New Members' Induction | 2024

Welcome and overview for the day

Denis Newman-Griffis

Senior Lecturer and AI for Health Lead from University of Sheffield Centre for Machine Intelligence

Denis Newman-Griffis (they/them) is a transdisciplinary leader working at the intersection of academic research and policy to shape responsible AI, AI-enabled research, and the intersection of AI and disability. Their research integrates perspectives from AI and machine learning, critical data studies, and health informatics to understand how AI and research systems can be ethically designed and managed to improve human flourishing. Denis has developed some of the first natural language processing methods for analysing information about the lived experience of disability, and is pioneering methods for examining the AI design process from a critical disability perspective. They are working to develop best practices for responsible AI design and growing the international community around disability informatics. Denis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield and AI for Health Lead in the Centre for Machine Intelligence. They received the AMIA Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2021.

Edward Pyzer-Knapp

Co- founder and Chief Scientific Officer from Xyme

Ed is Head of Research Innovation for IBM's UK and Ireland labs.  He is interested in the use of powerful emerging technologies, such as AI and quantum computing, to help to answer some of the biggest challenges of our time. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, and then moved to Harvard University, finally leaving to help start the IBM Research Lab in the UK in 2015. He holds a visiting Professorship at the University of Liverpool, and also an honorary position at the University of Cambridge. Ed is Editor in Chief of the Wiley journal Applied AI Letters, has authored more than 70 papers and conference proceedings, filed multiple patents, and has authored a textbook on the use of AI for physical science, published by Wiley in 2021.

Introduction to the UK Young Academy

Denis Newman-Griffis

Senior Lecturer and AI for Health Lead from University of Sheffield Centre for Machine Intelligence

Denis Newman-Griffis (they/them) is a transdisciplinary leader working at the intersection of academic research and policy to shape responsible AI, AI-enabled research, and the intersection of AI and disability. Their research integrates perspectives from AI and machine learning, critical data studies, and health informatics to understand how AI and research systems can be ethically designed and managed to improve human flourishing. Denis has developed some of the first natural language processing methods for analysing information about the lived experience of disability, and is pioneering methods for examining the AI design process from a critical disability perspective. They are working to develop best practices for responsible AI design and growing the international community around disability informatics. Denis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield and AI for Health Lead in the Centre for Machine Intelligence. They received the AMIA Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2021.

Edward Pyzer-Knapp

Co- founder and Chief Scientific Officer from Xyme

Ed is Head of Research Innovation for IBM's UK and Ireland labs.  He is interested in the use of powerful emerging technologies, such as AI and quantum computing, to help to answer some of the biggest challenges of our time. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, and then moved to Harvard University, finally leaving to help start the IBM Research Lab in the UK in 2015. He holds a visiting Professorship at the University of Liverpool, and also an honorary position at the University of Cambridge. Ed is Editor in Chief of the Wiley journal Applied AI Letters, has authored more than 70 papers and conference proceedings, filed multiple patents, and has authored a textbook on the use of AI for physical science, published by Wiley in 2021.

Governance and staff support

Amy Fry

UK Young Academy Programme Manager from UK Young Academy

Amy Fry is the Programme Manager for the UK Young Academy, and has been in the role since 2021, supporting in the planning and launch of the organisation in 2022 and operational running since. She manages the Staff team, and is the main point of contact for the Executive Group, Partner Academies and other stakeholders involved in the initiative. Her background is in public engagement with science and project management, and she has been involved with running science festivals, delivering engagement initiatives such as book prizes and interdisciplinary grant funding as well as managing a range of small and large scale events and trainings. She is passionate about advocating for the voices of early-career individuals and is an avid theatre-goer in her spare time.

Lesley Miles

Chief Officer – Programmes, Partnerships and Engagement

Chief Officer – Programmes, Partnerships and Engagement – at the Royal Society, having joined in 2013 as the Chief Strategy Officer. Her role includes responsibility for major strands of work including grants, public, schools and industry engagement and the Royal Society’s focus on diversity and inclusion in STEM. She is the staff lead for the UK Young Academy at the Royal Society. Before joining the Royal Society, Lesley was the Marketing and Communications Director of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Most of her career was spent working in the private sector, including six years as Marketing Director of Waterstones Booksellers.

New member spotlight session one

Amy Vincent

Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow from Newcastle University

Amy Vincent is a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow at Newcastle University in the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research (WCMR) and John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre. She completed her PhD in 2017 and was awarded a Fellowship in 2019, when she was invited to be a principal investigator in (WCMR). Mitochondria are the batteries of our cells making the energy for the cells to function. Amy's group work on understanding the cause and progression of a rare disease called mitochondrial disease, and the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on muscle cells. Public and patient engagement are incredibly important to Amy, who regularly attends family days run by the Lily Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy UK. AMy is active on several committees which focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and career development for early career researchers. Amy is a woman in STEM and a member of the LGBTQ+ community in STEM.

Break

The Global Young Academy landscape

New member spotlight session two

Jahangir Alom

Emergency Medicine Doctor and Former Clinical Lead for the NHS Staff Vaccination Programme from Barts Health NHS Trust

Jahangir Alom gained his primary medical qualification at the University of Southampton. He holds an MSc in Public Health from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he researched the experience of British Bangladeshis during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He is a board member at the Institute of Public Policy Research, a Westminster think tank and a Governor at Stepney All Saint School, a non selective state school in East London. In his free time he has completed the London and Tokyo Marathon to raise funds for a global health charity, Selfless, where he is the Programme Director. He was a recipient of an NHS Parliamentary Award (London) for his work on tackling vaccine inequality and was ranked in the top 100 influential healthcare leaders in 2022 by the Health Service Journal. In the New Years Honours 2024, Jahangir received a British Empire Medal for services to tackling health inequalities.

The importance of an entrepreneurial mindset

Lunch

New member spotlight session 3

Alistair McConnell

Assistant Professor in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University

Alistair McConnell is an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University whose research focuses primarily on soft robots, human-robot interaction, and healthcare robotics. Alistair is enthusiastic about public engagement and outreach both within the university and all around the country. He leads the Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Centre for Robotics public engagement activities and works closely with the National Robotarium engagement team. He is driven to take research and work out of the lab and into the real world, often through the entrepreneurial route, where he has experience creating both spinouts and start-ups. During his post-doctoral role, he co-founded a start-up Mask Logic Ltd as a way of addressing the problems of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Round table discussion

Facilitated by UK Young Academy Executive Group and staff team.

Break

Getting the most out of the membership

Linda Oyama

Lecturer in Microbiomics, Antimicrobial Resistance and One Health from Queen's University Belfast

Linda Oyama is a microbiologist and lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, with a First-class Microbiology degree and a PhD in Biological Sciences. Linda’s research interests center around understanding antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in microbiomes from a One Health perspective through surveillance and epidemiological studies using meta-omics approaches. She aims to tackle AMR through the discovery and development of novel treatment options for various clinical and veterinary multidrug resistant (MDR) infections.

Ask anything to the UK Young Academy

UK Young Academy Executive group and Staff Team

British Academy tour

Closing and overview of evening plans

Denis Newman-Griffis

Senior Lecturer and AI for Health Lead from University of Sheffield Centre for Machine Intelligence

Denis Newman-Griffis (they/them) is a transdisciplinary leader working at the intersection of academic research and policy to shape responsible AI, AI-enabled research, and the intersection of AI and disability. Their research integrates perspectives from AI and machine learning, critical data studies, and health informatics to understand how AI and research systems can be ethically designed and managed to improve human flourishing. Denis has developed some of the first natural language processing methods for analysing information about the lived experience of disability, and is pioneering methods for examining the AI design process from a critical disability perspective. They are working to develop best practices for responsible AI design and growing the international community around disability informatics. Denis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield and AI for Health Lead in the Centre for Machine Intelligence. They received the AMIA Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2021.

Edward Pyzer-Knapp

Co- founder and Chief Scientific Officer from Xyme

Ed is Head of Research Innovation for IBM's UK and Ireland labs.  He is interested in the use of powerful emerging technologies, such as AI and quantum computing, to help to answer some of the biggest challenges of our time. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, and then moved to Harvard University, finally leaving to help start the IBM Research Lab in the UK in 2015. He holds a visiting Professorship at the University of Liverpool, and also an honorary position at the University of Cambridge. Ed is Editor in Chief of the Wiley journal Applied AI Letters, has authored more than 70 papers and conference proceedings, filed multiple patents, and has authored a textbook on the use of AI for physical science, published by Wiley in 2021.