INSIGHTS / Blog

Q&A Blog: Insights from Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore on the ICURe Engage Programme

Introduce yourself and your venture

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: My name is Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore. I’m a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia, and I’ve just recently completed Innovate UK’s ICURe programme as an Entrepreneurial Lead for RhosynBio, where we’re developing anti-biofilm solutions.

Why did you decide to take part in ICURe Engage?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: Biofilms affect a wide variety of different industries. My background is more in medical devices and healthcare, but I wanted to see if the technology that I developed could be applied elsewhere and bring that to market and make real-world change.

What training did you receive on the programme?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: We were able to better understand ourselves as entrepreneurs and develop business plans and business models, as well as the commercialisation journey. We also gained confidence and resilience to complete that journey. They provided training on how to expand our networks, create an online profile, and general commercial resilience.

What has it enabled you to do going forward?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: I’ve been able to create a robust business model and understand my technology as a commercial venture. The next steps will be to, hopefully, in the near future, spin out and bring my technology to market, as well as license and build the relationships that I’ve made during my ICURe journey.

Was it important that the training was themed on biofilms?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: Yes, completely. It was incredibly important for it to be focused on biofilms. It was good to see how biofilms can affect different sectors and provide that knowledge, as well as engage with the context they provided of where my technologies could best benefit. Biofilms have a real-world impact, and it was really good to see how we can address these global challenges through our biofilm-related technologies.

Would you recommend it to other researchers working on biofilms-related innovations?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: Yes, of course. I think it’s a brilliant opportunity to learn more about the business world, how commercialisation works and entrepreneurship. It gives you a dedicated space and time to see your research and your technology through a different lens, and I think that’s really important, both as a scientist and as an entrepreneur.

How did you find balancing the programme with your other responsibilities, and how much time did it take up?

Dr Danielle Cox Pridmore: To begin with, ICURe Engage wasn’t overly intensive, and you can do both your research or teaching, for example, alongside it. As you go along the journey, ICURe Explore and Exploit, for example, are quite a bit more intensive, so more time has to be dedicated towards that. But they do provide you with the skills to balance that so you can explore the commercialisation journey as well as continue with your research or at least learn how to manage that.

Final thoughts

ICURe Engage has been a fantastic experience. It has given me the confidence, knowledge, and connections to take my research towards commercialisation. For anyone working on biofilm-related innovations, I would highly recommend it as an opportunity to explore the business side of your research and see how it can make an impact beyond the lab.

ICURe is an Innovate UK programme, funded by the National Biofilms Innovation Centre and delivered by the SETsquared Partnership.