EPSRC and MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine

This proposal bids for £4.5M to both evolve and renew the Loughborough, Nottingham and Keele EPSRC CDT in Regenerative Medicine. The proposal falls within the 'Healthcare Technologies' theme and 'Regenerative
Medicine' priority of the EPSRC call. This unique CDT is fully integrated across three leading UK Universities with complementary research profiles and a long track record of successful collaboration delivering fundamental and translational research. Cohorts of students will be trained in the core scientific, transferable, and translational skills needed to work in this emerging healthcare industry. Students will be engaged in strategic and high quality research programmes designed to address the major clinical and industrial challenges in the field. The CDT will deliver the necessary people and enabling technologies for the UK to continue to lead in this emerging worldwide industry.The multidisciplinary nature of Regenerative Medicine is fully captured in our proposal combining engineering, biology and healthcare thereby spanning the remits of the BBSRC and MRC, in addition to meeting EPSRC's priority area.

Undertaking and ensuring impact activities is integral to the vision and operational processes of the academic groups. We are fortunate that the research portfolios at each of the three universities are user-driven, and in many cases industry led - the focus is on a balance between academic excellence and early industrial relevance. The existing EPSRC Loughborough led CDT in Regenerative Medicine already has an established strategy, mechanism and expert staff for the exploitation of research. The effectiveness of these exploitation strategies is illustrated by the growing number of products and spin-out companies associated with the academic partners. It is our belief and intention that all team members participate in assisting impact. The teams involved in the CDT have wide experience of managing large and high profile projects and in undertaking impact activities and knowledge transfer at all levels and stakeholder targets.

The CDT programme proposed here has four fundamental deliverables, each of which has highly significant impact across a range of beneficiaries:

- To deliver a world-class doctoral training programme centred on the needs of each individual student, integrated with both their individual research aspirations and the requirements of the emerging regenerative medicine sector as a whole.

- To deliver a programme of fundamental cross-disciplinary research in regenerative medicine that addresses technological challenges in the translation of promising science to practical therapeutics. Here the impact is geared toward the realisation of regenerative medicine as a viable and wealth-creating industry, the provision of new therapies for use by clinicians, and the promise for patients of new treatments for currently unmet and prevalent chronic conditions.

- To produce in excess of 65 engineers and scientists over the lifetime of the CDT with the fundamental, multidisciplinary, and translational skills to become leaders in the emerging industry of regenerative medicine.

- To identify and nurture the future research leaders in regenerative medicine capable of ensuring the delivery of the potential of RM be this in industry, the public sector, or in academia.

The Management Steering Group will regularly review impact made, and the efforts by all associated with the CDT to achieve impact. All students projects will have a potential impact analysis and action plan for its execution, and students will receive training as needed to ensure they have the relevant skills.