Enterprise and Internationalisation report from Professor John Holloway
The last few months has continued to be a busy time for the Faculty in its enterprise agenda with a number of new research collaborations being signed off in areas such as cancer and respiratory disease.
Dr Brigitte Lavoie, the University Industry Sector Team – Health + Pharma Collaboration manager, has continued to develop links with local SMEs to make them aware of the expertise offered by the Faculty. This has included participating in the UHS Southampton commercial showcase event as well as representing the University at the Wessex Life Science Cluster launch. This activity, initiated by the UIST Health + Pharma, and now led by the Wessex Academic Health Sciences Network with sponsorship from regional Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), aims to highlight the significant strength of Life Sciences in the region. It is excellent to see the University play such a significant role in increasing our profile with local SMEs, which in turn is likely to lead to new enterprise collaborations in the future.
We have also completed the 2014-15 HEIF pump priming award round, and it was great to see such a large number of applications for awards that involved a wide range of collaborations with industry, from joint PhD studentships to collaborative development of new technology.
Enterprise units
Our Faculty enterprise units have continued to be extremely successful. The Wessex Institute, our multidisciplinary added-value health research management unit, based at the Science Park in Chilworth, has been successful in winning new contracts in 2014. The Institute is now administering the NISCHR research funding schemes on behalf of the Welsh Government; this work is taking place alongside the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC), which is the largest centre within the Wessex Institute.
The Southampton Health Technology Assessments Centre (SHTAC) has secured a five-year contract renewal from the NIHR to undertake technology assessment reviews, which provide evidence to support assessment processes for NICE and other policy customers.
In addition a number of consultancy projects have been undertaken including work for the HTAi Policy Forum. Recruitment of a new director of the Wessex Institute will take place in 2015 to replace Professor Ruairidh Milne , who has stepped down from the post.
In April 2014 there was a re-organisation of clinical research support structures in England into 15 new Clinical Research Networks (CRNS). These CRNS were tasked with selecting a solution, both for their management of the local clinical research portfolio, and which could be used by their Trusts as well.
At present the EDGE application, provided as software as a service by
Clinical Informatics Research Unit
at UoS, and developed by it in collaboration with UHS, has won all but one of the public procurements completed. 62% of the English NHS is now either actively using, or committed to adopting EDGE for a four-year period, and the expectation is this figure will be higher when procurements are completed. This wide adoption of EDGE will guarantee an annual income in excess of £1,000,000 to the Faculty and will allow continued support and development of the EDGE service for the benefit of its users and clinical research.
In April
Professor Salim Khakoo
took over as Associate Dean Enterprise for the Faculty and I wish him every success in implementing our enterprise strategy over the coming years.
International agenda
In regards to the international agenda of the Faculty, the last few months has seen continued activity in development of research partnerships with leading institutions world-wide, including preparation of a MoU with the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in California, and the visit of Professor David Tarlington from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne Australia.
More recently Dr Stuart Clarke has been successful in obtaining funding from the Newton Fund for an Institutional Links grant between the UK and Malaysia. This award will allow for a partnership between the UoS, USMC and three partners institutions in Malaysia: University Sains Malaysia, the International Medical University, and the Ministry of Health’s National Public Health Laboratory. This award is a key milestone in developing the Faculty's infectious disease links between Southampton and Malaysia.
In March Professor David Wilson took over as Associate Dean International for the Faculty and I wish him every success in implementing our international strategy over the coming years.
