Recipients of The Oxford Trust Covid Innovation Heroes Awards 2021 announced
The Oxford Trust is pleased to announce the recipients of our Covid Innovation Heroes Awards 2021, part of the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire’s Covid Heroes programme.
We are rightly proud of the role that Oxfordshire played, and continues to play, nationally and internationally in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. These Awards are to recognise and celebrate some outstanding innovation contributions towards addressing the challenges brought by the pandemic – our Covid Innovation Heroes. The award recipients are Oxford-based companies and organisations that have risen to the challenge of the pandemic and done extraordinary work, which has been recognised the world over.
The Awards were selected in different categories by the boards of The Oxford Trust and Venturefest Oxford, sponsored by Barclays, and presented by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Imam Monawar Hussain DL MBE FRSA, at Venturefest Oxford, held at Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, on Thursday 25th November. Some of the prizes were presented at the event and others were presented on-site and a film shown.
Our World in Data
This award was presented to Dr Max Roser, Founder of Our World in Data and Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development, for an Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding for helping people across the world see, and more importantly understand, critical pandemic data.
The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Presented to Professor Adrian Hill KBE, Director of the Jenner Institute, this award was for Outstanding Technical Leadership: Therapeutic Innovation in recognition of the Institute’s incredible work to develop, pilot, organise clinical trials, scale-up and roll out, with AstraZenica, the Covid-19 vaccine in such a short space of time, saving millions of lives across the world.
Oxford Biomedica
The award for Outstanding Technical Leadership: Therapeutic Scale-Up is in recognition of the company’s amazing work to move the Oxford-AstraZenica Covid-19 vaccine from pilot to full-scale manufacture in such a short timeframe. The award was collected by Nick Page, Chief Operations Officer.
OxVent Ltd
In recognition of the outstanding collaboration between the University of Oxford and King’s College London to design, develop and manufacture a low-cost ventilator, this award was for Outstanding Technical Leadership: Medical Engineering. The award was collected by Peter Philips, CEO and Professor Mark Thompson, University of Oxford, Founder & Chair.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies
The award for Outstanding Technical Leadership: Virus Surveillance was presented to Gordon Sanghera, CEO in recognition of the company’s incredible work in the development and implementation of their rapid sequencing technologies for local and international surveillance of the Covid-19 virus to inform public health decision-making.
The focus of the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire’s time in office is to honour those that have played an important role in the county’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s Oxford Trust awards are to celebrate and recognise these five outstanding innovation contributions in the fight against Covid-19 – rightly, our Covid Innovation Heroes.
Presented to individuals, they represent the work of the teams that have come together in different ways to help save millions of lives. Thank you all for your incredible endeavours. We are proud that all this amazing work has gone on in Oxford and has been recognized around the globe.
Congratulations to our Covid Innovation Heroes.