congratulate all partners on this achievement and look forward to the lasting benefits it will deliver for our economy and health outcomes.”

The Health Frontiers initiative will transform healthcare by bringing together 11 leading academic and clinical partners, including Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI), to tackle real-world challenges. Through collaboration with 25 MedTech small-medium enterprises (SMEs), the project will drive innovation that directly benefits patients, developing more than 25 new products and processes designed to improve care and outcomes.

Beyond advancing medical technology, Health Frontiers will create jobs, strengthen cross-border partnerships, and foster long-term economic and social growth, ensuring that breakthroughs in research translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.

Health Frontiers will focus on three interlinked areas of innovation:

🩻Next Generation Medical Device Technologies – Designing and validating innovative, user-centred devices focused on key clinical challenges.

⚕️Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health Systems – Harnessing data science, machine learning, and AI to enhance clinical decision-making and care delivery.

🏥Digital Transformation of Clinical Practice and Culture – Supporting clinicians and health systems to adopt, trust, and embed technology-driven care pathways.

20/01/2026

PulseAI, a rapidly emerging leader in AI-enabled cardiac diagnostics, last week announced the closing of its seed funding round, led by INNOVATION ULSTER LIMITED, with participation from The Mortara Group and The Francis Crick Institute. The investment will enable PulseAI to scale deployment of its AI-ECG technology and advance its pathway through US FDA 510(k) clearance.

Over 300 million electrocardiograms (ECGs) are performed annually worldwide. However, despite the critical importance of the ECG as a frontline diagnostic tool, its interpretation remains highly dependent on specialist training and manual analysis. This often leads to delays, diagnostic variability, and missed opportunities for early intervention. PulseAI's AI-ECG platform is designed to address this challenge directly by delivering high-performance clinical decision support in both primary and acute care settings.

As part of the round, Dr. Justin Mortara, Ph.D. , an experienced innovator in ECG technologies and former CEO of Mortara Instruments, will join PulseAI as Chair of the Board, strengthening the company's strategic alignment with global leaders in cardiac monitoring, diagnostics, and hospital systems.

PulseAI's technology, trained on large-scale ECG datasets and validated in partnership with some of the world's leading institutions across Europe and the United States, promises to bring the power of AI to one of the most widely used diagnostic tests.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/e969UTgf

14/01/2026

💊Join an event to explore how the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast uses cutting-edge research and education to improve health and tackle disease.

💉From developing new medicines and medical devices to enhancing patient care in hospitals and communities, discover pharmacy in action through practical experiments, immersive experiences, and insight into training the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists.

Where: School of Pharmacy, QUB 97 Lisburn Rd, Belfast BT9 7BL

When: Thursday 19th Feb, 7:00 pm

Find out more and register: https://nisciencefestival.com/event/the-wonderful-world-of-pharmacy/

13/01/2026

NI company ARC Regulatory has been recognised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as a Health Institution Lab for EU & UK Clinical Trial Testing🩻

💊The MHRA is a the UK Regulator for Medicines and Medical Devices and has announced that ARC Research Laboratories can conduct testing of EU and UK patient samples for Clinical Trials under the IVDR Health Institution Exemption (Article 5(5)).

🏥After their alignment with the MHRA in 2025, ARC Laboratories now meets the definition of a Health Institution as outlined in the IVDR, which applies in Northern Ireland.

⚕️This designation enables faster, more flexible start-up and ex*****on of clinical trials that involve EU patients, helping sponsors expand their trials in to Europe, reduce timelines, manage costs, and accelerate precision medicine programmes more efficiently within the EU.

08/01/2026

Join an online funding workshop for SMEs trying to get research funding for a health or life sciences innovation. This workshop is geared towards those applying to schemes such as the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) Invention for Innovation (i4i) scheme, and Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst.

This free-to-attend online workshop is hosted by the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) and the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) – Community Healthcare, supported by the NIHR Research Support Service National Collaborative.

Aims:
• Understand the funding landscape for the health and life sciences industry
• Understand what is involved and what is expected in a funding application
• Understand how to pitch your project in a clear and convincing way so reviewers can see its importance and how you plan to do the work

Outline of the day:
• The Context of Innovation Funding, New Developments & the Funding Process
• Building a Team Who Can Deliver
• Evidence to Support Your Product’s Development – Competing Technologies, Proof of Concept, Prior Work and Previous Applications
• Defining Your Aims and Objectives
• Research Plan – Typical Workpackages
• Project Planning: Milestones, Deliverables, Gantt Charts and Flow Diagrams
• The Importance of Public Involvement and Research Inclusion
• Demonstrating the Potential for Impact
• How to Write and Pitch an Application
• Funding Success Stories
• The Industry Ecosystem and Who Can Help
• Q&A Panel

Full programme here:
https://lnkd.in/ehMNtcc3

Enquiries to nihr-rss@soton.ac.uk

07/01/2026

Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care (NICON) have announced the next five webinars in their 'Reset' discussion series, which will run throughout 2026.
The first in the series is 'The Big Discussion - Whole System Flow’ will take place from 2pm to 3.30pm on Friday 16 January.
Winter pressures on our HSC system have intensified year on year, increasingly becoming a persistent, year-round challenge.

As planning commenced for winter 2025, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt set in motion ‘The Big Discussion’, a whole systems conversation to learn from winter 2024.

In this session, take a closer look at the whole systems approach used in the Big Discussion, which examined the drivers of demand that put pressure on the system year-round, but peak in winter. Also there will be a reflection on the decision to intentionally frame this work through the lens of older people living with frailty.

During the conversation, you’ll hear an overview of the ongoing projects and how they will contribute to the neighbourhood model as this work progresses, all against the backdrop of what we know will be a challenging flu season.

You will hear inputs from Professor Maria McIlgorm, Chief Nursing Officer, DoH; Professor Catherine (Cathy) Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, DoH; Maxine Patterson Chief Executive, NIAS; Katy Rennick, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, DoH; and suzanne pullins Chief Executive, NHSCT.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/e6-SKD8i

The rest of the series will include:

Mobilising the neighbourhood model of care for Northern Ireland
2pm to 3.30pm, Wednesday 11 February 2026

Reimagining the future of primary care in Northern Ireland
1pm to 2.30pm, Tuesday 3 March 2026

Waiting list initiatives - Exploring our progress and learning
2pm to 3.30pm, Tuesday 10 March 2026

Exploring clinical agency as a key driver of the HSC reset
3pm to 4.30pm, Tuesday 14 April 2026

06/01/2026

Congratulations to NI company, Biomarx, who build genomic laboratory medicine tools with the goal of reducing health inequalities and accelerating the clinical adoption of genomic medicine, and have announced a pre-seed raise of £700,000 👏

Founder, Sean Macfarlane shared: “The round was led by SFC Capital and Clarendon Fund Managers, with additional support from the University of Strathclyde , our fantastic angel investors, InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Competition and Techstart Ventures Proof of Concept Grant. A huge thank you to everyone who backed us at this early and critical stage.

“This funding enables Biomarx to transition from proof of concept to MVP, pursue ISO 13485 accreditation, and undertake a preliminary lab-based clinical study — key milestones on our path to market.

“We’re also delighted to be entering the next phase of development in Glasgow, supported by the University of Strathclyde. Our sincere thanks to Prof Damion Corrigan Dr Catherine Breslin and Anne Henderson, CA for their exceptional support in making this collaboration possible.

“At Biomarx, we’re building the next generation of genomic laboratory medicine tools — reducing cost, complexity, and the high skill barriers traditionally associated with next-generation sequencing. Our automated platform is designed for rapid, low-cost detection of circulating tumour DNA fragments, with the goal of reducing health inequalities and accelerating the clinical adoption of genomic medicine and personalised therapies.

“Our first product will be a non-small cell lung cancer liquid biopsy test, aimed at enabling earlier detection and supporting more precise, targeted therapies.”

05/01/2026

Taking place on April 23rd and 24th 2026, our annual conference, Health Tech Spring, early bird tickets are now on sale - get yours here https://lnkd.in/e88PAk8k

❤️Hosted by the Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI), the annual Health Tech Spring conference is a two-day event showcasing the region, supporting local innovators and promoting cross sector collaboration.

💊With over 20 fringe events, the conference will include a “Life Sciences, Life Support” event for businesses who provide support services to the life science industry and an industry skills workshop for further education students.

🔬With innovation zones, masterclasses, pitching competitions, patient engagement sessions, interactive forums, global keynotes and local thought leaders, Health Tech Spring 2026 promises to be another iconic conference hosted in the Titanic Building.

🧪This year’s event will explore how equitable life science innovation partnerships can align with national priorities for growth but be driven and delivered locally harnessing our unique needs, strengths and assets.

Find out more on our website www.hira-ni.com and get your early bird ticket here: https://lnkd.in/dTWVdiYd

17/12/2025

Get your early bird ticket for Health Tech Spring 2026 !👩‍⚕️ Hosted by the Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI), our annual conference is a two-day event showcasing the region, supporting local innovators and promoting cross sector collaboration.

🎧 With over 20 fringe events, the conference will include a “Life Sciences, Life Support” event for businesses who provide support services to the life science industry and an industry skills workshop for further education students.

🩺 With innovation zones, masterclasses, pitching competitions, patient engagement sessions, interactive forums, global keynotes and local thought leaders, Health Tech Spring 2026 promises to be another iconic conference hosted in the Titanic Building.

🏥 This year’s event will explore how equitable life science innovation partnerships can align with national priorities for growth but be driven and delivered locally harnessing our unique needs, strengths and assets.

Commenting on the 2025 conference, NI Chief Allied Health Professionals Officer, Michelle Tennyson said: “I left the NI Health Spring Tech Conference feeling genuinely inspired - not just by the technology, but by the fortune of possibilities ahead. The energy in the room, the chance to network, and the opportunity to connect with others who care deeply about the future of health and care was uplifting. The future isn’t coming. We’re building it now!”

Our CEO, Joann Rhodes MBA said:
“The life sciences sector is not just about generating profit, it is key to pioneering medical breakthroughs to transform lives and generate good, sustainable jobs, if we can harness the insights from health and social care system with the incredible life sciences and MedTech ecosystem. In Northern Ireland, life sciences is an essential sector, and it is HIRANI’s mission to support collaboration to align our unique capabilities with global opportunities. Our Health Tech Spring conference is your opportunity to join our network and make strong connections and leverage the strengths of all parts of our health and life sciences sector."

Following on from a sold-out event in 2025 with over 800 delegates taking part, themes for 2026 will also include ‘Regulation for Innovation’ and 'Healing at Home', looking at prevention for the individual but also looking at how to bring more clinical trials home to NI.

Find out more and register for your early bird ticket now at www.hira-ni.com.

16/12/2025

InterTradeIreland, in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, has launched three new programmes that will help to unlock the potential of women entrepreneurs across the island. The new programmes, funded by the Irish Government, under the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme are set to commence at the start of 2026, and will enable women-led businesses to grow, innovate and scale.
Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eKASEiM4

15/12/2025

A number of NI Life Sciences companies are among seven SMEs in Belfast who are investing more than £4.1m to grow exports, invest in research and development, and create 33 new jobs.

The companies, MediNect Ophtho and Movetru® joined Minister at the Department for the Economy NI, Caoimhe Archibald during a visit to Ormeau Labs earlier this month.

Movetru® tracks the performance of elite athletes, helping to reduce the risk of injury and boost performance. Naomi McGregor, Founder of Movetru, said: “Movetru supports athletes to perform at their best, on and off the field. With Invest NI’s support, we will be able to grow our team which will enhance our technology, boost sales, and expand company visibility across Great Britain, Ireland, and the USA. This investment will enable us to grow as an international company within sports technology for athlete wellbeing.”
MediNect Ophtho recently featured as a HIRANI Comapny of the Month and you can read about their journey on our website www.hira-ni.com

Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland

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