The message has been clear — we need to get medical research out of the lab and into the real world. It is vital for the health of the nation, both in the literal sense and to generate new economic drivers for our future prosperity.

In a previous article exploring barriers to research commercialisation, I highlighted the dependence on the right people — a sentiment echoed clearly at the Research Innovation 2017 conference. The fact is this: we have never been in shortage of great research, we perhaps no longer lack risk capital, there is plenty of government and private sector focus on making it happen… but we are still lacking enough people who can get it done. We are in desperate need of the scientist-entrepreneur.