IPEM’s Science Leadership Strategy launched
A SCIENCE Leadership Strategy for physics and engineering in medicine has been launched by IPEM.
It was officially unveiled at the Institute’s Annual General Meeting, and both builds on and complements the IPEM 2025 organisational strategy, which committed the Institute to three areas of strategic focus, including leadership.
The Science Leadership Strategy provides a framework to identify the key challenges and drivers of change and anticipates how these will impact the operating environment within which IPEM members work.
It will focus IPEM’s activity and scientific outputs, growing the Institute’s reputation and credibility, and ensure the Institute remains relevant, engaged and engaging in a fast-changing operating environment.
Grand challenges, emerging trends
The strategy is built around grand challenges, emerging trends and actions. It identifies six topics encompassing science and technology trends in healthcare, environmental and societal shifts and considers broader social and professional factors such as NHS transformation relating to digital and achieving net zero.
Dr Catriona Inverarity, IPEM’s Professional Knowledge and Innovation Manager and the author of the strategy, said: ‘As interdisciplinary and cross-functional work increases, IPEM’s broad membership can work together to shape best practice at the forefront of innovation. We will continue to produce high quality books, papers and statements, expanding into emerging and uncharted territory.
'Our new Science Leadership Strategy provides a sense of direction and focus to where we concentrate our efforts.’
Dr Robert Farley, IPEM’s President, said: ‘The challenges and trends identified in the strategy are transformative, and the role of healthcare scientists and engineers in connection with such issues not previously explored, understood and acknowledged. However, we believe healthcare scientists should be at the forefront of thinking about and tackling such issues.
‘Charged with identifying novel therapies and improve our understanding, rapid advances in science and technology make healthcare science one of the most exciting, challenging and rewarding areas of the NHS, industry, academia and beyond.
‘Our fundamental involvement in monitoring, measurement, diagnostics and analysis means we are ideally placed to be at the forefront of change in healthcare in the coming decades. Alongside our overarching IPEM 2025 Strategy this is a strong platform to raise the profile of members and appreciation of the vital role they play in our ever-changing healthcare ecosystem.’