Beyond the Device

Chris Hannan, VP of Quality & Regulatory at Oxford Nanopore, has built an extraordinary career in MedTech without following the traditional path.

Leaving school without a clear direction, Chris started in the stores department of an electronics company and deliberately put himself in environments where he had to learn. By staying curious, surrounding himself with good people and learning from mentors along the way, he gradually built the experience that has led him to where he is today, helping lead quality and regulatory at one of the UK’s most innovative biotech companies, known for its breakthrough DNA and RNA sequencing technology.

Despite operating in one of the most technical and regulated parts of the industry, Chris is fundamentally a people person in a technical world. His approach to leadership and regulation is grounded in humility, curiosity and the belief that most things ultimately come back to common sense.

Earlier in his career, Chris landed his dream role working in Switzerland but unexpectedly found himself returning to the UK only a year later and rebuilding from scratch. Starting again with little more than a suitcase required resilience and perspective, but it ultimately shaped how he views success, leadership and what truly matters – the people around you and how you treat them.

The philosophy that runs through his career is simple: “If you do the right thing and work hard, things tend to work out.”

Tony Cooke has spent more than 40 years in diagnostics, building and leading companies in Cambridge after humble beginnings in a working-class family in Sheffield.

This episode isn’t about job titles. It’s about mindset.

Tony shares why he never let himself get too comfortable. Growth, for him, came from change. New roles. New challenges. Moving before he was forced to. He’s seen companies sold, projects collapse and plans unravel. His view is blunt: expect things to go wrong. Life isn’t fair. Companies aren’t permanent. Deal with it and move forward.

What stands out is how deliberately he creates challenge. In work and outside it. He believes discomfort keeps you sharp and complacency is the real risk.

After decades in diagnostics, he’s also clear on the bigger mission. Healthcare has to shift from treating illness to preventing it. Earlier detection. Smarter screening. Keeping people healthy and productive for longer.

If you’re serious about building a career in diagnostics that lasts, without becoming complacent or burnt out, this episode will challenge how you think. It’s direct, grounded and shaped by decades of real experience.

This week on Beyond the Device, we speak with Lucy Hemming, who’s career began on the frontline as a nurse and evolved into senior leadership across quality, regulatory and sustainability in Medtech. But her path was shaped as much by personal turning points as professional ambition.

After her parents separated and her mum became unwell, Lucy moved home, inadvertently stepping into her first quality role at Medisense, later Abbott. That moment redirected her career and sparked a long-term passion for quality and systems.

In this episode, Lucy speaks openly about resilience, family responsibility, and the hard lesson of learning to ask for help. A challenging year brought her to a breaking point, and three words changed everything: “I need help.”

Her key message is simple but powerful. Talk. Ask for support. And never expect someone to do something you would not do yourself.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Device we sit down with Caroline Alexander, who shares with raw honesty how a short, intense period of upheaval dismantled her life and then how she rebuilt it. 

Within two years she faced redundancy, left an abusive relationship with two young children, retrained for a new career, suffered a serious injury, and still found her way back into the profession where she would go on to lead major quality and regulatory teams.

At the time there was no master plan. There was only survival. Work became a refuge, yet even that meant gathering the strength just to walk back through the front door at the end of the day. The mission was simple: get through today.

The belief that anchors how she leads now is the one she returns to repeatedly: this too shall pass. Troughs lift. Peaks fall. When you are living it, you cannot see the turn, but it comes.

Those experiences reshaped her leadership with empathy, perspective and a determination to protect her team. And when asked if she would change that painful chapter, she says no. Remove it and you risk losing everything that followed.

If you are in your own storm, her message is clear. Keep going. Reach out. You have survived everything up to now.

In this episode of Beyond the Device, we’re joined by Simon Richards, a respected leader in diagnostics quality and regulatory affairs whose career has helped shape the UK and global IVD industry. From a childhood love of science to senior roles in major organisations and leadership across industry bodies, Simon reflects on a career spent building systems, guiding regulation and supporting the people behind the science.

Simon shares a defining early moment: a serious motorcycle accident at 17 that left him hospitalised for months and forced him to reassess his direction. That experience built the resilience and optimism that later carried him through high-pressure professional challenges, including helping lead a major vaccine manufacturing site through regulatory crisis and workforce uncertainty.

Now officially retired, Simon is focused on giving back through volunteering and community leadership, while staying optimistic about the future of regulatory affairs. From IVDR to AI, he believes change is constant and opportunity comes to those willing to adapt.

This episode offers rare perspective from someone who has seen diagnostics regulation evolve over decades and reminds us that resilience, positivity, and small wins matter just as much as technical expertise.

In this episode of Beyond the Device, we’re joined by Adam Isaacs Rae, a quality and regulatory consultant working at the forefront of AI and emerging medical technologies. Adam shares his journey growing up in working-class Glasgow, shaped by immigrant roots, financial pressure and navigating a household affected by mental health challenges.

He reflects on the pivotal moment in his early 20s when he took responsibility for supporting his mum financially, forcing him to grow up fast and commit fully to building a career in engineering and life sciences. We explore how this pressure became fuel for ambition and ownership over his future.

If you’re navigating career pressure, personal responsibility or questioning what success really means, Adam’s story is honest and deeply relatable. It’s a reminder that growth often comes from the hardest moments and that change can be a privilege, not a threat.

In this episode of Beyond the Device, we speak with Chris Barker, CEO (or “Chief Mischievist”) of Spirit Health, about the pivotal moments that took him from corporate pharma to health tech founder. Chris shares how a personal family health crisis forced him to rethink his career path and step away from the traditional corporate ladder.We dive into leadership, vulnerability and why knowing what you’re bad at can be your biggest strength. Chris reflects on the managers who shaped him early on and how trust and honesty now sit at the heart of Spirit’s culture.He also opens up about resilience, mental health and the simple habits that keep him grounded, from daily breathing breaks to competitive sport.Looking ahead, Chris outlines his ambition for digital health, using everyday technology to support prevention, self-management and earlier intervention across the NHS, alongside Spirit’s work in underserved communities globally.

This episode is a look back at everything Beyond the Device has become over the last year.

This time last year, the podcast was just an idea. A few honest conversations and a mic. Now it’s a movement and a core part of the CAPU community.

We’ve released 20 episodes so far, and in this special review we share our personal top picks from the series. The moments that stuck with us. The lessons we’ve actually taken into our own lives and businesses.

Most importantly, this episode is a thank you.

To every guest who trusted us with their story. Who showed up honestly. Who spoke about the wins, the doubts, the setbacks and the turning points. Your openness is what makes this podcast what it is.

If you’ve listened to even one episode, you’re part of this too.

Here’s to the first 20 and to what’s coming next.

We’re back for 2026 with our 20th episode and this one hits differently.

Francis White, CEO of Heart Biotech, opens up about the moments that shaped him.

Losing both parents in his early 30s while raising young children forced him to grow up fast and take control of his future.

That experience became the turning point that pushed him to study, stretch himself and redefine what success meant to him.

We talk about:

• What it really means to take ownership of your life

• Why chasing “the next milestone” never delivers

• Staying grounded when life feels heavy

• Leading through uncertainty and pressure

• The breakthroughs coming in medtech that feel almost sci-fi

Honest, reflective, and full of perspective. A powerful way to start the year.

In this week’s episode, Beyond the Device goes stateside as we sit down with Tara Turney, Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at BD, to explore the moments that shaped her career and leadership style.

Tara’s journey began in the Pacific Northwest, where an early love of science, the outdoors and team sport set the foundations for a career in medical devices. She takes us through her early years at Medtronic and the intensity that defined the first half of her career.

But the conversation centres on the turning points that changed everything. A bold decision to walk away from corporate life and start over overseas. A deeply personal loss that forced her to confront burnout, grief and the question of what success really means. And the gradual shift from chasing milestones to building a career guided by joy, authenticity, and impact.

Tara shares how these experiences reshaped how she leads global teams today, why mentorship and honest feedback matter, and how she now creates space for people to show up as themselves while still delivering serious, high-stakes work.

This episode is a powerful reminder that ambition alone is not enough, leadership evolves through lived experience, and the most meaningful careers are built when purpose and people come first.