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Meet The Team
We bring together expert clinicians, academics, members of the public, carers, charities and industry to help people live better for longer.
We are a multidisciplinary team hosted at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We work together with other experts to take projects from concept to commercialisation.
Wendy Tindale
Director
As Director of Devices for Dignity, The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in long term conditions (D4D), Wendy leads D4D’s national positioning and strategy, and provides oversight of our delivery of innovation excellence. She holds vast experience in the HealthTech sector and extensive expertise in front line patient care and healthcare innovation.
Liz Pryde
Head of Operations
Liz manages the HRC Programme Team and relationships with all our partners and collaborators across our national networks and is responsible for capturing the impact of our work and communicating this to our stakeholders. Liz is responsible for all contractual management, NIHR reporting and the implementation of the HRC strategy.
Hayley Morris
Deputy Head of Operations
Hayley supports the strategic management of operational processes, prioritising cross-theme collaboration and stakeholder engagement, working closely with research teams, healthcare providers, and industry partners to foster inclusive research and development that improves patient outcomes and ensure equitable access to HealthTech.
Lise Sproson
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Lead
Lise has expertise in designing and running successful PPIE, bid writing, training, and national advisory roles. She works with a wide range of patients, carers, public and charity organisations to ensure that the voices of people who are experts by experience are heard by developers and academics.
Avril McCarthy
Theme Co-Lead
Avril is a Consultant Clinical Scientist in clinical engineering, with over 25 years medical device research, innovation across a wide range of technologies and interfacing with MHRA, NICE and BSI. She is the Theme Co-Lead of the Pathways to Implementation and Impact theme and has been an active member of the NICE Medical Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) since 2017, including for its recent multi-technology Early Value and Late Stage assessments.
Kirsty Kassim
HRC Administrator
Kirsty supports administrative and logistical functions for D4D’s core team and clinical/cross-cutting themes. She is well-connected with operational staff across Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and with staff at our partner organisations. Kirsty chairs D4D’s weekly team meetings, contributing to the day-to-day management of activities and events. She is the initial point of contact for collaboration requests.
Abigail Needham
Theme Manager
Abigail joined the D4D team as a Theme manager previously working in the pharmaceutical industry where she focused on sales and account management. Abigail is responsible for managing the Women's Health Theme and the Rehabilitation, Assistive and Restorative Theme (RART). Abigail will also take responsibility for assessing Impact within the HRC and reporting this to the NIHR.
Clare Bartlett
Theme Manager
Clare is Theme Manager for the Long-Term Neurological Conditions (LTNC) and Pathways to Implementation and Impact (PII) themes. She is also acting as the Capacity Building Lead for the HRC and is coordinating the Healthcare Science Innovation Fellowships. Clare has extensive project management experience and has contributed to significant research and innovation projects in the NHS, academia and industry in both England and Canada.
Dan Clark
Theme Manager
Dan is the Theme Manager for D4D’s Kidney Care and Methodological Innovation themes. He works closely with clinical, academic and patient focused theme leads, to help run these themes and achieve their objectives. Dan is also responsible for the communications output and social media management, linking in with communications teams within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and further out into D4D’s expansive network.
Sarah Goodwin
Patient and Public Involvement Officer
Sarah supports the PPIE activities of the project portfolio across the D4D partners. She builds relationships with a wide range of patients, carers, public, charity and community organisations to increase involvement and engagement in the development of new healthcare technologies.