He said:
“There has never been a greater imperative to innovate in the health sector than there is today, which is why it is such an important part of the Government’s Strategy for UK Life Sciences. Helping to bring the UK’s best inventions into practice in the NHS is a really exciting prospect.”

Martin Hunt, NIHR i4i Programme Director said:
“I am delighted to announce Nick as the Chair of the NIHR i4i Challenge Awards panel. He has a wealth of valuable experience and knowledge to bring to this role. The i4i team look forward to working with him over the next two years as we embark on this new and exciting phase in the evolution of the overall programme.”

Professor Lemoine already works closely with the NIHR – he is currently Director of the NIHR Central and East London Comprehensive Local Research Network. He was also previously Chair of the NIHR Clinician Scientist Appointments & Review Panel.

He has extensive experience of serving on international boards and committees, and has previously chaired boards for both the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. He has been a long-serving member of the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee at the Department of Health, the CORE Scientific Advisory Board and many other scientific review committees.

Professor Lemoine was previously Professor of Molecular Pathology at Imperial College London, where he was Director of the Cancer Research UK Molecular Oncology Unit. He was also the first Director of the National Translational Cancer Research Centre at Hammersmith Hospital. His current research interests are in cancer genomics, gene therapy and clinical trials.

He is editor of the Nature Specialist Journal Gene Therapy, and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2006.

The i4i Challenge Awards programme is now recruiting selection panel members. For further information on applying for a panel position, please see the NIHR website: http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/CCFPanelRecruitment.aspx

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

The NIHR i4i Challenge Awards aim to bridge the gap between the innovation and development of new medical technology and its adoption into clinical pathways. The programme seeks to identify and support medical technologies with the greatest potential clinical benefit, along with potential for integration into clinical decision and treatment pathways and implementation on a large scale. The awards hold one competition per year that will address a particular ‘challenge’ that is a priority for the NHS. The first competition will open on 27 February and will address the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular disease. Applications seeking to implement diagnostic and monitoring point-of-care devices for cardiovascular diseases into everyday clinical practice are invited. Project teams will be led by a clinician based in an NHS Trust in England. For further information or to apply, please visit the NIHR website. http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/i4i/Pages/i4iChallengeawards.aspx

Invention for Innovation (i4i) is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme that aims to support and advance the development of innovative medical technologies for the benefit of patients in the NHS in England and Wales. The programme funds projects lasting 1-3 years that aim to develop viable medical product prototypes. NIHR i4i supports collaborative research and development between at least two partners from industry, NHS organisations and universities or other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). For a proposal to be eligible for an award, the project team must comprise researchers from at least two of these sectors. www.i4i.nihr.ac.uk.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk.

On 5 December 2011 the Prime Minister launched a new Strategy for UK Life Sciences which aims to continue the country’s record of world-leading innovation in life sciences. In the strategy, the Government describes how it aims to provide a better environment for life sciences, to improve the lives of patients and contribute to economic growth. The strategy highlights the important contribution NIHR research makes to innovation in life sciences, and sets out a number of key actions where NIHR is leading. A summary of the investments and policies to support UK life sciences are described in Investing in UK Health and Life Sciences, available from: http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/uk-life-sciences-get-government-cash-boost/

The full range of policies and actions that support the Government’s strategy are described in detail within two documents:                                                                                                          
1) The Strategy for UK Life Sciences:                                              
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/s/11-1429-strategy-for-uk-life-sciences                      
2) NHS chief Executive’s review: Innovation Health and Wealth – accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_131299

For further information please contact:
Victoria Steven, Research Communications Manager, NIHR Central Commissioning Facility.
Tel: 020 8843 8072, email: victoria.steven@nihr-ccf.org.uk

The NIHR call for proposals opens on 23 February and closes on 25 May 2012.

This call is a key component of the NIHR response to recognition of the need for an increase in research-based evidence related to surgical productivity and to patient outcomes:

– Through supporting capacity building across a wide range of surgical disciplines and,
–  Increasing the volume of high-quality research on the effectiveness, delivery and organisation of surgery and surgical services.

The following six NIHR research programmes will be participating:

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR)
Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
Invention for Innovation (i4i)
Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)

i4i, Programme Grants and RfPB are managed through the Central Commissioning Facility (CCF):

– For applications to i4i the scientific evidence upon which the proposed project is based must have progressed beyond basic research. The proposed project must also be focused on a specific application, with the specific qualities or characteristics of the proposed technology defined. Proof of the scientific principle must have already been achieved. In exceptional cases and where technology from a sector other than health is being investigated, proposed projects may look to obtain technical feasibility. Project teams should have the demonstrable experience to carry out all aspects of developing the proposed technology, scientifically, clinically and commercially. Where there are known
gaps, applicants should explain how they plan to address these.

– Applications to PGfAR are likely to describe substantial programmes of research involving a number of discrete but inter-related components or activities which together have potential for benefits to patients and the NHS within 3-5 years of the end of the grant.

– Applications to RfPB should arise from daily practice in the NHS and must demonstrate a trajectory to patient benefit in the short to medium term. The programme supports applications which are regionally derived and applications for feasibility and pilot studies are welcome.

The programme is a new i4i initiative that aims to help researchers from companies, academia and the NHS who are seeking funding to support development of new medical devices improve their chances of success.

The intensive four-day residential course - which is based on the highly regarded Henley Accelerator programme – provides specialist advice and support to help participants develop their business skills and enable them to construct well-crafted funding applications and business plans. 

Delegates also have the opportunity to network with experienced medtech professionals and other attendees, helping them to grow to understand their personal goals and business objectives whilst forming a supportive peer group.

Find out what the delegates on the first programme last October had to say about their experiences – and how the programme has helped them – in this video introduced by i4i Programme Director Martin Hunt.

For more information on the programme, please download the flyer.

The next i4i Life Sciences Accelerator programme will be held from 15-17 February and from 6-7 March. Spaces are still available – if you are interested, please contact Ed Cooper, Programme Director: ed.cooper@vitalsix.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE – New infrastructure to develop healthcare technologies and interventions for the NHS

23 January 2012 – Clinicians and researchers are invited to bid for infrastructure funding to support collaborations between the NHS and industry to lead to the development of medical devices and healthcare technologies.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) will establish Healthcare Technology Co-operatives (HTCs) to address clinical areas or themes of high morbidity and unmet need for NHS patients. The aim is to produce new technologies that improve treatment and quality of life.

This new scheme builds on learning from a pilot scheme that funded two HTCs from 2008. Their innovations include a dignity bidet commode developed for stroke survivors which won an NHS Innovation Award in 2009, and the APPEAR and SMART surgical procedures and instrumentation for bowel surgery which was awarded the prestigious Cutlers’ Surgical Award in 2011.

Led by a clinical director, each NIHR HTC will involve multidisciplinary teams, working collaboratively with industry, patient groups, academic researchers and charities. HTCs will be expected to build networks with a broad range of stakeholders including the NIHR infrastructure and to work closely with the NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI).

Professor Dame Sally C. Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health said:

“The National Institute for Health Research Healthcare Technology Co-operatives competition announced today will help to identify clinical issues from a front line service perspective and devise technology-based solutions to address them.

“These centres of expertise will act as a catalyst for the development of much-needed new medical devices, healthcare technologies and/or technology-dependent interventions.”

The initiative also supports the Government’s Strategy for the Life Sciences which aims to provide a better environment for life sciences, improve the lives of patients and contribute to the UK’s economic growth, enabling patients to access novel treatments earlier.

NIHR HTCs will operate within the evolving NHS innovation landscape and the implementation of the NHS Chief Executive’s review: “Innovation Health and Wealth – accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS”. They will be expected to engage with the proposed Academic Health Science Networks and local showcase hospital programmes, where appropriate, as they develop.

The closing date for submission of the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire by NHS Trusts in England is 19 April 2012 at 5pm.

A briefing meeting for potential applicants will be held on the 29 February 2012 at the Department of Health (Richmond House). Up to two people can attend per organisation. Details of how to register for this event can be found on the NIHR website at: http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/HTCCompetition.aspx.

- Ends -

Notes to Editors:

Information on how to apply for NIHR Funding for HTCs can be found on the NIHR CCF website at: http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/HTCCompetition.aspx .

New Strategy for Life Sciences                                                                                                           

On 5 December 2011 the Prime Minister launched a new Strategy for UK Life Sciences which aims to continue the country’s record of world-leading innovation in life sciences. In the strategy, the Government describes how it aims to provide a better environment for life sciences, to improve the lives of patients and contribute to economic growth. The strategy highlights the important contribution NIHR research makes to innovation in life sciences, and sets out a number of key actions where NIHR is leading. A summary of the investments and policies to support UK life sciences are described in Investing in UK Health and Life Sciences, available from: http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/uk-life-sciences-get-government-cash-boost/

The full range of policies and actions that support the Government’s strategy are described in detail within two documents:

1) The Strategy for UK Life Sciences:                                               http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/s/11-1429-strategy-for-uk-life-sciences

2) NHS chief Executive’s review: Innovation Health and Wealth – accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_131299

About the Healthcare Technology Co-operatives pilot

The new NIHR HTC scheme announced today builds on learning from a pilot scheme that funded two HTCs from 2008 under the umbrella of the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme. More details are available at: http://www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/i4i/

About the NIHR

The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training.  Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. http://www.nihr.ac.uk/

For further information please contact:

Georgia Gale Grant, Research Communications Manager

NIHR Central Commissioning Facility
Email: georgia.galegrant@nihr-ccf.org.uk     Direct dial: 020 8843 8073

The NIHR is keen to increase the volume and impact of research in surgery. The workshop aims to:

• provide the surgical research community with an opportunity to hear about existing sources of research funding
• help researchers prepare for future funding opportunities.

Representatives of a range of NIHR programmes and supporting NIHR infrastructure will be present at the workshop to advise on the various funding routes available and to provide help and guidance on developing and submitting an application.

The i4i programme has recently been added to the list of NIHR programmes participating in this initiative:

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
Health Services & Delivery Research (HS&DR)
Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
Invention for Innovation (i4i)

The surgery workshop will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons in England, London.

A widely acknowledged gap exists between the innovation and development of new medical devices and their adoption into everyday healthcare, despite clinical evidence to support their use. The gap is bad news for patients because it means they don’t benefit from potentially lifesaving new technologies, and for the UK medtech sector because development and adoption of their products get blocked.

This issue was highlighted by the Prime Minister in his speech on 5 December, and in the accompanying NHS Chief Executive’s report Innovation: Health and Wealth.

The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme is launching a new funding stream – the i4i Challenge Awards programme – that aims to bridge this gap by supporting researchers to demonstrate the healthcare benefits of their prototype medical devices in a clinical setting. The NIHR has allocated £15 million over the next three years to this new programme.

The i4i Challenge Awards will hold an annual competition to address a particular ‘challenge’ facing the NHS. The first competition will open on 27 February 2012 and will address the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death in England and worldwide. Cardiovascular disease encompasses a range of diseases of the heart or blood vessels including coronary heart diseases such as angina and heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial diseases such as thrombosis. The i4i Challenge Awards will be inviting applications seeking to implement diagnostic and monitoring point-of-care devices for cardiovascular diseases into everyday clinical practice.

Martin Hunt, NIHR i4i Programme Director said:
“This is an exciting move for the i4i programme. Many innovative new medical devices are developed but to get a product adopted into clinical practice it must be able to demonstrate considerable patient benefit against current healthcare practice, as well as a strong health economic case such as time or cost savings.

“The cost and risk of implementing a device into clinical pathways, coupled with the complex structure of the health service in the UK means it can be difficult to provide this evidence, so we have designed the i4i Challenge Awards to help bridge this gap and facilitate the uptake of innovation in the NHS.

“Our first challenge is a real priority for the health service. Cardiovascular disease covers a wide number of circulatory conditions with high mortality rates that continue to be a significant burden on NHS resources and we anticipate that the broad scope for this first competition will encourage applications from across the spectrum. We hope to see the first i4i Challenge Awards aiding the adoption of new diagnostic and monitoring technologies that will make a real difference for cardiovascular patients and healthcare practitioners.”

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, said:
“As part of the Government’s commitment to create a world-class NHS where patients benefit from the latest and best treatments available we are funding the i4i Challenge Awards. This year the funding will assist researchers to create devices to monitor and diagnose cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in England.”

Professor Dame Sally C. Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health said:
“The NIHR recognises the importance of innovation in the NHS and funds high quality research to develop new medical devices for the benefit of NHS patients. The new i4i Challenge Awards programme will play an important role in facilitating the translation of those medical innovations with the greatest potential for improving outcomes for patients directly into healthcare practices and presents excellent opportunities for collaboration between the NHS and the medtech sector.”

A typical i4i Challenge Award project will examine the application of a working medical device prototype based on a platform technology that has been developed to aid the identification, diagnosis or monitoring of a single disease in everyday clinical practice and has the potential to offer significant time and cost savings.

There is no formal limit on funding for an i4i Challenge Award and projects will be funded up to 100 per cent of eligible costs.

Project teams will be led by a clinician based in an NHS Trust in England. These teams could be working in collaboration with a university or an industry partner commercialising their innovation. Projects will be funded for up to three years.

Peter Ellingworth, Chief Executive, Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) said:
“ABHI seeks to promote a deeper and stronger partnership between industry and the NHS to the benefit of patients, the NHS and the UK economy. These new i4i Challenge Awards are welcome in reinforcing the NHS’ role in taking up new technologies quickly and effectively, and signalling its positive approach to innovation.”

Doris-Ann Williams MBE, Chief Executive, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) said:
“The IVD sector welcomes this funding opportunity. It clearly proves that Government has fully understood the challenges that face organisations when bringing new diagnostics and medical devices into the NHS. Innovative technologies, systems and improvements to working practice are essential to deliver better health outcomes and save resource across the NHS. The UK life sciences industry is committed to working in partnership with the NHS to achieve the goals of the innovation agenda.”

Further information about the i4i Challenge Awards and the first competition on cardiovascular disease can be found on the NIHR i4i web pages.

NOTES TO EDITORS

New Strategy for Life Sciences
On 5 December 2011 the Prime Minister launched a new Strategy for UK Life Sciences which aims to continue the country’s record of world-leading innovation in life sciences. In the strategy, the Government describes how it aims to provide a better environment for life sciences, to improve the lives of patients and contribute to economic growth. The strategy highlights the important contribution NIHR research makes to innovation in life sciences, and sets out a number of key actions where NIHR is leading. A summary of the investments and policies to support UK life sciences are described in Investing in UK Health and Life Sciences.

The full range of policies and actions that support the Government’s strategy are described in detail within two documents:
1) The Strategy for UK Life Sciences
2) NHS Chief Executive’s review: Innovation Health and Wealth – accelerating adoption and diffusion in the NHS

About Invention for Innovation (i4i)
i4i is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme that aims to support and advance the development of innovative medical technologies for the benefit of patients in the NHS in England and Wales. The programme funds projects lasting 1-3 years that aim to develop viable medical product prototypes. NIHR i4i supports collaborative research and development between at least two partners from industry, NHS organisations and universities or other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). For a proposal to be eligible for an award, the project team must comprise researchers from at least two of these sectors. www.i4i.nihr.ac.uk

About the NIHR
The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk

For further information please contact:
Victoria Steven, Research Communications Manager, NIHR Central Commissioning Facility.
Tel: 020 8843 8072, email: victoria.steven@nihr-ccf.org.uk

You can download the interview from the CLAHRC-CP website below:

Podcast with Professor Peter Jones, Director, CLAHRC Cambridgeshire & Peterborough

In his podcast, Professor Peter Jones emphasises the importance for his CLAHRC in communicating its research findings to health professionals and the public: “So that they can join us in improving health care standards uniformly across the county. We want people to know that the CLAHRC for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is outwardly facing and practically orientated.”

The CLAHRC-CP has also produced four web-based communication toolkits on the following themes: end of life care, improving access to psychological therapies, looked after children and the service user advisory group. Each toolkit provides a Q&A, an article, a letter and a ten minute radio podcast from the head of the working group undertaking the research.

Results from a study funded by an NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research are published today on the British Medical Journal website.

The study was led by Professor Nigel Arden at the NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust and the University of Oxford. The researchers analysed data from patients who had undergone joint replacements and showed that for those patients who used bisphosphonates, the survival time of their implants was almost doubled.

Osteoarthritis affects at least eight million people in the UK and around 160,000 hip and knee replacement procedures took place last year. However, joint replacements only last 10-15 years and almost 13,000 of these procedures were ‘revision’ surgeries to replace a patient’s original implant. Revision surgeries are expensive – costing around £34,000 compared to £7,000 for the initial surgery – and the outcome is less effective for the patient than the original hip or knee replacement.

The most common cause for revision surgery is implant loosening, which occurs when the bone surrounding the implant breaks down. Bisphosphonates prevent this breakdown by impairing the function of cells in the body called osteoclasts, which digest bone.

Using the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) – the world’s largest computerised database of anonymous primary care medical records – the researchers identified 1,912 bisphosphonate users out of 41,995 patients who had undergone primary hip or knee replacements. On analysing their data, they found that only 0.93 per cent of bisphosphonate users required revision surgery after five years compared to 1.96 per cent of non-users, and that the average time before revision surgery was required in bisphosphonate users was almost double that of non-users.

Professor Nigel Arden, senior researcher at the NIHR Musculoskeletal BRU explains why these findings are important:

“The prevalence of osteoarthritis is increasing significantly and with an ageing population and rising obesity, the need for joint replacements will increase dramatically over the next ten years.

“Historically, research in this area has focused on the joint replacements themselves and the surgical techniques used to implant them. This is the first time that a study on implant revision has focused on the patient and if this result is confirmed in clinical trials, bisphosphonate use would be a simple cost-effective intervention to improve the outcome of this increasingly common operation. Based on this, more research should focus on the patient and the quality and metabolism of their bones.”
 
The study was was carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton. Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit said: 

“This study opens up an entirely new avenue for reducing replacement joint failure by using a relatively inexpensive class of drugs that is already licensed for use in a wide range of diseases. It also demonstrates how marrying large national patient databases such as GPRD with active medical research can speed up translation of scientific discoveries to real improvements in human health.”

The researchers are now taking steps to gather more evidence to support the link between bisphosphonate use and increased implant survival in a full clinical trial.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, said:

“Thanks to Government-funded research, we now know that patients with hip or knee implants can double the life of their implant by taking osteoarthritis drugs.

“This is great news for patients as it means fewer painful operations. It is also great for the NHS as it will save money and show it off to be a world class health service where the latest innovations benefit patients.”
 
Professor Dame Sally C. Davies, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health welcomed the findings. She said:
 
“With such a high incidence of knee and hip replacement surgery, the possibility that the life of joint implants could be lengthened and reduce the number of complex revision surgeries means that these results have the potential to make significant improvements to the lives of many NHS patients.”

Professor Bryan Williams, Professor of Medicine at the University of Leicester and a consultant at University Hospitals of Leicester, has worked in academic partnership with HealthStats, a biotechnology company in Singapore to develop a sophisticated wristwatch device that uses a sensor on the wrist to record the pulse wave and then, using computerised mathematical modelling of the pulse wave, scientists are able to accurately read the pressure close to the heart. This pressure is more useful and diagnostically significant than the pressure measured in the arm.

The University of Leicester’s contribution was supported by funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR has invested £3.4m with a further £2.2m capital funding from the Department of Health to establish the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit based at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, dedicated to translational research in cardiovascular research.

Professor Bryan Williams pictured with his award:

To read the full press release, follow this link.

The study of almost 60,000 people in Britain over 60 found those taking a particular type of blood pressure lowering drug were 50 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, than those on other types of anti-hypertensive medication.

The NIHR values research into dementia and, as part of our response to the Living well with Dementia – A National Dementia Strategy (February 2009), issued a themed call. The call also supports the work of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Dementia Research (MAGDR) on ways to improve the volume and impact of dementia research.

The call (closed to new applications) was launched in March 2011 with a briefing day for researchers. The specification for applicants can be read about here. The applications are now in and are being assessed. The outcome of the call will be announced in 2012.

Two of the seven NIHR programmes participating in the call are managed by the CCF – Programme Grants for Applied Research and Research for Patient Benefit - and a member of the CCF communications team was on the communications sub-group led by NETSCC (where the other five NIHR programmes in the call are managed).

The NIHR already funds dementia research through the research programmes, the EVIDEM Programme Grant led by Professor Steve Iliffe at UCL and the Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust being just one example. Dementia is also a key component of the new NIHR funding for biomedical research announced in August.