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Chris Lawer
Chris Lawer is a pioneering thinker and practitioner in experience-centred design and value creation. For over three decades, he has challenged orthodoxies in strategy, innovation, and health, advancing new approaches that move beyond metrics and abstractions to the depth of real lived experience.
He is the founder of Umio (since 2014), through which he has shaped cutting-edge work on co-creation, ecosystems, and experiential value in health, medtech, and beyond. Previously Managing Director of Strategyn UK, Chris spearheaded the adoption of innovative management practices across leading global enterprises in pharmaceuticals, medtech, and manufacturing. His work has attracted international investment into diagnostic technologies, including advances in the early detection of diabetic foot ulcers, and has guided EU Horizon programmes and SME consortia to secure critical funding.
Chris is the author of Health Ecosystem Value Design (2017), Interactional Creation of Health (2021), and, with Nicki Sutton, Real Lived Experience: A Radical New Design Philosophy for Health and Care (2025). Across these works, he has challenged dominant logics and opened new possibilities for more meaningful transformation in health and care. He is also completing a PhD at the University of Bristol, researching the Real Lived Experience (RLX) of chronic pain and marginalised lives.
Chris has also taught internationally, serving as a visiting fellow and adjunct lecturer at the New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design, where he introduces Masters students to the Umio experience model and its application to the design of inclusive and equitable urban environments.
Across all his roles, Chris’s work carries a consistent thread: the pursuit of more just, humane, and resonant forms of innovation grounded in the realities of lived experience.
Nicki Sutton
Nicki’s career spans more than two decades, during which she has spearheaded innovation at multiple stages of the process: from identifying unmet market needs and shaping evidence-based strategies, to generating novel concepts and advancing products through R&D in science and technology.
Her strategic insights have fuelled the creation of growth-driving products and opened new markets across the medical device, pharmaceutical, and consumer health sectors, tackling urgent health challenges faced by communities worldwide.
Nicki’s ability to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and regions; including the UK, Europe, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, India, Indonesia, China, and Malaysia reflects both her global outlook and her deep empathy. This multicultural and compassional perspective enriches her work, enabling her to address healthcare needs with sensitivity and inclusivity.
She holds a BSc in Physics from Manchester, an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Surrey, and an MSc in Strategic Marketing from Cranfield School of Management.
Daniel Pesut
Dan holds the prestigious title of Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of Minnesota, marking him as a distinguished authority in the field.
As a visionary in futures thinking and foresight leadership, he has earned a fellowship with the American Academy of Nursing, signifying his outstanding contributions.
Widely acclaimed as an educator in nursing, Dan's multifaceted career spans roles as an academic, researcher, consultant, and mentor.
With a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan and a Master's degree in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center, his expertise and dedication to the field are beyond question.
Angela Kennedy
With three decades of experience, Angela has served as the mental health clinical lead for the NHS in Northern England, championing compassionate leadership and spearheading the creation of a nationwide network dedicated to transformative change.
Recognized as an authority on workplace culture, the therapeutic use of creative arts, issues surrounding women's health and employment, as well as the prevention of suicide and self-harm, Angela has also made her mark as a producer of impactful documentaries focusing on women's health issues and the prevention of suicide.