Category: Funding

SCI selected to receive donations from MaxMind

SCI has been selected to receive donations this year from MaxMind, an industry-leading provider of IP intelligence and online fraud detection tools, based in Waltham, Massachusetts. SCI was selected on the strength of the Givewell recommendation (www.givewell.org ).

The donations will be used to expand SCI’s coverage of treatments for school aged children against schistosomiasis and intestinal worms in rural areas of Africa. By supporting these treatments, MaxMind will be bringing improved health and education to millions of vulnerable children.

alanfenwick-profilepic

Professor Alan Fenwick OBE
Professor of Tropical Parasitology
School of Public Health
Faculty of Medicine

 

 

Partnership for Child Development November 2014 Update

PCD Receives Grant for Global Health & Development

PCD  has been recently awarded by Grand Challenges Explorations an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a project focused on improving market information among stakeholders of Kenya’s school feeding programme. The programme is a government-led intervention which procures food used in school meals locally from smallholder farmers and has been described as a ‘win-win’ for both children and farmers alike; with well-fed children more likely to attend and stay in school and farmers more secured of a livelihood. Specifically, the project will develop a software platform using everyday items such as mobile phones, to improve the tendering process between the programme’s stakeholders, namely, the schools (buyers), traders (buyers and sellers) and farmer groups (sellers).

Click here to read more

School-Based Deworming: A Clear Role for the European Commission

School-based-deworming-image-of-policy-paper-edit Periodic drug treatment for children in schools – known as school-based deworming – represents a highly strategic approach to tackling soil-transmitted helminths (STH) and schistosomiasis. Integrated programmes that deliver deworming, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health education and other key interventions lead to even greater long-term impact.

A new paper called ‘School-Based Deworming’ (PDF download 2.8mb), from Imperial College London’s Partnership for Child Development argues that the European Commission (EC) is on the margins of the growing global movement against NTDs and with its financial resources, technical capacity and global network, the EC can and should be at the forefront of efforts to tackle the diseases, in particular schistosomiasis and STH. In order to rise to this task, the EC requires a clear policy direction, and must ensure that the control and elimination of schistosomiasis and STH are integrated into its education, nutrition and WASH strategies and programmes.

Click here to read more

Charlotte Broyd
Communications Officer
Partnership for Child Development
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

ISSF Networks of Excellence Scheme Awards Funding to 12 projects

The Faculty is delighted to report the outcome of the third annual Networks of Excellence competition to foster collaborative biomedical research endeavours across the Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Natural Sciences and the Business School. The scheme is supported by the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) and comprises matched funding from the College; a total fund in excess of £900K was made available to support novel, interdisciplinary biomedical research.  The Networks of Excellence scheme provided funding to support: pilot or feasibility work for high risk projects,collaborative cohesion, testing or development of new methods,or proof of concept studies. Funding was available for all research within the Wellcome Trust remit; proposals addressing interdisciplinary research in infectious diseases, medical imaging, and diabetes/metabolic medicine were particularly encouraged.

Applications were assessed by the Cross-College ISSF working group, chaired by Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson, and shortlisted applications considered for funding by the Vice Provost (Research) with the Cross-College Research Proposal Review Group. The Chair was delighted with the high quality of the 46 interdisciplinary applications received.  Examples of the breadth of funded proposals include: ‘Visualising bacterial infection in adult zebrafish with novel infrared protein fluorophores’ (Ulijasz), ‘Reducing health impacts from excess sodium intake in coastal SE Asia using novel water treatment technologies’ (Butler), ‘Targeted nanoparticles for preclinical diagnostic imaging of Parkinson’s disease’ (Dunlop), ‘Using Functionalised Nanorods in Theranostics’ (Wilton-Ely).

The investigators who will receive awards of up to £100,000 are:

Dr Adrian Butler (PI), Professor Paolo Vineis, Dr Simon Buckle, Professor Matin Ahmed, & Dr Dewan Alam (Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, School of Public Health, Grantham Institute for Climate Change, University of Dhaka, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research)

Dr James Choi (PI), Professor Justin Stebbing, Dr Adrian Lim, & Dr Mengxing Tang (Departments of Bioengineering, Surgery & Cancer, and Medicine)

Professor Justin Cobb (PI), Dr Victoria Manning, Dr Patrick Naylor, Mr Toni Castells-Delgado, Dr Edouard Auvinet, Ms Michela Zanotto (Departments of Surgery & Cancer and Electrical & Electronic Engineering and School of Professional Development)

Dr Iain Dunlop (PI), Professor David Dexter, Dr Alexandra Porter & Dr Roberto Fiammengo (Departments of Materials and Medicine plus Italian Institute of Technology)

Dr Ben Glocker (PI), Professor Daniel Rueckert, Professor Andrew Davison, Mr Philip Noonan, Professor Roger Gunn, & Professor Nicholas Peters (Department of Computing, Imanova Imaging Centre, and National Heart & Lung Institute)

Professor Nicholas Peters (PI), Professor Kim Christensen, Dr Daniel Rueckert, Professor Spencer Sherwin, Dr Prapa Kanagaratnam, Dr Phang Boon Lim, & Dr Fu Siong Ng (National Heart & Lung Institute, Departments of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Computing, and Aeronautics)

Professor Robin Shattock (PI), Dr Cleo Kontoravdi , Dr Karen Polizzi, Dr Stuart Haslam, Dr Paul McKay, & Dr Eric Arts (Departments of Medicine, Chemical Engineering, and Life Science plus Case Western Reserve University)

Dr Paul Strutton (PI), Professor Alison McGregor, Professor David Sharp, Professor Andrea Rockall, Dr Ben Glocker, & Dr Rex Newbould (Departments of Surgery & Cancer, Medicine, and Computing)

Dr Andrew Ulijasz (PI), Professor Paul French, Professor Maggie Dallman, & Dr James McGinty (Departments of Medicine, Physics, and Life Sciences)

Dr Chris Wadsworth (PI) & Professor Richard Syms (Department of Medicine and Electrical & Electronic Engineering)

Dr James Wilton-Ely (PI), Professor Tony Cass, & Dr Dan Elson (Departments of Chemistry and Surgery & Cancer)

Dr Fang Xie (PI), Professor Eric Aboagye, Professor Mary Ryan, & Dr Alexandra Porter (Departments of Materials and Surgery & Cancer)

Dr Kimberley Trim
Research Strategy Officer
Faculty of Medicine

Longitude Prize 2014 launched

The BBC launched the Longitude Prize 2014 on Monday 19 May, announcing the six challenge themes:

  • Flight – low carbon
  • Food security – nutritious, sustainable
  • Antibiotics resistance
  • Paralysis – assistive tech/neuro advances etc
  • Water – clean, safe access etc
  • Dementia – assistive tech etc

£10M is available over 5 years to demonstrate proof of concept and ability to scale. All of the 6 challenge themes map to Imperial activities and expertise! 

Tony Hall, Lord Rees Brian Cox, Kevin Fong and Attenborough were all there to launch the Prize. Lord Rees Chairs the committee which has short-listed the six themes.

The Longitude Prize 2014 has been set up by the BBC, Nesta and the TSB, to mark 300 years since the (original) Longitude Prize.

Find out more about the challenges: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27425224

Details were broadcast on the One Show and on a special Horizon episode (celebrating 50 years of Horizon), after which, voting opened. The nation gets to vote on the six challenge areas, with only the most popular being tackled. The chosen theme will be announced 25 June.

Dr Claire Thorne
Executive Coordinator to Professor David Gann CBE, Vice President (Development and Innovation)

Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund Networks of Excellence – deadline 12-noon, 9 May 2014

We are seeking to support novel biomedical research collaborations across disciplines and departments. Proposals for pilot or feasibility work for high risk projects, to support collaborative cohesion, test or develop new methods, or proof of concept studies are encouraged, rather than standard projects.  It is envisaged that the outcomes of supported work will form the basis of a major grant application. Whilst funding is available to support any research within the remit of the Wellcome Trust, networks undertaking interdisciplinary research in the themes of infectious disease, medical imaging and diabetes/metabolic medicine are particularly welcome.

How to apply?

If you wish to submit a proposal you should complete the project application form and submit it to ISSF@imperial.ac.uk by the 12noon, 9th May 2014. As we wish to fund a range of applications, a researcher cannot be principal investigator on more than one application, though this will not preclude applicants from being co-applicants on additional proposals. For further information please email ISSF@imperial.ac.uk or see the Networks of Excellence guidelines available at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchstrategy/funding/wtissf

Dr Kimberley Trim
Research Strategy Officer
Faculty of Medicine

Imperial Confidence in Concept Showcase Event – 17th Feb 2014

The second call of the Imperial Confidence in Concept (ICiC) was launched in January 2014. Building on the success of the 2013 ICiC scheme and NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) / Imperial Innovations Therapeutic Primer Fund, the College has received further funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC), as well as additional support from NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research, to continue this scheme. The ICiC scheme provides pilot funding to bridge the potential gap between discovery research and well-developed applications for MRC Biomedical Catalyst: Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme support.

Confidence in Concept event 17.02.2014   051

The annual ICiC event was held on Monday 17th February in The Great Hall on South Kensington Campus. This year’s event was focussed on devices and diagnostics and was a great success, attended by approximately 100 academics across the College. Attendees included recipients of awards from last year’s scheme and early career researchers who showcased their ICiC-funded work.

This cross-College event had a wide range of speakers including representatives from the Faculties of Engineering (Prof Andrew Amis), Medicine (Prof George Hanna), and Natural Sciences (Profs Tony Cass and Paul French) as well as our collaborators at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research (Prof Stan Kaye, Drs Nicola Valeri and Gert Attard).

The talks were engaging, informative and stimulating and special thanks goes to our external speakers Dr Helen Lee (University of Cambridge) and Dr Ray Bacon (CEO, TRIG1) for sharing their experiences of device and diagnostic development for commercial use with their talks entitled ‘Challenges in developing diagnostics for resource-limited settings’ (Lee) and ‘Commercial…is not a dirty word’ (Bacon).

The deadline for applications was 5th March with shortlisting due to take place at the end of March and final funding decisions to be made in May.

Dr Kimberley Trim
Research Strategy Officer
Faculty of Medicine

Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund Networks of Excellence

We are seeking to support novel, interdisciplinary biomedical research collaborations in the themes of infectious disease, medical imaging and diabetes/metabolic medicine. This is a cross-College scheme that welcomes any proposal to offer greater collaboration across disciplines and across departments. Proposals for pilot or feasibility work for high risk projects, to support collaborative cohesion, test or develop new methods, or proof of concept studies are encouraged, rather than standard projects. It is envisaged that the outcomes of supported work will form the basis of a major grant application. Whilst funding is available to support any research within the remit of the Wellcome Trust, networks undertaking interdisciplinary research inin the themes of infectious disease, medical imaging and diabetes/metabolic medicine are particularly welcome. It is envisaged that the outcomes of this work will form the basis of a major grant application. This scheme will be launched the week beginning 17th March 2014 with a deadline of 9th May 2014.

How to apply?

If you wish to submit a proposal you should complete the project application form and submit it to ISSF@imperial.ac.uk by the deadline9th May 2014. As we wish to fund a range of applications, a researcher cannot be principal investigator on more than one application, though this will not preclude applicants from being co-applicants on additional proposals. For further information please email ISSF@imperial.ac.uk or see the Networks of Excellence guidelines available at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/researchstrategy/funding/wtissf 

Dr Kimberley Trim
Research Strategy Officer
Faculty of Medicine

ISSF Global Health Clinical Training Fellowships & Imperial Confidence in Concept scheme

ISSF Global Health Clinical Training Fellowships

We are seeking to support outstanding early-career clinical professionals wishing to undertake research, at least in part overseas, to improve the health of people and reduce health inequalities in developed and developing countries. Cross-disciplinary applications are encouraged.

These training fellowships are intended to provide opportunities for the most promising clinical academics, at the very beginning of their careers, to develop bids for independent fellowship funding. The primary aim of the fellowships is to remove obstacles to achieving peer-reviewed external grant or fellowship funding, through supporting feasibility or exploratory studies, facilitating networks and providing mentoring support from a senior Imperial academics. We anticipate that each fellow will be supported by two mentors, one based at an Imperial Campus, and one based overseas. All fellowships must commence by the 1st September, 2014.

How to apply?

If you have an Imperial and overseas sponsor, please contact ISSF@imperial.ac.uk for an application form and further information.

Should you be an interested applicant with a UK-based Imperial sponsor looking for an overseas sponsor, please provide a max 500 word summary of your interests, brief summary of project and research experience to ISSF@imperial.ac.uk. We cannot guarantee that all interested applicants with a UK-based sponsor will be matched with an overseas sponsor. Full applications would need to be submitted by 10th March 2014 to ISSF@imperial.ac.uk. Interviews for shortlisted candidates are expected to take place the week commencing 28th April 2014.

Imperial Confidence in Concept scheme

The second call for our Imperial Confidence in Concept (ICiC) scheme will be advertised next week. This initiative helps fast track promising research ideas towards a marketable product and/or clinical testing. Building on the success of the 2013 Imperial Confidence in Concept scheme and Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)/Imperial Innovations Therapeutic Primer Fund (£250,000), the College has received a further £700,000 funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to continue this scheme. The ICiC scheme provides pilot funding to bridge the potential gap between discovery research and well-developed applications for MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme/ Developmental Clinical Studies Funding Scheme support.

An ICiC event will be held on the afternoon of Monday 17th February which will be open to all researchers within Imperial College and will require registration. This will include internal speakers as well as external speakers from the commercial sector and collaborators from the NIHR Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research BRC. Further details will be circulated to faculties and departments the week beginning 27th January.

 

Dr Kimberley Trim
Research Strategy Officer
Faculty of Medicine