EIT Health Ireland-UK, a co-location centre of EIT Health, which is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, has appointed Graham Armitage as managing director.
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An accomplished director and senior leader, Armitage has held diverse roles across the private and public sectors. After originally building a career spanning almost two decades with the Royal Air Force as an aeronautical engineer, he has spent the last 17 years advancing research to improve patient outcomes. Armitage is the founding director of Innovo Insights, a consulting firm focused on innovation in health and ageing. He also served as a trustee and board member at PTSD Resolution and led business and innovation activity for Newcastle University’s world-class ageing research, playing an integral role in establishing a National Innovation Centre in Ageing at the University.
More recently, Armitage was appointed as an honorary visiting professor at the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at Brunel University, London, to guide its innovation and public involvement activities.
Armitage said: “I am honoured to take up the role of managing director at EIT Health Ireland-UK. The next few years at EIT Health are set to be exciting and transformative as our priorities will be collaborating with partners, start-ups, and innovators in our ecosystem. We have a strong team, now largely based in Ireland, who strive to engage the energy and knowledge of our highly innovative partner-base here and support them to solve unmet health needs. I look forward to building more valued partnerships and strengthening our foundations across Ireland and the UK.”
Armitage joined EIT Health in 2019 and has since held several key positions such as deputy managing director, innovation manager, and collaboration lead for the Ireland-UK co-location centre. He has served as interim managing director since April 2022 and previously sat on the organisation’s board of directors. As managing director, Armitage will oversee all aspects of management and operations and perform a central role in identifying new opportunities for collaboration and portfolio development. Graham will work with the team to develop relationships with local stakeholders and grow the partner base.
Annika Szabo-Portela, ad interim chief partnership management officer at EIT Health, said: “I am delighted to appoint Graham as managing director to EIT Health’s Ireland-UK Co-Location Centre. With a career spanning military service, industry strategy, and academic engagement, Graham brings with him expertise in programme management, innovation, and quality leadership. Ireland and the UK are of strategic importance to EIT Health, as they play host to renowned academic institutions, world-leading medtech and biopharma companies, and support thriving innovation ecosystems.”
EIT Health is Europe’s largest health innovation network connecting business, research, education and healthcare delivery to address the biggest health challenges Europe faces. With a Central Office in Munich, Germany, the organisation has a pan-European presence, operating across seven Co-Location Centres, and Innostars, connecting innovators across Europe and beyond. EIT Health established a base in Ireland in 2021. To date the organisation has supported over 2,500 start-ups, which have gone on to raise over €1.9 billion in investment and facilitated the development of 113 healthcare products and services which have since been launched to market.
