Developing Translational Science capabilities to support the delivery of precision medicine at the University of Leicester
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
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 Confidence in Concept scheme is a key part of MRC’s translational research strategy and provides annual awards to institutions, to be used flexibly to support the earliest stages of multiple translational research projects. The award can be used by the institution to support a number of preliminary-stage translational projects. The projects supported should aim to provide sufficient preliminary data to establish the viability of an approach –– before seeking more substantive funding. It is intended to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of an approach.
Organisations
- University of Leicester (Lead Research Organisation)
- Renfrew Group International (Collaboration)
- PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND (Collaboration)
- Tactiq (Collaboration)
- Protexin (Collaboration)
- R.E.D Laboratories (Collaboration)
- Resonance Health (Collaboration)
- Cancer Research UK (Collaboration)
- AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- LifeArc (Collaboration)
- Maddison Product Design (Collaboration)
- Roche Pharmaceuticals (Collaboration)
- European Lead Factory (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
Publications
Abdulwhhab MT
(2023)
Exhaled Pneumocystis jirovecii output and detection of asymptomatic exhalation by facemask sampling in HIV-uninfected, immunocompromised patients.
in The Journal of hospital infection
Ayton S
(2022)
Epicardial adipose tissue in obesity-related cardiac dysfunction
in Heart
Collins A
(2020)
Patient-derived explants, xenografts and organoids: 3-dimensional patient-relevant pre-clinical models in endometrial cancer
in Gynecologic Oncology
Crisci G
(2023)
Heart failure and trimethylamine N-oxide: time to transform a 'gut feeling' in a fact?
in ESC heart failure
Dayman
(2018)
Facemask sampling for the detection of microbes in expelled aerosols in patients with cystic fibrosis
in Paediatric pulmonology
Findlow J
(2020)
Broad vaccine protection against Neisseria meningitidis using factor H binding protein.
in Vaccine
Green LR
(2018)
Phase Variation of NadA in Invasive Neisseria meningitidis Isolates Impacts on Coverage Estimates for 4C-MenB, a MenB Vaccine.
in Journal of clinical microbiology
Guo Y
(2023)
Trimethylamine N-Oxide Levels Are Associated with Severe Aortic Stenosis and Predict Long-Term Adverse Outcome.
in Journal of clinical medicine
Israr M
(2022)
Association of gut-related metabolites with respiratory symptoms in COVID-19: A proof-of-concept study
in Nutrition
Israr MZ
(2022)
Surrogate markers of gut dysfunction are related to heart failure severity and outcome-from the BIOSTAT-CHF consortium.
in American heart journal
Karekla E
(2017)
Ex Vivo Explant Cultures of Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Enable Evaluation of Primary Tumor Responses to Anticancer Therapy
in Cancer Research
Kennedy M
(2018)
Face mask sampling reveals antimicrobial resistance genes in exhaled aerosols from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers.
in BMJ open respiratory research
Malki I
(2022)
Cdk1-mediated threonine phosphorylation of Sam68 modulates its RNA binding, alternative splicing activity and cellular functions.
in Nucleic acids research
Powley IR
(2020)
Patient-derived explants (PDEs) as a powerful preclinical platform for anti-cancer drug and biomarker discovery.
in British journal of cancer
Salzano A
(2022)
The Gut Axis Involvement in Heart Failure: Focus on Trimethylamine N-oxide.
in Cardiology clinics
Suzuki T
(2019)
Association with outcomes and response to treatment of trimethylamine N-oxide in heart failure: results from BIOSTAT-CHF.
in European journal of heart failure
Williams CM
(2023)
Exhaled Mycobacterium tuberculosis Predicts Incident Infection in Household Contacts.
in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Williams CM
(2020)
Exhaled Mycobacterium tuberculosis output and detection of subclinical disease by face-mask sampling: prospective observational studies.
in The Lancet. Infectious diseases
| Description | Development of Diagnostic Assays for Direct Measurement of Meningococcal Vaccine Antigen Expression in Clinical Samples |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Potential influence in meningitis vaccine choice depending on the local meningococcal strains and the coverage offered by Men B vaccine vaccines (GSK and Pfizer) |
| URL | https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uol-rfn061818.php |
| Description | Primary versus metastasis using Ion Torrent Next Generation Sequencing (PRIMINGS) - Clinical Translation |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Soon to be implemented in ISO accredited lab space as part of the service provision for local genomic laboratory hub (joint venture between UoL and UHL) |
| Description | BHF Clinical Research Training Fellowship: "Prevalence and determinants of sub-clinical cardiac dysfunction in adults with type 2 diabetes" |
| Amount | £275,156 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Heart Foundation (BHF) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Breast Cancer Now preclinical catalyst award - Explants |
| Amount | £670,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Breast Cancer Now |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2018 |
| End | 05/2021 |
| Description | Cardiac rest and stress metabolism in patients with Type 2 Diabetes |
| Amount | £136,122 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | FS/18/26/33501 |
| Organisation | British Heart Foundation (BHF) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2018 |
| End | 10/2020 |
| Description | Development grant - NEK project |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Development of Diagnostic Assays for Direct Measurement of Meningococcal Vaccine Antigen Expression in Clinical Samples |
| Amount | £790,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/S007490/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | Development of capture matrix and package for detection and diagnosis of respiratory disorders using mask |
| Amount | £22,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2018 |
| End | 07/2019 |
| Description | Evaluation of a Mask Aerosol Sampling System (MASS) as an Active Case Finding Approach Focused on Infectious TB in Low-Resource Settings. |
| Amount | £151,592 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/S002278/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | Explant collaboration with LifeArc |
| Amount | £320,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | LifeArc |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Further LifeArc funding for Explant project |
| Amount | £170,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | LifeArc |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Heart failure in type 2 diabetes: improving diagnosis and management in a multi-ethnic population. |
| Amount | £1,950,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RP-2017-08-ST2-007 |
| Organisation | National Institute of Health Research and Development (NIHRD) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Start | |
| Description | LPMI Capacity Building Call - TMAO Study |
| Amount | £30,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Leicester Precision Medicine Institute studentship |
| Amount | £75,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Department | Leicester Precision Medicine Institute |
| Sector | Hospitals |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | MRC Biomedical Catalyst: Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) - LifeMap |
| Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2019 |
| Description | Mask aerosol sampling system for the diagnosis of respiratory infections |
| Amount | £60,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Henry Smith Charity |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Prevalence and determinants of subclinical cardiovascular dysfunction in adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus |
| Amount | £275,156 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | FS/16/47/32190 |
| Organisation | British Heart Foundation (BHF) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2017 |
| End | 07/2020 |
| Description | The Integrative Midlands Partnership for Biomedical Training (IMPACT) - Explants |
| Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | iCase student funded through LifeArc - Sin3A project |
| Amount | £26,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | LifeArc |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| Description | sLoLa: basic research grant awarded to study splicing mechanisms |
| Amount | £3,700,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Title | Explant Project |
| Description | Using an ex vivo tissue explant to model patient responses to standard of care and novel drug therapies |
| Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - human |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | MCR Toxicology (Leicester) and the University of Leicester have worked in collaboration to develop the model to its current format (since 2007). The collaboration with CRT began in 2015 and encompasses access to individuals and facilities at CRT-DL (Cambridge) and work to trial a number of their novel compounds. CRT has continued the collaboration under the name of Cancer Research UK Therapeutic Discovery Laboratories and the MRCT has continued the collaboration under the name of LifeArc. The partnership with LifeArc and CR-UK Therapeutic Discovery Labs to test a range of novel anti-cancer drugs is continuing (for a total of £735,000 until 2021) and has attracted considerable attention from the pharmaceutical industry. Boehringer Ingelheim, Pierre Fabre and Ono Pharmaceuticals are interested in the PDE platform for preclinical drug testing. The pre-clinical model is now used with a wide variety of tumor types from lung to breast cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. A number of publications have used this methodology (prior to MRC funding) from this source. This project has now produced 3 publications, in addition to several poster presentations with published abstracts, alongside further collaborations with other tech transfer companies. This project has received 3 rounds of follow on CiC funding (MC_PC_14117, MC_PC_15045, MC_PC_16051) - Updated in Feb2020. |
| Description | Cardio Health MRI Scan |
| Organisation | Resonance Health |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The patient recruitment and MRI imaging has taken place at Leicester. A proof of concept study adapting Resonance Health's existing algorithm with cardiac gating and acquired images from healthy volunteers and cardiology patients has been completed - with input from both partners. In 2021 Resonance Health have provided analyses for ~250 participants at no extra charge. This has an in kind contribution worth £10000 in additional resource. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Resonance Health have developed the algorithm for cardio MRI imaging and will help with analysing the MRI scans. |
| Impact | P2D funding (2016/2017 MC_PC_15056) was awarded to the PI to visit Resonance Health in Perth Australia, and for physicists from Resonance Health to come to Leicester to optimise the MRI sequence. Healthy volunteers and patients have been scanned and analysis of images is underway. Full patient and volunteer recruitment is complete and data analysis is under way with Resonance Health. A publication in a high profile journal is expected in 2021 (delayed due to COVID increased clinical commitments). It is anticipated that the data will inform future imaging diagnostics proposals and will have positive impact on patients to help early disease management for patients susceptible to severe cardiac disease. Updated February 2021. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Development of Diagnostic Assays for Direct Measurement of Meningococcal Vaccine Antigen Expression in Clinical Samples |
| Organisation | Public Health England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | PCR based system for the identification of vaccine coverage across menigococcal strains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PHE - Access to patient derived bacterial DNA from meningitis outbreaks Roche - testing complement-blocking antibodies in meningococcal samples |
| Impact | The relationship enables the testing of vaccine coverage in meningitis outbreaks (real world evidence) enabling validation of the UoL approach and providing data for publications and for the development of data packages to share with pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer and GSK). Publications detailed elsewhere DOIs 10.1128/JCM.00204-18 and 10.1371/journal.pone.0197186 Updated February 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Development of Diagnostic Assays for Direct Measurement of Meningococcal Vaccine Antigen Expression in Clinical Samples |
| Organisation | Roche Pharmaceuticals |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | PCR based system for the identification of vaccine coverage across menigococcal strains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | PHE - Access to patient derived bacterial DNA from meningitis outbreaks Roche - testing complement-blocking antibodies in meningococcal samples |
| Impact | The relationship enables the testing of vaccine coverage in meningitis outbreaks (real world evidence) enabling validation of the UoL approach and providing data for publications and for the development of data packages to share with pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer and GSK). Publications detailed elsewhere DOIs 10.1128/JCM.00204-18 and 10.1371/journal.pone.0197186 Updated February 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Further development of a phage-based qPCR as a diagnostic tool for Lyme disease and co-infections at an industrial setting |
| Organisation | R.E.D Laboratories |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Working in R.E.D enabled me to develop future collaboration with commercial companies to tackle Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, and also to establish myself as a Principal Investigator. The exchange also enabled skills to be developed in academia and industry to tackle future technical hurdles. |
| Collaborator Contribution | R.E.D further optimised the DNA extraction method that greatly increased the productivity Licening to use the metholodology towards the development of Lyme diagnostic platform at R.E.D Labs |
| Impact | from the visit to R.E.D Laboratories the University team gained valuable expertise in the development of molecular diagnostic tests. The visit marked also the start of a long-term collaboration and Licensing agreement between R.E.D and Leicester. Linked to CiC awards MC_PC_150445 and MC_PC_17171. Data and methodologies influenced by this visit and collaboration has just been published https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.651217/abstract Reviewed March 2021 |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Immunomodulation in the Lung by specific inhibition of the Sin3A/HDAC1 complex |
| Organisation | LifeArc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Experts in the analysis of HDAC in the epigenetic regulation of disease using molecular and structural biology approaches. Experts in smooth airway biology, asthma and COPD (cellular biology and haematological responses to therapeutics). |
| Collaborator Contribution | LifeArc: Development of novel small molecule inhibitors for neglected disease of clear clinical need. Relationship with Asthma UK and interest in new therapeutics for asthma. |
| Impact | The focus of this project involved the validation of the Sin3A protein as a therapeutic target for the treatment of asthma, and as a result, to work in collaboration with LifeArc and AZ to screen small molecule libraries. To date the validation has been unable to confirm linkage of Sin3A inhibition with the modulation of disease. This work is now supported by a joint iCase studentship with LifeArc (started in April 2019). Has applied to BBSRC (Q1 2020 - £710,000) for follow-up funding using constructs generated in this project. Updated Feb 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Novel kinase target in cancer therapy |
| Organisation | AstraZeneca |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The aim of this agreement is to develop and use assays for kinase activity to screen an optimised kinase-focused compound collection provided through the AZ Open Innovation Scheme. Depending on the hit matter generated, the plan is to scale-up the established primary and secondary in vitro assays to screen additional targeted AZ compound sets and generate lead compounds, as well as establish cell lines to validate the hit compounds and undertake additional screens. |
| Collaborator Contribution | AZ provides access through their Open Innovation scheme to ~50,000 pre-selected compounds. A more restricted kinase inhibitor set (KIL-set) of ~1,000 compounds will be provided to screen for inhibitors of the kinases studied and understand potential mechanisms of action of these inhibitors in cancer cells. AZ will evaluate hits identified from these screens to determine whether they are appropriate for further investment through computational biology and/or medicinal chemistry, or for limited testing in cell line panels. |
| Impact | The project has used P2D funds (MC_PC_17194) to visit AZ to further screen AZ proprietary compounds using AZ in house high throughput systems. Project update February 2020: Industry-standard, activity-based biochemical screens have been completed. The SAR analysis of the hits has been discussed with AZ. Further collaboration with AZ for oncology drug development is postponed, awaiting for evidences for a link between NEK inhibitors and DNA damage response. Currently, a manuscript is in preparation to publish data package. The targeting of NEK8 is being de-prioritised (lack off suitable molecules and structural biology insights) the tool compounds and data produced to date will be used to write a publication for a high impact journals (within the next 6-8 months). Updated Feb 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Oncogenic splicing factors as novel therapeutic strategies for cancer. |
| Organisation | European Lead Factory |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The compounds will be validated structurally using NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments to identify the binding site of the hit compounds, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) to evaluate the stoichiometry, the affinity and the thermodynamic parameters of the interaction. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ELF will screen a library of 450,000 compounds on the splicing factor binding ability and are further evaluated using an orthogonal assay and dose response curves (DRC). A qualified hit list of up to 50 compounds will be supplied for Leicester to further exploit. In parallel, the European screening centre will undertake medicinal chemistry to provide compounds with improved characteristics (Improved Hit List, IHL) |
| Impact | ELF has provided up to 50 compounds which are now being validated at Leicester. The output from this will generate critical preliminary data for future grant applications and/or partnership with companies. ELF are no longer in operation (EU funding finished) and are therefore no longer in a position to support the project. A small number of compounds have been identified but none have significant affinity/specificity combined with desirable phsyico-chemical properties to warrant follow on funding or interest from companies. The project will return to a basic research exercise and may be revisited if suitable novel chemical matter is identified. Updated February 2020. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Probiotics |
| Organisation | Protexin |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Assess the ability of a targeted probiotic supplementation to reduce basal/induced levels of a circulating compound that is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Protexin supported biostatical analyses of their data to identify the candidate strains that lack one of the key bacterial gene. Furthermore, Protexin produced (at cost to themselves) a multi-strain mixture in an oral capsule form that is produced to GMP quality and suitable for use as dietary supplements for human investigations. |
| Impact | The recruitment of volunteers is complete and mass spectrometry data analysed - data inconclusive due to differential patient responses to Choline supplementation. Inter individual differences presents an opportunity for patient stratification in future studies. Further collaboration with Protexin initiated with a drug/probiotic monitoring project. Applied to BHF for a heart failure patient study (value £200,000) - awaiting for outcome. Updated February 2020 |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Towards commercialising LifeMap as a novel clinical tool for assessing risk of sudden cardiac death |
| Organisation | Maddison Product Design |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Experience in developing novel non-invasive methodologies for the detection of abnormal heart ECG patterns Experience in development of machine learning approaches for automated detecting of abnormal ECGs Assess to patients and data from clincal trails |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mortara - Provision of ECG hardware and software development Renfrew - delivery of ergonomically designed integrated system for the clinical use of LifeMap |
| Impact | 8 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant confirmed for funding, details of award awaited. 15 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant received funding (FEC £1M). DPFS grant with Mortara and Renfrew Group as commercial partners. Updated February 2020 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Towards commercialising LifeMap as a novel clinical tool for assessing risk of sudden cardiac death |
| Organisation | Renfrew Group International |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Experience in developing novel non-invasive methodologies for the detection of abnormal heart ECG patterns Experience in development of machine learning approaches for automated detecting of abnormal ECGs Assess to patients and data from clincal trails |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mortara - Provision of ECG hardware and software development Renfrew - delivery of ergonomically designed integrated system for the clinical use of LifeMap |
| Impact | 8 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant confirmed for funding, details of award awaited. 15 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant received funding (FEC £1M). DPFS grant with Mortara and Renfrew Group as commercial partners. Updated February 2020 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Towards commercialising LifeMap as a novel clinical tool for assessing risk of sudden cardiac death |
| Organisation | Tactiq |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Experience in developing novel non-invasive methodologies for the detection of abnormal heart ECG patterns Experience in development of machine learning approaches for automated detecting of abnormal ECGs Assess to patients and data from clincal trails |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mortara - Provision of ECG hardware and software development Renfrew - delivery of ergonomically designed integrated system for the clinical use of LifeMap |
| Impact | 8 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant confirmed for funding, details of award awaited. 15 Jul 2019 - MRC DPFS grant received funding (FEC £1M). DPFS grant with Mortara and Renfrew Group as commercial partners. Updated February 2020 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Validation of the efficacy of novel anticancer compounds in primary tumour tissue explants |
| Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
| Department | CRUK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Development of a clinically relevant patient-derived tumour tissues primary 3D culture system (Patient-Derived Explant (PDE) technology) to evaluate novel anti-cancer drugs, to assess patient responses to current standard of care treatments. Follow on data show that the model has a strong predictive power in prediction patient responses to therapy and survival. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MCR Toxicology (Leicester) and the University of Leicester have worked in collaboration to develop the model to its current format (since 2007). The collaboration with CRT began in 2015 (with CiC funding from previous award) and encompasses access to individuals and facilities at CRT-DL (Cambridge) and work to trial a number of their novel compounds. CRT will continue the collaboration under the name of Cancer Research UK Therapeutic Discovery Laboratories and the MRCT will continue the collaboration under the name of LifeArc. |
| Impact | The pre-clinical model is now used with a wide variety of tumor types from lung to breast cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. A number of publications have used this methodology (prior to MRC funding) from this source. This project has now produced 3 publications, in addition to several poster presentations with published abstracts, alongside further collaborations with other tech transfer companies. The partnership with LifeArc and CR-UK Discovery Labs to test a range of novel anti-cancer drugs is continuing (for a total of £735,000 until 2021) and has attracted considerable attention from the pharmaceutical industry. Boehringer Ingelheim, Pierre Fabre and Ono Pharmaceuticals are interested in the PDE platform for preclinical drug testing. This project has received 3 rounds of follow on CiC funding, generating >19-fold return on MRC CiC investment to date (Total £1.7M). Update Feb2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Validation of the efficacy of novel anticancer compounds in primary tumour tissue explants |
| Organisation | LifeArc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Development of a clinically relevant patient-derived tumour tissues primary 3D culture system (Patient-Derived Explant (PDE) technology) to evaluate novel anti-cancer drugs, to assess patient responses to current standard of care treatments. Follow on data show that the model has a strong predictive power in prediction patient responses to therapy and survival. |
| Collaborator Contribution | MCR Toxicology (Leicester) and the University of Leicester have worked in collaboration to develop the model to its current format (since 2007). The collaboration with CRT began in 2015 (with CiC funding from previous award) and encompasses access to individuals and facilities at CRT-DL (Cambridge) and work to trial a number of their novel compounds. CRT will continue the collaboration under the name of Cancer Research UK Therapeutic Discovery Laboratories and the MRCT will continue the collaboration under the name of LifeArc. |
| Impact | The pre-clinical model is now used with a wide variety of tumor types from lung to breast cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. A number of publications have used this methodology (prior to MRC funding) from this source. This project has now produced 3 publications, in addition to several poster presentations with published abstracts, alongside further collaborations with other tech transfer companies. The partnership with LifeArc and CR-UK Discovery Labs to test a range of novel anti-cancer drugs is continuing (for a total of £735,000 until 2021) and has attracted considerable attention from the pharmaceutical industry. Boehringer Ingelheim, Pierre Fabre and Ono Pharmaceuticals are interested in the PDE platform for preclinical drug testing. This project has received 3 rounds of follow on CiC funding, generating >19-fold return on MRC CiC investment to date (Total £1.7M). Update Feb2020. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | ECG EVALUATION |
| Description | A method for assessing the electrical function of a heart, a method for determining a subject's need for the implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator or the need for administration of an anti-arrhythmic agent, and apparatus for assessing the function of the heart and a computer program product. The methods and products involve analysis of ECG. |
| IP Reference | WO2015150831 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2015 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | As described in the Collaborations and Partnerships section. To be granted in Australia and USA, in national phase in 5 countries. |
| Description | Exhibition at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2017 |
| 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 | Leicester Drug Discovery team exhibited at the ELRIG DD 2017 conference in Liverpool and engaged with leaders and companies in the pharma industry to find new collaborations for ongoing projects. A new collaboration was established with UCB, which will introduce CRO-type work on haematology models. Requests were made to establish a collaboration on IgA nephropathy to test mAb products. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Girlguiding |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Multiple events within Girlguiding Leicestershire - 1) age appropriate hands on activities performed with girls from 4-17 to make science fun and engaging - with the purpose of promoting Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities to young women (small groups - individual meetings and also to division/county events including camps and activity days) 2) training sessions for leaders in Girlguiding to enable/encourage them to undertake STEM activities within thier units 3) to promote Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) 4) provide positive female role models |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017,2018 |
| Description | Interreg grant - Engagement with SME companies in the region |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | As part of the Interreg grant that was awarded to the University of Leicester, engagement with SME companies in the region is ongoing to improve and grow their chances to develop diagnostic tests and healthcare products. Facilitated the contact between SMEs and key opinion leaders within healthcare and politics to get the right clinical input, such as facilitate access to the relevant clinical samples or clinical trials to develop their products further. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
| Description | Patient Group Talks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Talks about advances in drug discovery research at the University (special emphasis on lung/thoracic and haematological diseases). Typically 'after dinner style' talks with Q&A sessions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017,2018 |
| Description | Poster presentation at BARC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gareth Miles presented a poster at the British Association for Cancer Research titled ": Using an ex vivo platform of tumour explants to predict clinical response to novel anticancer drugs ". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Poster presentation at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gareth Miles presented a poster titled "Using an ex vivo platform of tumour explants to predict clinical response to novel anticancer drugs" at the ELRIG Drug Discovery Conference in Liverpool. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Workshop NC3R |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Gareth Miles attended the NC3R workshop and presented a poster there, entitled "Using an ex vivo platform of tumour explants to predict clinical response to novel anticancer drugs" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |