Meet the Team
The HI NENC team is made up of an Executive, a Core Team who provide central support, and Programme Managers who lead on our Health Improvement and Patient Safety Programmes.
Find out more about the members of our team below.
Dr Nicola Hutchinson
Chief Executive Officer
Talk to me about... Strategy, National Health Innovation Network, Stakeholder Engagement
Email: [email protected]
Dr Nicola Hutchinson is Chief Executive Officer of Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HI NENC), and is part of the original team that successfully secured funding and accreditation for the organisation (formerly the Academic Health Science Network North…
Professor Julia Newton
Medical Director
Talk to me about... Health Improvement, Patient Safety, Workforce
Email: [email protected]
In 2017 Julia filled the large shoes of Professor Oliver James who previously occupied this position in HI NENC. Julia graduated from Newcastle University Medical School in 1990. Since then she has worked in a range of roles in the…
Dave Belshaw
Digital Transformation Director
Talk to me about... Digitally Enabling Systems and Pathways, Remote Monitoring and Digital Inclusion
Email: [email protected]
Dave is a psychiatric nurse by trade and spent a large proportion of his career working in mental health community settings and teams. For the last 20 years or so Dave has worked in a variety of service improvement roles…
Russ Watkins
Commercial Director
Talk to me about... Innovation, Economic Growth & NENC Ecosystem
Email: [email protected]
Russ is our Commercial Director who oversees the Economic Growth activity for the Organisation and is enthusiastic about how the North East North Cumbria is recognised for all the fab things it does. The infrastructure in the region to support…
Stephanie Walton
Director of Finance
Talk to me about... Finance, Contracts, Payroll
Email: [email protected]
Steph joined HI NENC at an early stage and has been involved in most aspects of its evolution. Steph started her career in the South East of England as an NHS Regional Financial Management Trainee and went on to gain…
Kirstie Taylor
Marketing and Communications Director
Talk to me about... Communications and engagement strategic planning, commercial communications management, programme communications delivery
Email: [email protected]
Having spent over 30 years working in regional, national and international marketing, communications and engagement roles, Kirstie has enjoyed putting these skills to practice at HI NENC since 2013. Working with the incredible Communication Team members, Kirstie’s time at work…
Claire Adams
Programme Manager
Talk to me about... All things respiratory related
Email: [email protected]
Claire Adams is an experienced nurse with a real passion for improving the care of people with respiratory disease. Over the 25 years of her nursing career, she has worked in the NHS, in the private sector and as a…
Mark Adair
Marketing and Communications Officer
Talk to me about... Speak to me about multimedia content creation, website management and social media management.
Email: [email protected]
Mark completed his undergraduate degree in film and TV production at Northumbria University, continuing on to do a masters in media and journalism at Newcastle University. Prior to working at HI NENC, he held roles in content creation and Journalism….
Melanie Bambra
Associate Director - Project Management Office
Talk to me about... Talk to me about…. Project Management & Governance Best Practice
Email: [email protected]
Melanie has over 20 years of experience in project management and leadership, across both private and public sectors. She has successfully delivered numerous complex programmes and projects over the years and has extensive practical knowledge of both traditional and Agile…
Sarah Black
Marketing and Communications Manager (Events)
Talk to me about... Events/exhibitions, awards, conferences
Email: [email protected]
Working within the Marketing and Communications team at HI NENC, Sarah’s focus is on event management. With 25 years experience in event management, Sarah has responsibility for enhancing the reputation of HI NENC by coordinating and delivering a busy calendar…
Anna Bassett
Project Manager
Talk to me about... Innovation Pathway, Eco System
Email: [email protected]
Anna joined HI NENC in August 2022 after helping to implement the stock ordering service for wards and departments at South Tees NHS Trust. Before this, she completed a BSc in Chemistry at Teesside University, but had always found health…
Chloe Blewitt
Project Manager
Talk to me about... MedTech Funding Mandate
Email: [email protected]
Chloe is a Project Manager within the Economic Growth team leading on the MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM). Prior to working at Health Innovation North East North Cumbria, she spent 5 years at Newcastle University working as a Project Assistant and…
Liz Brown
Programme Manager
Talk to me about... Health Improvement Programmes, Workforce Innovation Programmes
Email: [email protected]
Liz joined HI NENC in November 2018 and has led on several Health Improvement Programmes across different areas, including Medicines Optimisation, Adoption and Spread and Patient Safety across the region, to address specific health and service improvement issues. One of…
Andy Brown
Systems Manager
Talk to me about... Systems and Information Governance
Email: [email protected]
Andy has 30 years’ experience of working with systems and data across the private and public sectors. He has extensive project management experience for both small and large-scale projects, has been a computer auditor, data analyst, financial planner and information…
Kathryn Brennan
Marketing and Communications Manager
Talk to me about... Communications, digital transformation, North East and North Cumbria digital stakeholders
Email: [email protected]
Kathryn has worked in a range of national and regional digital transformation programmes providing specialised communications support. Nationally this has included NHSmail, HSCN and NHS Spine transitions. Regionally she worked on the Great North Care Record, Health Call and now…