• SPARK The Midlands provides academic and business support to advance healthcare research discoveries for unmet clinical needs
• After launching in the West Midlands in 2024, it is now expanding to nine projects in the East Midlands, funded by the Forging Ahead partnership
• The expansion was announced at a launch event at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park on Wednesday 4 March.

SPARK The Midlands, the first UK branch of Stanford University's prestigious global SPARK programme – the global pre-clinical accelerator programme with a presence in more than 50 locations – has officially expanded into the East Midlands, through the Forging Ahead project.

Researchers from across 16 Midlands universities in the Forging Ahead partnership who have developed or are developing a drug, medical device or diagnostic test to treat a real-world, unmet clinical need, can now benefit from this world-class programme. Many of these researchers will go on to create the future spinout companies that fuel the UK’s innovation economy.

The expansion – funded through Forging Ahead – was announced at a launch event at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park on Wednesday 4 March. The event brought together academia, industry, investors and key ecosystem actors who all aim to drive forward novel medical innovations into real world clinical use.

Originally founded at Stanford University 20 years ago, SPARK is coordinated and led here in the UK by the commercialisation team at Aston University, from where it has been running in the West Midlands over the last two years, funded by the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator up until 2026. This West Midlands pilot has already launched five new companies, raised more than £17m in follow on funding for the 20 projects supported to date and led to four clinical trials being approved.

The flagship East Midlands cohort features nine projects, including a De Montfort University technology that looks to treat battlefield wounds; a collaboration between Nottingham Trent and Cranfield University exploring how x-rays can be used to reduce the need for biopsies in diagnosing breast cancer; and a novel therapeutic for treating patients at risk of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in development at the University of Nottingham.

The programme has a team of experienced specialists in translating medical innovation, including ex-industry experts, full time regulatory affairs professionals and a significant regional mentor network who offer the skills needed to drive these technologies forward.

It also gives researchers access to the SPARK global network – support that has helped its US cohorts achieve FDA approvals and bring nearly half of their projects into clinical trials, private investment, or industry licensing.

Forging Ahead – formed in May 2025 and made up of 16 Midlands universities – has now funded the expansion of the programme to the East Midlands.

The expansion is fitting – not only to bring together the entire Midlands under one programme – but to complement the pioneering health & life sciences work done in the East of the region. From world leading precision medicine at the University of Leicester and Nottingham being the home of MRI, to Charnwood Campus, Pioneer Group and a proud history in clinical trials excellence and pharmaceutical innovation.

SPARK’s ambition is to take on a cohort of 20 projects each year from across the region supporting technology develop from Universities, the NHS and SMEs.

Each cohort lasts two years and involves a highly technical structured programme of support – from target product profiles through to Industry standard R&D plans and even complete risk registers, co-developed with the educated investment community critical to this space.

Matt Vassey, SPARK East Midlands director, said:

“Forging Ahead has given us the platform to truly become SPARK The Midlands. We can now engage with a new group of researchers, founders and clinicians from across the region and support their commercialisation journey. This launch event sends a strong signal that the Midlands is a leader when it comes to medtech and life science commercialisation, bringing together ecosystem partners to help bring new technologies to the patients that need them.”

Luke Southan, head of research commercialisation and director of SPARK at Aston University, said:

“We fundamentally believe that the SPARK programme is the globally leading way to support preclinical stage innovators in driving forward their ideas into clinic. It’s a delight that we’ve been able to expand to the East Midlands and I've been blown away by both the engagement we’ve already had and the quality of science that we are lucky enough to now be able to help.”

Professor Ed Lester, pro-vice-chancellor for knowledge exchange and innovation, University of Nottingham, said:

“The University of Nottingham is delighted to host the launch of SPARK The Midlands. Nottingham and the East Midlands have a proud heritage in medtech and clinical innovation, and we are thrilled that University of Nottingham researchers – as well as researchers from across the Forging Ahead partnership – will benefit from the commercialisation expertise and global network that SPARK offers.”

Rajinder Bhuhi, Forging Ahead manager, said:

“The expansion of the SPARK programme signals new momentum across the life sciences and MedTech sector in the Midlands. It is inspiring to see the development of research from the previous West Midlands cohorts and this first Forging Ahead-funded cohort. Through Research England, Forging Ahead is supporting the translation of high‑impact research into real‑world change which will ultimately changing lives. Forging Ahead’s ambition as a project is to generate more spinouts, licensing and other commercialisation opportunities from university research and innovation – and that’s exactly what SPARK aims to do too.”