UK SPINE funding

The Challenge

There is a pressing need for innovation in healthcare regulatory practice to enable new therapeutics for health ageing to be effectively developed, tested and approved for use. As part of the UK SPINE+ programme, the Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science & Innovation are seeking candidates for short regulatory science fellowships that work across-sector to drive future UK capabilities, capacity and opportunities in the area of regulatory innovation in collaboration with host organisations.

The Opportunity

Birmingham Health Partners’ Centre for Regulatory Science & Innovation (BHP CRSI) – the UK’s only NHS-academic collaboration of its kind – is working with the UK SPINE programme in healthy ageing to offer a series of Fellowships to accelerate cross-sector working and innovative thinking around regulations, standards and tools relevant to the challenges of developing novel therapies to combat multi-morbidity and disease processes associated with old age. These could encompass everything from pre-clinical development through to post-market surveillance, improving patient-centred frameworks or facilitating industry-led programmes, clinical trials design or real-world implementation and adoption, and can focus on specific UK challenges or learning from global best practice. We are particularly keen on projects which work collaboratively across clinical, industry, academic and patient/citizen groups, but welcome all ideas for discussion.

The Details

• Short, typically 3-6 month Fellowships to take place over the next 12 months
• Extremely flexible, including part-time or varied duration
• Can include salary, travel, and project-associated costs
• Self-directed in collaboration with host and supported by the BHP CRSI team
• With an aim to deliver outputs that help drive future UK capabilities, capacity and opportunities in the area of regulatory innovation.

We particularly welcome applications from individuals currently employed in regulatory bodies, industry and policy settings as well as academia.

For further information, please contact Dr Eliot Marston ( e.d.marston@bham.ac.uk).

About the BHP-CSRI

We have a track record leading national and global thinking, from setting the global standards for healthcare trials of artificial intelligence; developing the evidence base which underpinned recent recommendations to Government around future medical device regulations in the UK; to establishing a national call to action around safe and effective medicines for use in pregnancy;  work with MHRA, NICE and others to establish new regulatory and standards frameworks for digital healthcare as well as with industry and clinicians to pioneer new patient-centred technologies for growth markets such as advanced therapies. Our vision for ‘ Advancing Regulatory Science & Innovation in Healthcare’ for the UK has been supported by numerous industry trade associations, professional training bodies, regulators, patients and public contributors, as well as the Government’s own Regulatory Horizons Council.

Call for Proposals 2021

The UK SPINE proof-of-concept translational fund will support projects at the earliest stages of translation. It funds researchers to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of a translational approach. This fund does not support exploratory basic science.

This fund focuses on projects that aim to improve health in old age through interventions that target underlying biological pathways associated with ageing (e.g. senescence, DNA damage, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction).

This proof of concept translational fund is part of a wider UK SPINE programme that aims to accelerate the development of new therapies that target underlying ageing biology.

Translational Remit

The Fund supports goal-oriented translational research projects with a strong scientific rationale and which meet a clear and important translational medical need. Projects should also demonstrate distinct advantages over competing translational approaches that are in development or are already available in the marketplace. Projects should aim to provide sufficient preliminary data to establish proof of concept, strategic merit in a translational context, or the viability of a translational approach (i.e. to provide confidence in the underlying concept, before seeking more substantial funding from other sources), such as UKRI-MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS), or equivalent schemes from other funders, or from industry. An explicit outcome of the award of UK SPINE PoC funding is that projects should subsequently be strong candidates for external follow-on translational funding.

To be competitive, the project proposal should identify a critical path for generating preliminary proof-of-concept data that supports moving to the next stage of translation. The project should be milestone-based with clearly articulated and quantifiable markers, which will form the basis of a rigorous monitoring process that will take place throughout the project's lifetime.

Appropriate public and patient involvement/engagement is high encouraged. To discuss how the UK SPINE team can support such activities, please contact contact@kespine.org.uk.

Scientific Remit

The UK SPINE programme aims to improve health in old age by developing new therapies that target underlying mechanisms of ageing. We have a particular interest in senescence, DNA damage, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and autophagy.

We encourage applicants who are aiming to identify and validate targets or biomarkers associated with these pathways. We also encourage projects that could lead to the repurposing of existing medicines.

If you would like to discuss whether your proposed project is within remit, please contact contact@kespine.org.uk

Industry Collaboration

Applications demonstrating academic-industry collaboration are particularly encouraged, principles and policies of a UKRI-MRC Industry Collaboration Agreement (MICA) should be followed, with heads of terms being agreed with partners prior to application submission. Please contact your local research services team who will be able to assist with this. Where the partner is an existing or prospective spinout, there must be a strong and clear case that the proposed project is a new stream of work and not additional development of the initial technology that was licensed to the spinout. It should also be clear that the spinout is the most appropriate company to support this particular project. A clear statement of how conflict of interest will be managed must be included.

Format

It is envisaged that the available funds will finance in the region of 4-6 projects. UK SPINE expects that you will make arrangements with your local technology transfer office or translational research team to provide project management support. UK SPINE will provide support identifying opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration within the UK SPINE network.

Funding available will be up to £50k per project; awards will be made from for direct costs only. Whilst a ‘match’ contribution is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged.

Projects should last 6 months only, with all projects required to be completed by 31 ^st April 2022 . Successful applicants will be notified mid-September 2021 and must commence projects before 1 ^st November 2021 . Please ensure that your project is scheduled accordingly and that the timeline is appropriate to the objectives and milestones set out.

Please note funding will not support: entire translational projects; bridging funding or PhD studentships; continuation of normal research grants; and costs relating to protection of intellectual property. Please also note that PI or co-applicant salary is not an eligible cost.

As well as translational research, activities supported could working with CROs, market research and business planning.

Awards will be managed from the University of Oxford on behalf of UK SPINE. An award condition is acceptance of a ‘mid-term’ review meeting with the UK SPINE team to discuss progress made towards milestones.

Eligibility

Any researcher from a UK SPINE Hub in England ^[1] OR any researcher from an English HEI that has previously held a UK SPINE Proof of Concept project ^[2] . Applicants must hold a contract extending to at least the end of the proposed project and must have host departmental approval. Applicants should clarify their eligibility with departments, and departmental approvers are required to check eligibility of their applicants before advancing any applications. The Committee welcomes applications from Early Career Researchers and applicants seeking to establish individual research careers should they fit these criteria.

Application, selection and award process

Applicants should request an application form by contacting contact@kespine.org.uk.

Applicants must submit the following documents to contact@kespine.org.uk by 12 noon on 30 ^th July 2021:

• Completed application form
• Completed costings form
• A letter from the head of department, departmental head of finance or equivalent confirming that the host institution is able to accommodate the proposed project and accept UKRI-Research England funding terms
• A letter from your host translational research team (or equivalent) stating how they will help the project identify more substantial funding from other sources after the end of UK SPINE funding

Projects will be assessed on: alignment to UK SPINE strategic priorities; strength of rationale; quality of science; un-met medical need; future commercial opportunity; IP position; likelihood of developing a full proposal to be submitted to the MRC DPFS award scheme, or similar follow-on funding schemes, within the required timescale and budget. Should ethics and/or home office approvals be required for the projects, priority will be given to those applications that already have these in place.

Applicants will receive a written review from a suitable expert from the UK SPINE network. A moderation panel will use these written reviews and their own assessments to make a final decision on which proposals will be funded.

Applications will be considered non-confidential in nature. Please do not include confidential information in your application.

Further information

All potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposed projects with the UK SPINE operational team contact@kespine.org.uk. The UK SPINE team can also assist with finding suitable collaborators and sourcing appropriate support and expertise through the UK SPINE network.

 

^[1] University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, Francis Crick Institute, Open Targets (EMBL-EBI), Medicines Discovery Catapult.

^[2] University of Nottingham, University of Newcastle

Developing systems to support, amplify, or scale flow of knowledge & resources for greater collaboration in drug development processes

The UK SPINE strategic project fund is open for applications. Our aim is to fund systems that support, amplify, or scale flow of knowledge & resources for greater collaboration in innovation for healthy ageing. We want to involve UK stakeholders from all areas of the innovation space in the UK SPINE including: patient groups, the public sector, pharma, academia, investors and the public.

We are interested in creative projects that take our funding across academic disciplines and industries. Thus far we have funded community building platforms, policy papers and academic-industry workshops. We are however open to the full range of cross-stakeholder engagement available.

Criteria

• We welcome activities and projects that impact knowledge exchange in the healthy ageing community.
• Preferred projects fall within the following 6 perspectives of the  Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF):
  • Research Partnerships
  • Commercialisation and IP
  • Working with Business
  • Skills, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship*
  • Working with the Public and Third Sector*
  • Public and Community Engagement*
  • * are current KE portfolio priorities of the UK SPINE.
• The duration of the project/activity should be expected to be between 3-9 months.
• We fund up to £30,000 (not including overhead/ full economic costs)
• Joint applications between stakeholders are preferred but this is not a necessary requirement

Examples of potential projects include: apps, summer schools, conferences, hackathons, opinion/ position papers, new pathways for technology transfer, community engagement, etc.

Applications that fall outside these criteria might still be considered. The prime criterion for funding projects is that they have the potential to accelerate innovation which promotes healthy ageing.

The UK SPINE Knowledge Exchange fund is now closed. If you would like to see which projects received funding, visit our Knowledge Exchange projects page.

Preclinical research funding: UK SPINE Bridge Program

The UK SPINE Bridge Program final round of funding has now closed.

Thank you to all applicants – the high quality of proposals made funding decisions very challenging.

We invite you to browse our website for other opportunities to engage with the UK SPINE and with the UK-wide network of drug discovery experts working toward mitigating aging.

We look forward to remaining in touch.

Monica Spisar, PhD & Charlotte Green, PhD.