Professor Neil W Watson
Director of Innovation, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
Co-Director, Northern Alliance Advanced Therapies Treatment Centre,
and Professor of Practice, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University

Professor Watson is the Director of Innovation at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a post that he moved in to in October 2024, following many years of developing innovative practice in healthcare. Prior to this new role, he was the Director Pharmacy in Newcastle. During the COVID pandemic he led the Covid Vaccination Programme for the North east and North Cumbria, facing the challenges of Health and Healthcare inequality on a daily basis, yet finding innovative solutions to tackle these disparities. His primary areas of interest are Advanced Therapies, Genomics, Integrated Care, Population Health, and Clinical Informatics, supporting data driven care.

Professor Watson has been Co-Director of Northern Alliance Advanced Therapies Treatment Centre since 2018, supporting the creation of optimal adoption pathways for advanced therapies into the NHS and is a member of Rare Disease Research UK Hub team, bringing his NHS and advanced therapies experience to that important platform.