Milner Executive Director Cathy Tralau-Stewart was delighted to join Drug Discovery World (DDW) at their 2025 Symposium this month, which brought together leaders from drug discovery, academia, and biotech to explore how innovation can move more effectively from science to business. This year’s event focused on new technology application, bridging translational gaps, building sustainable life science ecosystems, and strengthening collaboration between universities, investors, and industry.
Cathy delivered one of the event’s standout talks, titled “Connecting academic research with industry to drive therapeutic discoveries,” which explored how the translational environment has evolved over the past two decades, and what is needed next to maintain momentum in translating therapeutic innovation.
Cathy described how the Milner’s three-pillar strategy of Partnerships, Research, and Enterprise is accelerating therapeutic discovery, and highlighted the Cambridge Innovation Hub, a forthcoming £15 million initiative designed to expand lab space for start-ups and connect researchers, investors, and corporates in a vibrant deep-tech ecosystem.
Her closing message urged universities, funders, and government to be ambitious – to fund the development of early drug discovery modalities, high-risk translational projects, enable early project decisions in validated (ideally human) systems, and support novel funding approaches that encourage early validation of ambitious technologies, such as the ARIA-funded Cambridge NeuroWorks neurotechnology partnership.
Cathy was also delighted to join an expert panel to explore the opportunities and challenges in drug discovery across neuroscience and oncology. Discussion flowed around how novel technologies are impacting the translation process, the exciting developments in drug discovery and how these will impact future approaches. The panel also discussed the importance of quality data sets for AI/Machine Learning model development and key areas of potential for UK research.
The DDW Symposium made clear that the future of therapeutic discovery depends on cross-sector collaboration and the creation of ecosystems that de-risk innovation without stifling it. Cathy’s talk encapsulated this ethos and demonstrated how institutions like the Milner Institute are redefining the bridge between academic excellence and commercial impact.
We thank DDW for the invitation to participate in this event, and we look forward to working with them again in future.
