Confidence in Concept
Background
The MRC ‘Confidence in Concept’ scheme has awarded universities grants of up to £1.2M to help fast track more promising research ideas towards clinical testing. These awards aim to ‘pump–prime’ the translation of novel therapeutics, devices and diagnostics, including “repurposing” of existing therapies toward clinical testing within the Imperial Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC).
The College has been awarded £840,000 to support projects through the ICiC scheme, and provides pilot funding to bridge the gap between discovery research and well-developed applications for MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) support or similar follow-on funding schemes. This award includes a ring-fenced fund of £125,000 to support projects that address the aims of the Global Challenges Research Fund.
Together with support from the NIHR Imperial BRC, The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Imperial College Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF), these schemes have created a project-managed fund of £1.6M to identify early targets, not currently being developed, within the Faculties of Medicine, Natural Sciences and Engineering, to enter into the drug, devices and diagnostics development pathway.
Applying for the scheme
Current call - CLOSED
The deadline for the ICiC 2017 was Monday 3 April 2017. Applications will be reviewed and considered at a triage panel meeting on 4 May 2017. Shortlisted applicants will then be contacted for further information, to be considered at the final panel meeting on 6 June 2017. We expect to inform applicants of the outcome by the end of June 2017.
ICiC Showcase Events - March 2017
Two ICiC events will take place in March to showcase previously funded ICiC projects and for colleagues to find out about this year’s scheme.
We would like to cordially invite you to the events on Thursday 2 March (13.00-17.00) at Wolfson Education Centre, Hammersmith Campus and Thursday 9 March (13.00-17.00) at 170 Queen's Gate, South Kensington. The ICiC Agenda will include speakers that have been previously funded by ICiC from all 3 faculties as well as a chance for colleagues to find out about this year’s scheme. There will also be representatives from MRC, Astra Zeneca, Apollo Therapeutics, Domainex and Pfizer in attendance.
Please register your attendance using the Eventbrite links below, please note that numbers at the South Kensington event are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Hammersmith
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/icic-showcase-event-hammersmith-tickets-31601984386
South Kensington
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/icic-showcase-event-south-kensington-tickets-31635193716
To note, users should be aware of the Eventbrite terms and conditions and ensure they are happy to register using this service.
Previously supported projects
Year 1
| Principal Investigator | Project |
|---|---|
| Charles Coombes | Understanding the Role of CDK9 in mediating resistance to CDK7 inhibitors and optimisation of CDK9 inhibitors |
| Michael Edwards | Uncoupling harmful pro-inflammatory cytokine responses from beneficial anti-viral immunity in virus induced exacerbations of asthma and COPD |
| Georgios Giamas | Drug screening, crystallisation and structure determination of the human Lemur Tyrosine Kinase 3 |
| Uta Griesenbach | Airway epithelium as a factory for production of blood clotting factors |
| Pau Herrero Vinas | Clinical Validation of an advanced bolus calculator for diabetes |
| Prapa Kanagaratnam | ROTO-Mapping: A technique for detecting potential rotos of activation during human atrial fibrillation |
| Nicholas Long | Formyl peptide receptors: novel targets for imaging inflammation |
| Nick Oliver | Clinical Assessment of a Novel Microprobe Array Continuous Glucose Monitor in Type 1 Diabetes |
| Gregory Quinlan | Development of the haemolysis triple filter |
| Michael Schneider | Novel inhibitors of MAP4K4 (HGK), a therapeutic target in cardiac muscle cell death |
| Mohamed Shamji | IL-35 modulate allergen-driven memory human TH2 allergic responses and has a potential therapeutic value in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis |
| Anita Simonds | Evaluation intelligent oxygen therapy [chronic hypoxaemia/COPD] |
| Robert Snelgrove | Manipulating the dual functions of LTA4H: one drug to target two pro-inflammatory mediators tightly implicated in neutrophilic lung disease |
| Shiranee Sriskandan | Novel protective antigens in pathogenic group A Streptococcus |
| Molly Stevens | A quantum-dot biosensor system for the detection of myocardial fibrosis biomarkers in clinical samples |
| Euan Stronach | Novel chemical modulators of platinum response in ovarian cancer: characterisation and development of DNA-PK/AKT pathway inhibitors |
| Simon Taylor-Robinson | A novel, low cost, urinary diagnostic test for liver cancer screening |
| Mark Thursz | Phosphodiesterate 12 (PDE12) inhibitors in-vivo proof-of-concept study in Dengue virus (DENV) mouse model |
| Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj | Bacteriophage inspired antibiotics |
Year 2
| Principal Investigator | Project |
|---|---|
| Jake Baum | Towards an in vitro high-throughput translation-inhibition discovery platform for the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum |
| Maria Belvisi | TRPV4 antagonist: novel, effective treatment for asthma and COPD |
| Paul Bentley | A low-cost, portable ‘hand-and-brain training’ stroke rehabilitation aid |
| Bob Brown & David Cunningham | Stratified Medicine in oesophagastric (OG) cancers: DNA methylation and mutational profiles as predictive biomarkers |
| Tony Cass | Continuous monitoring of therapeutic drug levels using minimally invasive plasmonic nanosensors |
| Robert Dickinson | Is xenon combined with hypothermia neuroprotective following traumatic brain injury? |
| Andrew Edwards | Novel Antibiotics Activated By Beta-Lactamase: Treating and Preventing Infection By Directing Bacterial Evolution |
| Dan Elson | Calibration-free structured lighting for flexible gastrointestinal endoscopy |
| Matthew Fuchter | The Development of Highly Specific SIRT2 Inhibitors as a Novel Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease |
| Roger Gunn | Repurposing Low-Cost Consumer Technology for Motion Correction in Dementia Neuroimaging |
| Anastasios Karadimitris | Donor TCRVa24 iNKT cells in the prevention of acute-graft-versus-host disease in allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplantation |
| Maurits Kleijnen | Proteasome Envelope Agonists: Developing novel compounds for use against Multiple Myeloma |
| Spyros Masouros | Bespoke synthetic grafts for the treatment of an osteochondral defect that maximizes bone stock preservation |
| Thomas McKinnon | Application of a truncated Von Willebrand Factor molecule for gene therapy for Von Willebrands disease |
| James Moore Jr | Lymph node replacement tissue construct |
| Niamh Nowlan | A wearable sensor for monitoring fetal movements |
| Nicholas Peters | Identifying the critical concurrent sources for targeting ablation of atrial fibrillation through a novel spatiotemporal cycle-length decomposition |
| Piero Posocco | Towards a compact proton irradiator for in-vitro radiobiological studies |
| Robert Snelgrove | Manipulating the dual functions of LTA4H: one drug to target two pro-inflammatory mediators - Proof of concept in neutrophilic lung disease models |
| Molly Stevens | Quantum-dot DNA Biosensing System for Meningococcal DNA Detection in Human Serum |
| Ed Tate | Establishing the chemotherapeutic scope of novel, orally active inhibitors of human N-myristoyltransferases in cancer |
| Paul Turner | Intranasal diagnostics in food allergy: a feasibility study (INDY project) |
| Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj | Characterization of two novel small molecule inhibitors of the bacterial transcription machinery |