Rachel Clough
Role: Scientist
Site: CDL-Doha
Stream: Health
Rachel is a Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Reader in Healthcare Engineering, working at the interface of the NHS, academia, and industry. As a Director of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, she collaborates with companies ranging from start-ups and SMEs to multinational corporations, supporting the development of innovative medical devices, digital health solutions, and disruptive health technology ventures.
Clinically, she has extensive expertise in cardiovascular disease and the design and development of patient-specific devices. She specialises in technology-driven endovascular surgery and trained under Professor Stéphan Haulon as a prestigious Conseil National des Universités-funded Associate Professor in Lille, France.
She holds a first-class undergraduate degree and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. She leads a research group focused on evaluating the clinical, technical, and cost-effectiveness of software and medical technologies in NHS practice, and contributes to NICE assessments of medical device efficiency.
Her experience spans the full innovation lifecycle, from product conception and development through evaluative research, regulatory approval, commercialisation, and strategic partnership development.
In addition, she works with venture capital investors to assess investment risk, market opportunity, and scalability of life science and health technology companies, and is an active investor in the healthtech sector.