Oxford Proximity to Discovery Scheme – Round 2
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
The MRC Proximity to Discovery scheme awards universities funds to help develop new collaborations, and ways of exchanging knowledge and skills. The awards can be used to support activities that promote the value of academic-industry partnership, and enhance academic and industry researchers’ understanding of each other’s needs and capabilities. This may be through people exchanges, creation of technology demonstrators, showcase events, commercialisation workshops and ‘entrepreneurs in residence’ schemes. Such exchanges of knowledge and skills will boost the most fruitful collaborations between UK universities and life science companies.
People |
ORCID iD |
Publications
Colin-York H
(2019)
Cytoskeletal actin patterns shape mast cell activation.
in Communications biology
Colin-York H
(2019)
Cytoskeletal Control of Antigen-Dependent T Cell Activation.
in Cell reports
Majmudar JD
(2019)
4'-Phosphopantetheine and long acyl chain-dependent interactions are integral to human mitochondrial acyl carrier protein function.
in MedChemComm
Sezgin E
(2019)
Measuring nanoscale diffusion dynamics in cellular membranes with super-resolution STED-FCS.
in Nature protocols
Young BC
(2017)
Severe infections emerge from commensal bacteria by adaptive evolution.
in eLife
| Description | Industry sponsored Post-doctoral Fellowships for Network |
| Amount | $1,500,000 (USD) |
| Funding ID | The precise final monetary value is being calculated |
| Organisation | Janssen Research & Development |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| Description | Collaboration with Merck |
| Organisation | Merck |
| Department | Merck UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Visiting and discussing scientific collaboration with Merck and formation of Strategic Partnership between Merck and Oxford. We aim to establish deep collaborative working. Follow up teleconferences are in progress and there is huge optimism that this will work. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Frequent discussions with Merck about strategic partnership |
| Impact | This has just begun |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with Novartis Basel |
| Organisation | Astex Pharmaceuticals |
| Department | Astex Therapeutics Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Both of these collaborations are around exchange of expertise in cryo-electron miscroscopy for access to Titan Krios time for collection of our own samples. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Both companies provided time on their own Titan Krios |
| Impact | Cryo electron miscroscopy data collected - analysis of data is ongoing |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with Novartis Basel |
| Organisation | Novartis |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Both of these collaborations are around exchange of expertise in cryo-electron miscroscopy for access to Titan Krios time for collection of our own samples. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Both companies provided time on their own Titan Krios |
| Impact | Cryo electron miscroscopy data collected - analysis of data is ongoing |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Antimicrobial Resistance: Diagnostic Solutions workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative (DEC) Oxford (Department of Primary Care), with the support of DEC Leeds and the Knowledge Transfer Network, hosted a clinician/industry workshop on diagnostic solutions for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at St Hugh's College Oxford. Clinicians outlined the clinical need for AMR-relevant diagnostic tests, limitations of available tests and barriers to implementation. Representatives from the diagnostics industry presented new approaches and technologies which are currently in the development pipeline. Oral presentations were followed by rotating workshops covering respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, and sepsis. The meeting concluded with a networking dinner in college. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.oxford.dec.nihr.ac.uk/reports-and-resources/amr-workshop-2017 |
| Description | Diagnostic Evidence Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Diagnostic Evidence Workshop is a two-day training course organised by the Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Oxford which covers diagnostic test development, evaluation and regulation. The workshop is aimed at diagnostics professionals working in industry, academia, research funding and regulatory affairs. The P2D award provided a number of fully funded places on the course to representatives from small and medium sized enterprises who would otherwise have been unable to attend. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Engagement with the EIT Health Community - 2020 Business Plan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The National Institute of Health Research Community Healthcare MIC, based in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care is at the forefront of the evaluation of diagnostics for use in community settings (https://www.community.healthcare.mic.nihr.ac.uk/). The MIC requested access to the MRC Proximity to Discovery fund to support the attendance of the MIC Manager and Senior Researcher (Dr Philip Turner) at EIT Health Indeation events which were held during the autumn (2018) and were aimed at the development of project ideas and consortia for applications to EIT Health for inclusion in the 2020 business plan. These events brought together academic and non-academic (healthcare industry and providers of healthcare) EIT Health partners who discussed the EIT Health 2020 key challenges, with the aim of developing collaborative project applications to address these. The MIC is currently developing an Oxford-led project application with EIT Health partners from across the EU and Norway which we intend to submit for consideration for the EIT Health 2020 business plan in March 2019. The project will look to address the EIT Health challenge 'Bringing Care Home' and will look to develop novel care pathways for the provision of hospital standard care to frail elderly patients in the community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Health Technology for Tomorrow seminar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Oxford is currently hosting a new series of seminars to showcase and discuss exciting healthcare technology innovations in three key areas, namely wearables, imaging, and digital health-related technologies. The seminars are providing a platform for visitors from the health technology industry to present their ideas and products to a multidisciplinary group of healthcare researchers and members of the wider University community. The aim of the seminars is to elicit discussions to define priority areas of clinical need and greatest impact for emerging technologies and to foster relationships between academia and industry. These meetings take the format of technology presentations by industry followed by discussions amongst a panel of technology-appropriate specialists before wider discussions with all participants. Seminars either conclude with a networking lunch, or are preceded by networking refreshments. To date the seminars have covered a wearable patient monitoring device (Isansys) and a digital aid to support antimicrobial prescription in primary care (accuRx). Both seminars stimulated robust discussions and led to follow-up conversations between the visitors from industry and members of academic staff at the University. The DEC has agreed to work with accuRx to evaluate the efficacy of their digital aid for antimicrobial prescription in primary care. Future Health Technology seminars are planned, with the next taking place at the Society for Academic Primary Care (Southwest region) conference in Oxford on the 23rd of March. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| URL | https://www.oxford.dec.nihr.ac.uk/courses-and-events/htt-seminar-3 |
| Description | NIHR Community Healthcare MedTech and IVD Co-operative Diagnostic Evidence Workshops 2018 - Provision of bursaries for SME attendance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The NIHR Community Healthcare MedTech and IVD Co-operative (MIC), based in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, delivers a series of diagnostic evidence educational workshops annually. The workshops are aimed at all professionals working on diagnostic tests including people working in industry, academia, funding and regulation. The course series consists of three consecutive day-long courses entitled Introduction to evaluation of diagnostics, Cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic tests for development and adoption, and Statistical methods for diagnostic accuracy in medical research. The series is formulated so that students can select the individual day or combination of most relevance to them. During the introductory course, our expert staff provided an overview of how to collect evidence to support applications for regulatory approval and adoption of diagnostics in routine clinical practice. We covered different study designs, basic statistics and health economics for evaluation of diagnostics and provided guidance on where to look for funding opportunities. Subsequent days were more advanced offerings which focussed on two core disciplines in the evaluation of diagnostic tests, health economics and statistical methodology, and were pitched at students who had a basic grounding in these areas. All three days combined talks with hands-on activities and problem solving activities. The money provided through the P2D scheme funded 16 free places for attendance on the courses, which were awarded through open competition to applicants from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are typically resource limited, so the bursaries facilitated attendance by groups who may not otherwise have had the resources to attend; SMEs are also less likely to have access to in-house resources in specialist evaluation disciplines which are commonly available to larger organisations, hence the potential for impact is relatively larger. In addition to the delivery of educational content to the SMEs present, the courses presented an excellent opportunity for course staff to hold discussions with SMEs on the fringes, and these conversations have resulted in continuing dialogues where we are hopeful of future opportunities for collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.community.healthcare.mic.nihr.ac.uk/news/bursaries-for-diagnostics-smes |
| Description | NIHR Community Healthcare MedTech and IVD Co-operative Diagnostic Evidence Workshops 2019 - Provision of bursaries for SME attendance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The NIHR Community Healthcare MedTech and IVD Co-operative (MIC), based in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, delivers a series of diagnostic evidence educational workshops annually. The workshops are aimed at all professionals working on diagnostic tests including people working in industry, academia, funding and regulation. The course series consists of three consecutive day-long courses entitled Introduction to evaluation of diagnostics, Cost-effectiveness analysis of diagnostic tests for development and adoption, and Statistical methods for diagnostic accuracy in medical research. The series is formulated so that students can select the individual day or combination of most relevance to them. During the introductory course, our expert staff provided an overview of how to collect evidence to support applications for regulatory approval and adoption of diagnostics in routine clinical practice. We covered different study designs, basic statistics and health economics for evaluation of diagnostics and provided guidance on where to look for funding opportunities. Subsequent days were more advanced offerings which focussed on two core disciplines in the evaluation of diagnostic tests, health economics and statistical methodology, and were pitched at students who had a basic grounding in these areas. All three days combined talks with hands-on activities and problem solving activities. The money provided through the P2D scheme funded 16 free places for attendance on the courses, which were awarded through open competition to applicants from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are typically resource limited, so the bursaries facilitated attendance by groups who may not otherwise have had the resources to attend; SMEs are also less likely to have access to in-house resources in specialist evaluation disciplines which are commonly available to larger organisations, hence the potential for impact is relatively larger. In addition to the delivery of educational content to the SMEs present, as in previous years the courses presented an excellent opportunity for course staff to hold discussions with SMEs on the fringes, and these conversations have resulted in continuing dialogues where we are hopeful of future opportunities for collaboration between industry and our group in the University. Additionally, the MIC has a close association with the Longitude Prize (https://longitudeprize.org/) through the MIC Clinical Director (Professor Chris Butler), who is chair of the Longitude Prize Committee. Applicant diagnostic developers for the Longitude Prize were made aware of the MIC workshops and available bursaries, some of which were awarded to these organisations, with further funds for travel and subsistence provided by Longitude to support attendance on the course in Oxford. This facilitated the attendance of participants from as far afield as India and Australia. The diagnostic evaluation capacity building nature of the course has increased in potential impact value in recent years with the implementation of the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (2017/746/EU) for the certification of diagnostic tests. The new regulation incorporates far more extensive requirements for evidence generation and appraisal than were required by the previous In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive (98/79/EC) (IVDD), with the onus on companies to provide this evidence for scrutiny. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.community.healthcare.mic.nihr.ac.uk/news/bookings-are-now-open-for-2019s-workshops-on-di... |