Helena is the IRIS Innovation Business Partner, working alongside our Innovation Clinical Lead and Innovation Support Manager to support and foster a culture of innovation within Humber and North Yorkshire. This involves engaging with partners across the system to identify and address barriers to innovation, enabling the development and implementation of innovation across HNY. They also identify, showcase and spread innovations that can help us meet our system priorities and grand challenges, and lead a Community of Practice for Innovation in the region to foster shared learning. This work is delivered through close collaboration with Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber.

Prior to working in IRIS, Helena has experience working in NHS England, where she managed the delivery of the Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP), and in operational roles in an acute Trust. Before joining the NHS, Helena completed her PhD in molecular immunology at the University of Cambridge and worked for the Academy of Medical Sciences in their Global Policy programme.​