Medilink Midlands appoints Simon Himsworth as CEO
The board of directors of Medilink Midlands has announced the appointment of Simon Himsworth as CEO of the company. Himsworth was until recently the Life Sciences Industry Transformation, change and key account manager to major BioPharma global brands at BioPhorum.
Darren Clark will remain part of the Medilink Midlands ecosystem as deputy chair of the board of directors. As part of the progression and adaption into the next stage of Medilink Midlands development, Melanie Davidson has also been promoted to chief operating officer.
Prof Martin Levermore DL, chairman of the board, said: “We are delighted to bring someone of Simon’s talent to Medilink Midlands. Simon has spent over 25 years leading delivery programmes in the public and private sector, and his experience in the life sciences industry and impressive profile, are valuable assets to Medilink Midlands. We look forward to Simon’s injection of fresh and new ideas to enhance our membership and believe that he is the right person to lead the business as we continue to accelerate our strategic approach to nurture and strengthen the Midlands. Simon’s enthusiasm to succeed will heighten our ambitions to be a nationally recognised, well networked, entrepreneurial life sciences community with the skills and business support services that provide an environment for regional businesses to thrive.
“Medilink has delivered impressive growth under Darren’s leadership, for which we are extremely grateful, and I look forward to continuing our close working relationship in his new role as deputy chair.”
Simon Himsworth added: “I am delighted to be joining Medilink Midlands as chief executive. I would like to thank Darren for his service to the organisation and pay tribute to his success. I am delighted that the organisation will be retaining Darren's knowledge and experience in his new role on the Board. I would also like to congratulate Melanie Davidson in her promotion to chief operating officer. Her experience and knowledge of the organisation will be invaluable as we continue to support our membership base and begin to evolve our life sciences industry collaboration, support, and connectivity offerings, ensuring that Medilink Midlands continues to play a central role in delivering and implementing the UK Life Science's vision. I look forward to working with our regional partners, central government, academia, patrons, and members to achieve this, along with the global industry thought leaders.”
As the Midlands Life Sciences industry association, Medilink Midlands has been providing specialist support to the life sciences sector for nearly two decades, with a dedicated team who support their members and wider network to succeed in their growth, ambitions, and innovations to improve health care and patient safety. Medilink works with regional, national, and global partners across the public and private sector to transform the healthcare Industry by connecting academics, businesses and clinicians.
Dr Darren Clark, former CEO, said: “Medilink is like a family to me, and I have been honoured to lead this organisation for nearly 18 years. I am extremely proud of the achievements of the entire Medilink Midlands team who have shown immense resilience over the last few years yet continue to show their passion to serve all our patrons, members and the Midlands life science community and continue to drive the Midlands forward. I am delighted that Simon will take over as CEO and am confident he will be a terrific leader for Medilink Midlands. This is a company full of very talented colleagues, and collectively we have the desire, capabilities, and knowledge to secure more new and exciting initiatives for the benefit of our members. I very much look forward to supporting Simon and developing my new role with the board of directors.
“I would also like to offer my congratulations to Melanie, in her new role as COO, and have no doubt of her ability to succeed and assist Simon to further develop opportunities for our member network and wider life sciences community.”