Memorandum 23
Submission from the Wellcome Trust
1. The Wellcome Trust is pleased to respond
to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee
inquiry into engineering. The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity
in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK
and internationally, spending around £600 million each year
to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome
Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its
impact on health and wellbeing.
2. As a funder of biomedical research, the
Trust would like to emphasise the importance of medical engineering
and would urge the Committee to consider this discipline within
its inquiry. Medical engineering integrates the UK's strengths
in innovative engineering and medical research; it is a growing
field which will continue to be important for improving health
and strengthening the economy. Medical engineering has resulted
in many innovative applications-such as life support systems,
medical lasers, hip replacement, pacemakers, and medical imaging-and
will continue to play a significant role in the UK's "innovation
drive". For example, four of the world's top ten neuroscientists
are based at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University
College London.[65]
3. The Trust has provided over £46 million in
funding for grants involving biomedical engineering research since
2003. Some examples are given below:
- Dr Morgan Alexander, Professor Martyn Davies
and Professor Paul Williams at the University of Nottingham, in
collaboration with Professor Robert Langer and Dr Daniel Anderson
at MIT, to use novel polymer array technology to rationally design
polymers for anti-biofilm properties that can be readily incorporated
into standard medical devices.
- Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu of the School
of Pharmacy at the University of London, to develop nanotechnology
that significantly increases the potency of drugs in the brain
and to demonstrate that this can result in significant anti-tumour
activity while sparing the healthy brain and bone marrow.
- Matt McGrath of Aircraft Medical for the
development of the world's first handheld video laryngoscope.
- Dr Andrew Gee at the University of Cambridge
for the development of next generation imaging software for freehand,
three dimensional ultrasound scanning-the project team involves
both clinicians and engineers.
- Professor Paul Addison of CardioDigital
Ltd develop the COP-AF™ Prototype ECG-based system-a medical
device for the selection of atrial fibrillation patients most
likely to benefit from cardioversion therapy, developed by.
4. Special efforts are often needed to promote
collaborative innovation between engineers and medical researchers.
The Trust welcomes the opportunities offered by the biomedical
engineering research institutes at the University of Oxford, Imperial
College London, and the University of Dundee for collaboration
between scientists, clinicians and engineers.
5. The Trust is continuing to seek new ways
to support interdisciplinary research through the development
of designated funding schemes. We are currently working with the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop
a new Medical Engineering Initiative, investing £45 million
to stimulate the formation and support of UK centres of excellence
for medical engineering. The Centres will combine multi-disciplinary
research and product development R&D programmes, integrating
physical sciences, engineering, and computing with clinical or
biological research. Applications will be sought from institutions
or consortia within the UK. It is hoped that this will provide
an effective model to support interdisciplinary innovation in
the UK.
6. In 2007, the Trust convened a small conference
to explore institutional models for facilitating interdisciplinary
innovation in cooperation with the Boston-based Center for Integration
of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), which has successfully
funded and facilitated collaborations between MIT engineering
researchers and clinicians based in Boston's major medical research
centres. In the UK, Manchester has recently become the first international
affiliate of CIMIT, with the creation of Manchester: Integrating
Medicine and Innovative Technology (MIMIT), a partnership between
the University of Manchester and the major NHS Teaching and Primary
Care Trusts.
7. The Trust also welcomes interdisciplinary
research which is taking place between institutions, such as the
new Birmingham Warwick Science City Interdisciplinary Research
alliance. This research partnership will have three key themes:
Translational Medicine (including exploring new diagnostics and
innovative therapies); Advanced Materials (in a diversity of industries
including aerospace engineering and healthcare); and Energy Futures.
The Trust hopes that such interdisciplinary inter-institutional
alliances will be developed and notes that novel mechanisms for
funding and partnership will be needed to ensure that effective
interdisciplinary working can be achieved.
8. The Trust has committed up to £50
million over five years, matched by the Department for Health
to create a new Health Innovation Challenge Fund (HICF). The aim
of the fund will be to support work that accelerates the development
of innovative technologies, devices, and clinical procedures of
relevance to the National Health Service. The HICF will support
innovative ideas and innovative people; the new funding will be
used to translate the best ideas arising from basic and clinical
research into the development of new products and devices driven
by clinical need.
9. The Trust is pleased to note that the
inquiry will consider the engineering skills base and the role
of engineering and engineers in UK society. The Trust is firmly
committed to increasing public engagement with science and it
is important that engineering is promoted within the wider science
and society agenda. It is also important to engage young people
in science and engineering at school to prepare the next generation
of scientists and engineers. This can be achieved in part by high-quality,
inspirational science teaching and the Trust supports continuing
professional development for science teachers through its funding
for the National Science Learning Centre. It is also important
to ensure that young people have access to high-quality careers
advice on the range of careers that value science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.
10. We would like to highlight Project Enthuse,
an initiative involving funding from industry, Government and
the Wellcome Trust to increase industry involvement in supporting
CPD for teachers. Some of the industry partners we hope to involve
have a strong engineering base. The funding will provide bursaries,
teaching cover, travel and accommodation for teachers to attend
a residential CPD course at the National Science Learning Centre,
and an additional impact kit to enable further benefits to be
demonstrated in the classroom.
11. This scheme provides the valuable opportunity
to develop much closer working relationships between businesses
and schools, with teachers nominating science students for internships
with participating companies each year (this would dovetail with
the existing Nuffield Science Bursaries). Business leaders have
been invited to commit to a programme of support of £1 million
each over a five year period. The Trust is pleased that the Government
announced £10 million in funding for Project Enthuse in Budget
2008.
12. The Trust would also call attention
to initiatives such as National Science and Engineering Week and
the Science and Engineering Ambassadors scheme, both funded by
the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which
are a valuable means of engaging young people and promoting careers
in science and engineering.
March 2008
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