​​Dr Kirsty Hewitson

Kirsty is currently interim Chief Executive Officer at Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (IUK KTN) where she is responsible for the day-to-day running and company delivery. IUK KTN’s mission is to connect ideas, people and communities to respond to challenges and drive positive change through innovation. KTN’s diverse connections span business, government, funders, research and the third sector.

Prior to this, Kirsty was Executive Director-Capability at IUK KTN where she led teams across a wide range of sectors including materials, manufacturing, robotics, space and security.

Kirsty previously held the position of VP Strategy and Innovation at the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) where she was responsible for identifying, translating and commercialising early-stage technology opportunities together with embedding a culture of innovation across the organisation. In addition, Kirsty led the development of NNL’s strategy across diverse targets areas from clean energy to nuclear medicine.

Prior to NNL, Kirsty was VP Life Sciences at Ploughshare Innovations, converting defence and security innovations, from across the Ministry of Defence, into civilian applications. Before Ploughshare, Kirsty was Director of Life Sciences at Helsinki Innovation Services and held responsibility for all innovation matters, across the life sciences, at the University of Helsinki. Previously, Kirsty worked within the field of pre-clinical drug discovery including a spin-out company from the University of Oxford. Kirsty holds a MChem and a PhD in bio-organic chemistry, both from the University of Oxford.