Innovation 21

Helping companies through innovation, development of new products and services and by exporting into new markets.

About Us

Innovation21 was established in 2011 by Elaine Harris and Brendan Lawlor. Innovation 21 is a consulting and training company which specialises in helping companies to grow and develop through innovation, the development of new products and services and by exporting into new markets. We have considerable experience of working with companies, funding agencies, academic institutions and VC companies across a range of industrial sectors. We have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist in transforming research , intellectual property and new ideas into real products and services. We have extensive expertise and experience in the Medical Device, Pharma-Bio Pharma, Food and Life Science Sectors and have an excellent network of contacts established across these sectors.

Why Choose Us?

Experienced Directors

Over 55 years of combined experience

Client Satisfaction

Over 90% Repeat Business

Extensive Network

60+ Clients and associates

Our Team

Director

Brendan Lawlor

Brendan Lawlor MBA is a business consultant, research project and programme manager and business advisor with 30 years’ experience of working with Multinational Companies, Small and Medium Enterprises, funding agencies, VC’s, organizations and individuals. He has worked with clients across all of the major industry sectors in Ireland and overseas including Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Biopharma, Energy, Manufacturing, and the Public Sector. He was the programme manager for the start-up phase of both the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre and the Technology Centre for Biorefining and Bioenergy, both funded by Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. He is currently working with a number of Biopharma and Pharma clients in Ireland. He has conducted a number of market sector research studies and stakeholder engagement projects in the Irish Life Science sector.

Director

Dr Elaine Harris

Dr Elaine Harris has over 25-years of experience in the Life Sciences industry across a range of technical, management, business and consultancy roles. Following a PhD in bio-inorganic chemistry, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry in new product development and technology evaluation. Since establishing her own consultancy company in 2002, Elaine has focused on the pharma, bio-pharma and medical device industries and has provided consultancy services to academics, companies and government agencies including the IDA and Enterprise Ireland particularly in the areas of R&D capacity and capability building. She is a member of the independent technical expert panel for Irish Revenue Commissioners. Elaine also lectures at TU Dublin in the School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences with a particular research focus on the areas of Regulatory Science, Knowledge Management and PAT.

Associate Consultant

Eamonn McGowran

Eamonn McGowran is a graduate of D.C.U. with a B.Sc in Biotechnology and M.Sc in Plant Biotechnology . Eamonn is a highly knowledgeable regulatory and quality professional with over 20 years experience. He has worked within the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device, food and cosmetics arenas where he has developed a wide understanding of the global regulatory and quality needs to gain access to markets for both large and small organisations. Through interactions with university researchers Eamonn has developed a strong interest in the incorporation of regulatory science understanding at the early stages of innovation and is undertaking a part-time PhD in TU Dublin to further the means to promote and facilitate early adoption of Regulatory Science in the drug development life cycle.

Associate Consultant

Jim Ryan

Dr Jim Ryan B.Sc., Ph.D. is an experienced specialist in science policy and innovation management issues with particular emphasis on the life sciences. He has worked extensively in Ireland for a range of clients on issues related to Science Policy, Innovation and research Management, evaluation of RTD programmes and other S&T policy issues. These have included several of the organisations relevant to this project: IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Health Research Board and HSE. Internationally, he has also conducted projects in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lithuania, Estonia and elsewhere. He was director of Ireland’s National Biotechnology Programme (1996-2001), where he had responsibility for developing national biotechnology strategy and for commercialising university research. He has also worked with the National Board for S&T (Ireland), Simon Fraser Univ. (Canada), & Life Science Supplies Ltd. (Irl).