Meet Our Founder & CEO: Dr Natalie Kenny
Leading the Future of Science, Medicine, and Innovation
Dr Natalie Kenny is the founder and CEO of BioGrad, a company transforming the landscape of science and healthcare across the UK. Since founding BioGrad ten years ago, Dr Kenny has led its expansion, creating jobs and providing opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds to thrive in the fields of scientific research, healthcare, and education.
With a deep passion for science and a commitment to inclusivity, Dr Kenny has built a dynamic organisation that is advancing medicine, clinical research, biobanking, and laboratory services. BioGrad is not only a leader in science and education but also a company committed to creating opportunities for people through providing Skills Bootcamps that help with employment in the science sector.
A Decade of Growth and Innovation
In just ten years, BioGrad has gone from strength to strength in science, healthcare, and education. Originally founded as a provider of practical skills training for Master’s and PhD students with little to no lab experience, Dr Kenny identified a gap between theoretical knowledge and hands-on expertise. She was determined to ensure that students entered the workforce with the skills they needed to excel.
Since then, the company has expanded across multiple sectors and now operates under two divisions: BioGrad Education and BioGrad Limited.
BioGrad Education began by offering clinical and laboratory skills courses. Today, it provides a wide range of programmes, including courses for 16–19-year-olds, Practical Endorsements, and continuing support for postgraduate students, such as Master’s and PhD candidates. The Education branch caters to learners from various backgrounds and levels of experience.
BioGrad Limited has also grown to encompass BioGrad Biobank, BioGrad Prenatal, and BioGrad Diagnostics. BioGrad Diagnostics became a mass screening centre, offering COVID-19 PCR testing before the UK government introduced mass testing to the public. In 2024, BioGrad also launched its first clinical trial, further establishing BioGrad Diagnostics as a key player in both national and international healthcare development.
All of these divisions, based in the Liverpool City Region, provide exemplary services in regenerative medicine, clinical research, and biobanking, while also helping to train the next generation of scientists and clinicians.
Creating Jobs and Opportunities for All
One of Dr Kenny’s proudest achievements is BioGrad’s commitment to creating jobs and career opportunities for people from all backgrounds. BioGrad is not only a leader in science but also a champion of inclusivity, ensuring that individuals from underrepresented groups can access roles in science, medicine, and research. By providing hands-on laboratory training, clinical experience, and research opportunities, BioGrad is empowering people to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Through Dr Kenny’s leadership, BioGrad has become not only a thriving organisation but also a catalyst for social change, using the power of science to create opportunities, and drive economic growth across the UK, especially in the Liverpool city region. Namely via the Skills Bootcamps courses, which upskills science graduates and helps them into employment.
An Award-Winning Leader
Dr Kenny’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. She is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, recognised for her contributions to both science and business. In 2021, she was named EVA’s Businesswoman of the Year, received the The Business Desk Top 50 City Region Leader for Liverpool, and won The Business Desk’s North West Investment Award.
Her successes continued in 2022, when she was awarded the Liverpool Women in Business Woman of the Year Award, and was nominated for prestigious honours at the Northern Power Women Awards and the Northern Leadership Awards.
A Career in Global Scientific Research
Dr Kenny’s expertise is rooted in her extensive background in scientific research. She has worked with Pfizer in pharmaceutical research and contributed to projects with St George’s School of Medicine in the Amazon Jungle, Johns Hopkins Medical School in Peru, and the University of Extremadura in Spain. Her doctorate from Cranfield University is in Translational Medicine, specialising in New Therapeutics for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Childhood Leukaemia.
With experience spanning neurological research in Cambridge and allergy and respiratory disease research in Kent, Dr Kenny’s scientific expertise equips her with the knowledge and leadership skills to drive BioGrad’s continued growth and impact.
A Look into the Future
Dr Kenny constantly has a gaze on the future, and after running a successful company for a decade, this comes as no surprise. In the future Dr Kenny wishes to invest in female start-ups and leave behind a legacy that supports women in STEM.
