Prof. Kev Dhaliwal

Professor Kev Dhaliwal is a British-Punjabi physician-scientist and academic entrepreneur who holds the Chair of Molecular Imaging and Healthcare Technology at the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Regeneration and Repair. A Consultant in Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, he has spent over a decade developing cutting-edge optical and imaging technologies to improve lung cancer outcomes.

Kev is Co-Founder and Chief Science and Medical Officer of Prothea Technologies, an Edinburgh and Bath university spinout he co-founded in 2024. Prothea is developing a suite of medical devices — including a fibreoptic microendoscope with an integrated image processing system — designed to enable lung cancer biopsy, diagnosis, and treatment in a single hospital visit. The technology uses molecular-level imaging and a laser ablation catheter to reduce the time-to-treat from weeks to minutes.

Prothea launched with a €12 million Series A co-led by Earlybird Venture Capital and Mérieux Equity Partners, backed by NRW.BANK and Old College Capital. In 2025 the company enrolled its first patient in the Precision Lung clinical trial at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, a landmark milestone supported by over a decade of research across five UK universities.