Health Innovation Manchester is pleased to announce the addition of three Greater Manchester leaders to our Board: Councillor Bev Craig, Anthony Hassall, and Professor Ashley Blom. Each brings extensive experience and a strong commitment to improving health and social care for the people of Greater Manchester.

Councillor Bev Craig has been the Leader of Manchester City Council since December 2021. Elected as a Burnage Councillor in 2011, she has held key roles including Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health, and Deputy Leader. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Local Government Association and leads the Labour Group.

Anthony Hassall joined Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust as Chief Executive in April 2022. Previously, he was the Regional Chief People Officer at NHS England and Improvement North West, and Chief Accountable Officer at Salford Clinical Commissioning Group. He chairs the North West mental health, learning disability, and autism collaborative and is a trustee of the Salford Foundation charity.

Professor Ashley Blom is the new Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Manchester. Previously, he was Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Health at the University of Sheffield. An Orthopaedic surgeon, his research focuses on arthroplasty, and he is part of the team analysing the National Joint Registry. He is an NIHR Senior Investigator and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

These new board members join the board of senior leaders to help accelerate world-leading innovation to improve the lives of Greater Manchester’s 2.8 million population. Chaired by Professor Mark Britnell, the Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) Board comprises global industry non-executive directors and senior representatives from across Greater Manchester’s health, care, civic, and academic bodies.

On the new appointments Professor Mark Britnell said “These new appointments of senior leaders emphasise the importance that the city-region places on health innovation and will help us to explore further the opportunities to build partnerships that can help to solve some of the biggest health challenges facing Greater Manchester”.

Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) is a place-based innovation organisation with a vision to be world-leading in improving the lives of local people, transforming care, and boosting the economy through innovation.

Some of HInM’s most notable work includes joining up health and care information via the GM Care Record for all 2.8 million citizens; leading the development of the GM secure data environment for research; securing £15 million in Innovate UK and industry funding for programmes in advanced diagnostics and genomics; and deploying novel industry-led therapies at scale to effectively treat high cholesterol in at-risk groups.

Health Innovation Manchester is excited to welcome Councillor Craig, Anthony Hassall, and Professor Blom to the Board and looks forward to their contributions in driving innovation and improving health outcomes for the Greater Manchester population.

For more information about Health Innovation Manchester and our Board, please visit:
https://healthinnovationmanchester.com/our-board/