Meet the Winners of the HIHI/EI Clinical Innovation Awards 2026
Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) is delighted to announce the winners of the HIHI Clinical Innovation Awards 2026: Emily Naylor Jones and Dr Andrew Maxwell.
The HIHI/EI Clinical Innovation Awards is a national competitive funding programme that supports healthcare professionals across Ireland to develop, evaluate, and advance clinically driven innovations with strong commercial potential. The programme is a joint government initiative delivered by Health Innovation Hub Ireland and supported by the Department of Health and Enterprise Ireland.
The awards recognise healthcare professionals who are transforming frontline clinical challenges into innovative solutions that have the potential to improve patient care while creating commercial opportunities.
Supporting Clinician-Led Innovation
Each year, HIHI invites applications from clinicians and healthcare staff with high-potential product innovations. Applications are assessed and shortlisted by HIHI, with the final award recipients selected by Enterprise Ireland based on commercial potential.
Award winners receive an Enterprise Ireland Commercial Feasibility Fund (CFF) award of €15,000 and are offered a place on the prestigious NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP), funded by the Department of Health. Together, these supports help innovators validate market opportunities, develop business cases, and accelerate the pathway from concept to impact.
Profiling the winning innovators
Emily Naylor Jones – NOVAPmedical
Emily Naylor Jones is a critical care nurse and healthcare innovator with more than 18 years of experience spanning clinical research, education, and quality improvement.
She is co-founder and Commercial Lead of NOVAPmedical, an Irish MedTech start-up developing a novel endotracheal tube designed to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), a common and costly infection affecting patients in intensive care units. The innovation aims to reduce biofilm build-up and micro-aspiration associated with mechanical ventilation, helping to improve patient safety and reduce complications during critical care.
Emily and her team previously received early-stage concept development support through Health Innovation Hub Ireland. This support helped progress the innovation and contributed to securing an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund award in partnership with Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Andrew Maxwell – Harbour Nasogastric Tube Introducer Device
Dr Andrew Maxwell is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist and co-founder and Director of Kinsale Medical Devices Ltd.
His award-winning project, the Harbour nasogastric tube introducer device, is a novel yet simple solution designed to improve the safety of nasogastric feeding tube insertion in critical care patients worldwide. The device addresses a common clinical challenge and has the potential to enhance patient safety in healthcare settings internationally.
The project team also includes Dr Gabriella Lohom, Consultant Anaesthesiologist at Cork University Hospital and Senior Lecturer at University College Cork.
Dr Maxwell has previously received early-stage concept development support from Health Innovation Hub Ireland as well as support from UCC Innovation, helping to advance the development of the technology.
Driving Healthcare Innovation in Ireland
The success of this year’s award winners highlights the strength of clinician-led innovation within Ireland’s healthcare system and demonstrates the value of targeted support programmes that help transform promising ideas into solutions with real-world impact.
Health Innovation Hub Ireland congratulates Emily Naylor Jones and Dr Andrew Maxwell on their achievements and looks forward to supporting them as they continue to develop their innovations and bring them closer to patients and healthcare systems that can benefit from them.