Healthcare industry innovator Dr Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed as CEO of the HDRS to accelerate medical breakthroughs.
Dr Melanie Ivarsson OBE has been announced as the first Chief Executive Officer of the new Health Data Research Service (HDRS), which is backed by up to £600 million in funding from the government and Wellcome.
Dr Ivarsson brings a wealth of expertise in healthcare innovation and industry, having led the clinical trials that produced one of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccines at Moderna – for which she was awarded an OBE. She has also held senior roles at pharmaceutical firms Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda and has a strong research background, conducting post-doctoral research at New York University in the US and Lund University in Sweden.
The HDRS will streamline processes for approved researchers in both commercial and academic sectors to develop new medicines and therapies, while upholding rigorous safeguards for data security, privacy and ethical oversight.
Currently, obtaining health data can be slow, complex and fragmented but the HDRS will slash red tape and provide a secure single access point to national-scale datasets. This will give patients better access to new treatments and technologies and could set the UK on a path to cure conditions including cancer, dementia and arthritis quicker. The new research body is a key part of the government’s Plan for Change, which is committed to building a future-ready NHS using data and technology to overcome challenges and improve healthcare for all.
Dr Zubir Ahmed, Minister for Health Innovation, said: “Speaking to healthcare leaders across the globe, I know the unique potential of NHS data to transform patient care in the UK when used safely and securely. I am delighted to announce Melanie Ivarsson’s appointment. Her experience leading some of the most important discoveries in healthcare is exactly the sort of expertise we need leading our HDRS. By combining the care of the NHS with the ingenuity of our world-leading scientists, our health service can truly become the envy of the world once again.
Dr Melanie Ivarsson OBE, incoming HDRS CEO, commented: “I am delighted to join HDRS as its first CEO. Having seen firsthand what we can achieve when health and care data is utilised for research, I’m excited to work across the four nations of the UK and with partners across the life sciences ecosystem to turn the HDRS ambition into reality.”
The HDRS brings access to data for medical research into one secure and easy-to-use location, meaning a researcher does not have to navigate different systems or make multiple applications for information for the same project. Patient confidentiality will continue to be held to a gold standard - with rigorous security measures being in place, like anonymity and virtual locked rooms, to ensure no-one’s health data is compromised.
Dr Ivarsson’s appointment follows Baroness Blackwood’s being announced as HDRS Chair in November, as the service mobilises to become operational in December this year.
The new service will be housed at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire, where Wellcome is building a range of new R&D laboratory and office spaces to expand the current campus’s capacity for innovative genomics and biodata companies.