Fellowships WIP03

Fourth call for research to improve adolescent health in low and middle income countries

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/adolescent-health/fourth-global-adolescent-health-call/

Call opens: 29/05/19

Deadline: 16/07/19

Budget: ~£4m

This call aims to fund world-class and cutting edge applied research that addresses the health needs of adolescent populations in low and middle income countries (LMICs).

Awards will build and strengthen research partnerships and promote capacity building in global adolescent health research.

Interdisciplinary proposals will be particularly encouraged that address the most pressing health needs of adolescents in LMICs.

There will be a two-stage application process, initially inviting researchers to submit outline proposals to be considered by a review panel.

Funding for this call forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. Applications must demonstrate the research to be primarily relevant and directly linked to near-term benefits to the health and economic development of LMICs.

Those interested in developing ideas should contact Elisa Lawson to ensure that research projects meet ODA requirements and the needs of low and middle income countries (LMICs).

Full call details will be populated on the link above closer to the launch date (29/05/19).

2 October 2019, 4pm                     Call opens on 1 August 2019

• MRC/AstraZeneca Centre for Lead Discovery

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-az-cld1/mrc-astrazeneca-centre-for-lead-discovery/

The MRC/AstraZeneca Centre for Lead Discovery (CLD) aims to support academic researchers in discovering potential starting points for small molecule therapeutic approaches with a clear line-of-sight to therapeutic use.

Academic researchers will benefit from unprecedented access to over two million molecules in AstraZeneca’s compound library, as well as its state-of-the-art high throughput screening facilities.

Following completion of the HTS campaign, sufficient ‘hit’ data should be available to enable applicants to seek follow-on funding internally through confidence in concept or through the MRC’s Development Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

The MRC will provide funding to support up to 5-10 projects per year. In the first instance, the competition will be run once a year, for an initial five year period. As capacity is limited, projects will be prioritised for funding and for timeslots within the facility.

In order to apply for funding, an assay suitable for high-throughput screening against the target of interest must be available (either through the investigators work or commercially) or at an advanced stage of development. Assays suitable for hit- confirmation, specificity and or key selectivity must have been developed or be in the process of development.

Note that, the less well developed the assay, and the more work that is required prior to transfer to the CLD, the less competitive the proposal will be.

All projects funded under this initiative will be collaborative studies between academic researchers and AZ. The investigators will work under a pre-agreed standard collaborative research agreement, jointly signed by the Research Organisation and AZ, based closely on the Lambert Agreement for preclinical studies.

The MRC would normally expect the host institute TTO to assist in the preparation of application and expects the TTO to play an active role in maintaining and exploiting intellectual property generated by successful applications, therefore please discuss any intended application with your Institute Business Development Manager.

Further details and documentation are available at the URL above.

2 October 2019, 4pm                     Call opens on 1 August 2019

• MRC/UCB Antibody Discovery Initiative (ADI)

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-ucb-adi1/mrc-ucb-antibody-discovery-initiative-adi/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

The MRC/UCB Antibody Discovery Initiative aims to support academic researchers seeking to develop antibody-based therapeutics.
It is intended to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by enabling generation of novel antibodies suitable for testing in models of disease.

A clear line-of-sight to therapeutic use will be required to secure funding.

Following production of the antibodies, MRC will provide a limited amount of funding to support a (set of) proof-of-concept experiment(s) to enable the applicants to generate data that will enable them to seek follow-on funding through the MRC’s Development Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

UCB has developed a novel platform capable of identifying rare functional antibodies within an immune repertoire, suitable for humanisation to obtain therapeutic antibodies or for the generation of surrogate anti-rodent antibodies. This platform is capable of efficiently sampling an immune repertoire through culturing B-cell pools, and characterising identified binders through carefully selected functional assays. Recombinant antibodies with the desired specificity can then be generated. UCB have automated several early stages of the process to expand the capacity, increase the speed and improve the consistency of the antibody discovery process.

The MRC will provide funding to support up to 3-5 projects per year with the competition running once per year, initially for a 5 year period. As capacity is limited, projects will be prioritised for funding and for timeslots within the facility.

Research proposals that are led by commercial entities are not eligible. Applications may not include collaborations with additional commercial parties.

All projects funded under this initiative will be collaborative studies between academic researchers and UCB. The investigators will work under a pre-agreed standard collaborative research agreement, jointly signed by the Research Organisation and UCB, based closely on the Lambert Agreement for preclinical studies.

The MRC would normally expect the host institute TTO to assist in the preparation of application and expects the TTO to play an active role in maintaining and exploiting intellectual property generated by successful applications, therefore please discuss any intended application with your Institute Business Development Manager.

You are encouraged to discuss your proposal with the MRC Programme Manager before submission:

Applications will be assessed by expert peer-review and prioritised for funding by the MRC, via a bespoke expert assessment Panel including members of MRC’s DPFS Panel, MRC’s Research Boards and external experts.

Further details and documentation are available at the URL above.

21 May 2019, 1pm (Stage 1)         17 September 2019, 1pm (Stage 2)

NIHR Policy Research Programme (NIHR PRP)

Health Inequalities Research Initiative: Call 2

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding-and-support/funding-opportunities/health-inequalities-research-initiative-call-2/10861

Budget: £250K to £750K per project for up to 36 months, they anticipate funding up to 10 projects.

These are to undertake health inequalities research to support policy makers in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the following areas:

1. Assessing how to improve existing population wide policies that are aimed at improving health outcomes so they also reduce socio-economic health inequalities
2. Identifying which existing health system interventions specifically designed to reduce socio-economic health inequalities are effective and cost-effective
3. Assessing the effectiveness in reducing health inequalities of whole system approaches to improving the health of deprived communities
4. Identifying opportunities and risks presented by advancements in digital technology, and practical measures to ensure such technology does not exacerbate socio-economic health inequalities

N.B. The focus of this call is on existing interventions, and is not requesting research to develop new interventions to reduce health inequalities.

Please note that this is the last of two calls.

Capability to start promptly will be an advantage.

Further details available at the URL above.