In this episode of the Women in Health Tech Show, I speak to Professor Joann Rhodes, Chief Executive of HIRANI. We discuss Joann's career trajectory from a cellular pharmacologist to leading health research and innovation in Northern Ireland. Highlights include her work in developing immunomodulation therapies, brokering major industry-academic partnerships, and her pivotal role in setting up the 1.3 billion neurodegeneration R&D labs at the Francis Crick Institute. Joann also shares insights into moving to Northern Ireland pre-pandemic, the importance of building strong networks, and her drive to make a significant impact on healthcare ecosystems.

Professor Joann Rhodes is Chief Executive of HIRANI, driving collaborative health research and innovation across Northern Ireland from lab to clinic to home. A former cellular pharmacologist at Imperial College, she helped develop immunomodulation therapies for COPD and clinical biomarker rationales for multiple novel therapeutics. Since 2011 she’s brokered major industry–academic partnerships, including the £16M US–UK Pfizer Rare Diseases Consortium, and served as Chief of Staff at Merck UK R&D (2018–2020) to launch the £1.3B neurodegeneration R&D labs at the Francis Crick Institute. She advises TopMD, Discovery Park, and the British Pharmacological Society, holds honorary professorships at Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, and earned an Executive MBA from Imperial College, winning the Dean’s Award and Joan Woodward Prize.

Contact Joann on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannrhodes/

The Women in Health Tech Show is presented by Catherine Davies of Monticle. It was edited by Emily Crosby Media.