Lab Innovations, the UK’s largest annual trade show for laboratory professionals and their organisations, has released its show conference programme for 2026, featuring speakers from academic to media backgrounds.
Returning to the NEC, Birmingham on 4-5 November 2026, key themes being addressed at this year’s show are sustainability, robotics and automation, quality, compliance and risk management, biotech innovation, technical product advice and demos, as well as professional development. All talks are free for show visitors across both days.
At this year’s show, the Royal Society of Chemistry Stage will host keynote talks on both days of the show at 1pm. On day one, renowned presenter and writer, Timandra Harkness (pictured above left), will take to the stage to discuss ‘What can a scientist do, that AI cannot?’ Harkness has contributed to several publications including the BBC’s Science Focus and The Daily Telegraph, and authored the 2025 book Technology is Not the Problem, her second publication after Big Data: does size matter?
The second day will host consultant virologist and lecturer based at Cambridge University, Chris Smith (above right), whose session titled ‘Cruising for a biological bruising: What makes pandemics happen?’ will reflect on COVID-19 learnings and how outbreaks of viral diseases occur. Smith is the creator of the Naked Scientists podcast, which was first released in 2001.
On day one of Lab innovations 2026, The Future of Laboratories Stage will host Dr Esther Lewis, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Leeds on the first day. Dr Lewis will explore her research on developing a new vaccine strategy that uses stabilised virus-like particles (VLPs) as a vaccine candidate. The same stage will also host Jay Champaneri, sales manager at Constant Systems, who will discuss reducing waste in protein extraction. Plenty more talks will take place before the stage hosts the annual Lab Awards ceremony at 3.30 pm.
On the second day, The Future of Laboratories Stage will feature talks from Elliot Atkins, from Tropic Biosciences, and Sharon Williams, who has spent over 20 years at Interactive Software Limited. Atkins and Williams will discuss how to build a digital strategy for an integrated laboratory that can support reproducibility, compliance, and sustainable growth.
Later on, Dr David Ellis, assistant professor at Herriot-Watt University, and Robin Blagg, product science team lead at Oxford Instruments, will examine benchtop NMR as an analytical tool for laboratories that cannot justify high-field infrastructure. These are to be followed by further seminars throughout the day discussing topics from sustainability to AI, with the latter to be discussed at length by Azo Network’s AI innovation lead, Will Soutter.
“With the pace of change and innovation across the laboratory sector showing no signs of slowing, we wanted this year’s programme to reflect that breadth,” said Adam Gough, Portfolio Director at Lab Innovations. “From sustainability and automation to compliance, biotech and professional development, the programme brings together practical insight across the challenges and opportunities facing laboratories today – giving visitors the freedom to build a schedule around the topics that matter most to them.”
The full conference programme is available to view on the Lab Innovations website. Register for your free ticket now to catch all of this year's talks at Lab Innovations.