We’re halfway through the year, so let’s catch you up on our roundup from the last few months!
From celebrating our Royal Garden Party nomination at Buckingham Palace to connecting to the wider rare disease community though the International Drug Repurposing Conference (iDR26), the past few months have been jam-packed.
In this Q2 (second quarter of the year) blog, we’re reflecting on some of the moments that have stood out the most to us, whether that’s through supporting our mentoring programme, organising and attending key conferences or celebrating big milestones. Read on to hear directly from our team on what their highlights were over the last few months!
Let’s hear from the Beacon team!
Dr Rick Thompson – CEO
Our work in the REMEDi4ALL project throws up a lot of unique opportunities for the Beacon team outside of our training and conferences. In the last few months I’ve been involved in two different events, giving us the chance to highlight the power of patient engagement in research.
First up, I was invited to join the REMEDi4ALL Funders Network meeting – a gathering of organisations who actively fund drug repurposing research – where I was asked to talk about Beacon’s own work to develop a social impact bond to fund research, and the work of many patient organisations in crowd funding research.
Second, I attended the EATRIS Connect meeting, where I presented our work in patient engagement in drug repurposing research alongside Eurordis. We were able to showcase a positive approach to patient engagement, and the value of patient input in helping to influence regulators and clinical trial designs – all ensuring there is more chance that impactful drugs are developed giving them a real chance to reach the people who need them.
Mary Rose Roberts – Chief Operating Officer
Q2 of 2026 has been full of activity, both behind the scenes and centre stage. From submitting a mammoth 30-page end-of-grant report to The National Lottery Community Fund on our three-year Empowerment Programme, to attending a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace with Blayne, celebrating my 10 years at Beacon (more on that to come!), and hosting iDR26, it’s safe to say it’s been a hectic few months.
Of all the highlights, iDR26, our annual drug repurposing conference, was undoubtedly one of the biggest. After almost a year of preparation alongside the wider Beacon team and the REMEDi4ALL consortium, we headed to Brussels in mid-May to finally see it all come together. The result was two fantastic days of discussions on drug repurposing, bringing together more than 230 delegates from around the world.
There are so many people involved in making iDR26 happen, but I have to give a huge shout out to the Beacon team, especially Rick, Megan, Hannah, Maddie, Kate and our trustee Scott, who all put in an enormous amount of effort in the lead-up to the event and over the two days themselves. It simply wouldn’t have been the success it was without them.
Resources from iDR26 will be coming very soon but plans for iDR27 have already begun! Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for more information in the coming months…
Elizabeth Proctor – Senior Events Officer
In June, I had the chance to host the first meet-up for this year’s Patient Group Mentoring Programme. It was great to bring mentors and mentees together to catch up on how the programme has been going so far, reflect on their experiences, and share advice with one another.
We also heard from two brilliant lightning talk speakers, who shared their own insights on ‘The Power of Partnerships’ and the realities of living with a rare condition. It was a really positive session and a great reminder of the value of creating space for people to connect, learn from each other, and build relationships across the cohort.
I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone continues to grow over the coming months.
Megan Burley – Senior Scientific Projects Officer
Across the two days, we had sessions covering AI approaches in drug repurposing, community involvement, and how we can drive better patient impact. It was great to see a mix of perspectives, from patient groups and clinical researchers to industry.
One of my favourite moments was announcing the winner of our poster competition. We had 25 poster presentations this year, and it was brilliant to see so much great research on display. It was a privilege to announce Tamsin as the winner and watch her present her work to the conference.
As always, one of the best parts of the conference was catching up with our REMEDi4ALL collaborators and spending time with the Beacon team – these events are hard work, but always so much fun!
Maddie Still – Senior Patient and Scientific Engagement Officer
In May, as part of the LifeArc Translational Centres for Rare Disease project, Rick and I attended a training day for early-career researchers (ECRs) where they had the opportunity to learn about the translational research pathway. ‘Translational research’ means bringing discoveries from the lab all the way through to successful treatments for patients.
As part of this training, I spoke to the ECRs about how to involve patients in their research, which is a key part of creating new treatments that are going to have real benefit for patients, as treatments are then designed to meet the true wants and needs of the patient community (as they should be!)
We were also lucky enough to be joined by Fez, who is a patient representative from the rare disease community. Fez spoke to the ECRs about his experiences and why being involved in research is important for the patient community.
Hannah Harvey – Head of Patient Group Programmes
On 23rd April, our CEO Rick and I headed to London for the ABPI Annual Conference, my first time attending, and a really worthwhile day. The themes of health, growth and renewal ran throughout, with talks covering the current life sciences climate in the UK: the challenges, but also plenty of reason for optimism.
The day closed with Lord Kim Darroch, former UK Ambassador to the United States, sharing his perspective on how geopolitics will shape global industries in the coming years, a refreshingly different note to end on.
We also got to catch up with some familiar faces from the rare disease community, which is always a nice bonus!
Kate Elliott – Senior Operations Officer
MayRo has been with the organisation from the days of Findacure through to the Beacon you all know now and has been a big part of what the team have been building in the last decade. Her work and events have impacted a lot of people, and we wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate it!
I was tasked with helping to organise a surprise celebration for the day, and of course, keeping anything secret from your Chief Operating Officer (especially this one!) was a challenge.
It took quite a few hours of strategic well timed off site ‘meetings’ to arrange…but we managed to make it in the end, with lots of lovely contributions from the rare community towards a book that I helped coordinate and presented to her on the day. There were some laughs and nearly some tears – so a job well done!
Blayne Baker – Senior Digital and Engagement Manager
I had the privilege of attending the 22nd Annual AngloNordic Life Science Conference down in London this April.
As one of over 300 delegates from leading and upcoming drug discovery and technology companies from the UK, Nordic and European regions, I got to hear insightful presentations and pitches, while meeting some brilliant minds. A highlight for me was connecting with keynote speaker, Dr. Laura Matz and Harel Kotler from Merck. Fun fact: Merck is the oldest pharmaceutical company in the world, which I never knew!
You can count on me to locate the rare disease talks in the room, so I headed in to listen to Samantha Marco from StemSight’s talk about how they’re addressing unmet medical needs in corneal blindness. She explained how her work is helping limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), which is a rare form of corneal blindness.
Madeleine Chamberlain – Digital Content Officer
Having joined Beacon in late April, I really feel like I’ve already had the opportunity to get stuck into a wide range of projects, so it’s hard to pick one stand out favourite! If I had to pick one, my highlight so far would be attending the Genomics and Mental Health Conference at Newnham College.
That’s a wrap on Q2
We’re sure you’ll agree it’s been a jam-packed few months, and we’re excited for the second half of the year and everything it will bring.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading these reflections, and we look forward to sharing more with you in Q3!
