CEO Dr Katerina Spranger Receives Purple Plaque Honour from Innovate UK

London, November 15th 2024 - Dr Katerina Spranger, Oxford Heartbeat’s founder and CEO, has been honoured with a Purple Plaque in recognition of winning the prestigious Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award. Purple Plaques are installed on buildings at recipients’ place of education, and as Dr Spranger completed her Doctorate of Philosophy (DPhil) in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford, the plaque will be displayed at the university’s Department of Engineering Science. 

Dr Spranger joins a network of over 200 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award winners who are developing inspiring solutions to pressing societal, environmental, and economic challenges. Speaking about her award, Dr Spranger said, “Oxford was the springboard from which Oxford Heartbeat was founded, so I am proud to have this award displayed at my alma mater. I hope it will inspire future generations of women to start their own business or get involved in groundbreaking science research.”

The Women in Innovation Award was created to improve the recognition of "remarkable women" and inspire more girls into STEM. With only 35% of girls studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects beyond GCSE, there remains a marked gender imbalance in these areas, impacting both education and industry. In response, Innovate UK (part of UK Research and Innovation) launched the Purple Plaques scheme in 2019. Mounted on the walls of educational premises, the Purple Plaques serve as a lasting source of inspiration to future innovators and scientists. 

Talking about the award, Jonathan Grinbaud, Innovate UK Business Growth Project Manager, said: “Ventures like these are critical if we are to improve health outcomes in the country whilst pioneering the development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies. And these ventures are only possible if they are led by passionate, intelligent, courageous and tenacious entrepreneurs such as Katerina”.

Dr Spranger’s Oxford DPhil focused on modelling implanted medical devices and led her to found award-winning startup Oxford Heartbeat. The company is bringing vital engineering innovation to hospitals via its medical device software, PreSize® Neurovascular. PreSize is an AI-powered medical software suite for real-time planning of brain implant surgeries, enabling surgeons to select the best implant for each patient and significantly improve patient outcomes. 

During her DPhil at Oxford, Dr Spranger took an extra course on Science Innovation at the Said Business School. There, she learnt about the Lean Startup methodology, and how to turn an engineering idea into a real product. 

Dr Spranger emphasised the benefits of this additional training, saying “The course at Said equipped me with crucial knowledge that helped me to envision what I wanted Oxford Heartbeat to become. There are so many amazing engineering technologies that might never be used in the real-world setting if they are not fit for purpose, so it was important to learn how to respond to user needs and the changing market circumstances. At Said I realised that in order to succeed, engineering companies must be built to be agile and adaptable.”

Dr Spranger’s plaque will be unveiled on Friday 15 November at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford.

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