New Goldman Professor to launch 'Lifebank' plan

Feb 17 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

BIOTECHNOLOGY entrepreneur Will Dracup says he will use his year as Goldman Professor to launch a "Lifebank" which he hopes will see the region become a world leader in disease diagnosis.

Mr Dracup has been appointed to follow in the footsteps of some of the region’s most successful company bosses to take on the title of 2010 David Goldman Visiting Professor of Business Innovation at Newcastle University Business School.

Mr Dracup, founder of successful Newcastle biotechnology companies Nonlinear Dynamics and Biosignatures, will perform his first public engagement in the new role next month when he delivers the annual David Goldman Lecture.

The prestigious title is in honour of David Goldman, the co-founder of regional success story Sage, and is awarded annually to a successful North East entrepreneur by a university panel and members of the Goldman family.

As part of the Goldman Endowment at Newcastle University Business School, the post sits alongside the Annual David Goldman Prize for Innovation awarded to the winner of The Journal’s Young Business Executive of the Year, which is sponsored by Newcastle University Business School, and the permanent position of the David Goldman Chair of Business Innovation at the school.

David Goldman was a passionate supporter of the region and is credited with being instrumental in transforming the economic landscape into one of realistic economic opportunity and attainable prosperity.

Personifying entrepreneurial flair, dynamism and creativity which drove Sage to become the UK’s largest software company, Sunderland-born David Goldman still kept the business firmly rooted in his native North East.

Following his untimely death in 1999, the Goldman family formed the endowment to create an enduring legacy in memory of the late entrepreneur, honouring his commitment to the region and his support for the educational development of young people.

The role of the David Goldman Visiting Professor of Innovation recognises a prominent business figure in the field of business innovation and involves working with the school to provide leadership and mentoring to its students and faculty, as well as delivering the prestigious David Goldman Business School lecture at the annual dinner, which will take place this month.

Previous holders have included Paul Callaghan, chairman of Sunderland technology firm Leighton, Fiona Cruickshank, co-owner and director of SCM Pharma and founder of the Specials Laboratory and most recently the academic who founded IHC Engineering Business, Dr Tony Trapp.

On receiving the honour Mr Dracup said: “I am absolutely chuffed to bits. It was completely out of the blue and a real honour. I know some of the people who have held the role before and it’s great to have my name alongside theirs.”

Last year Dr Trapp, founder of the successful Northumberland-based IHC Engineering Business, initiated a competition for young entrepreneurs.

Mr Dracup similarly has grand plans for his year as Goldman Professor. “I want to try and make an impact, to make a real difference by creating the Lifebank,” he said. The Lifebank is a long-term project in which regional clinicians, academics and companies work together to conceive and produce diagnostic testing equipment to detect the early signs of diseases, such as cancer.

Mr Dracup hopes to be able to create a database of patient samples, which can be used as the cornerstorne of research into identifying anomalies, particularly in body proteins, which can give clues to the causes of disease. He says leading regional companies, such as stock market-listed IDS and Newcastle-based e-Therapeutics, are keen to get involved alongside the region’s universities and clinicians.

He will further outline his plans at the annual lecture on March 4 in the Bedson Building, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle, followed by a dinner in the nearby Courtyard Restaurant.

Anyone wishing to attend can register at: www.ncl.ac.uk/nubs/about/ events/goldman/register.htm

WINNERS

David Goldman Visiting Professor of Business Innovation past winners:

2009 – Dr Tony Trapp, chairman of IHC Engineering Business.

2008 – Fiona Cruickshank, co-owner and director of SCM Pharma.

2007 – Paul Callaghan, chairman of Leighton Group.

2006 – Chris Thompson, managing director of Express Group.

2005 – Mark I’Anson, technology entrepreneur.

2004 – Paul Collard, chief executive at Creativity, Culture and Education.