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Professor Chris Hopkins delivers prestigious lecture in Manchester

Person at lectern making a speech

7 September 2026

Hywel Dda University Health Board’s Professor Chris Hopkins will be delivering a prestigious keynote speech at a national event which brings together leading thinkers, innovators and decision makers from across clinical practice, science, technology and engineering to shape the future of healthcare.

Chris, who is Acting Director of Research, Innovation and Value and President of the UK’s Academy for Healthcare Science will be delivering the annual Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) Woolmer Lecture in Manchester on October 12-13.

In his lecture, Beyond Boundaries: Where Science Changes Lives, Chris will explain how life-changing discoveries often come from people with different skills and knowledge working together. He’ll highlight how teamwork across different fields can lead to major improvements in patient care.

The Woolmer lecture is IPEM’s flagship lecture and past Woolmer Lecturers have included some of the most distinguished scientists and clinicians of their generations. 

These include Nobel Prize winners Sir Andrew Huxley and Sir Peter Medawar; Professor Kevin Warwick, internationally recognised cybernetics and AI researcher; Professor Denis Noble, pioneering systems biologist and Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England. 

Chris said: “I am deeply honoured to be delivering this year’s IPEM Woolmer Lecture. This keynote carries an extraordinary history. Established in memory of Professor Ronald Woolmer, it recognises a visionary whose work helped shape the future of science, engineering and medicine. 

“As the first Director of the Research Department of Anaesthetics at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1957, Woolmer understood something that remains as relevant today as it was then: the greatest advances in healthcare occur when disciplines come together with a shared purpose of improving lives.

“To contribute to this distinguished lecture series in recognition of Professor Woolmer’s remarkable contribution to healthcare, is both an honour and a responsibility. My sincere thanks to IPEM for the invitation”.