Researchers offered support and funding to launch tech startups addressing pain

An Imperial-led accelerator is set to help researchers turn ideas for medical technologies into ventures aimed at understanding and treating pain.

Early-career researchers in the six-month MedTech SuperConnector programme, offered in partnership with GSK Consumer Healthcare Next and Beyond, will receive training and financial support including a salary replacement to work on ventures that address the Future of Pain. The programme is inviting researchers to apply by 10 May 2020 for a start date of 13 July 2020.

The future of pain

Pain can be acute, chronic or intermittent and is one of the most common health conditions that people seek medical treatment for. Yet pain is difficult to measure and deeply personal, with causes and treatments not well understood.

The programme is looking for technologies that innovate in this space by offering novel solutions, which could address the future of pain in a variety of ways, for example helping clinicians, researchers and patients to understand, monitor, prevent or treat it.

Financial support and training

Early-career researchers including postdocs and PhD students from Imperial and seven other partner institutions in any academic discipline can apply to take part in the programme. The programme will deliver its recruitment and learning activities digitally and in-person if circumstances allow.

In addition to a salary replacement to allow them to take six months out of their research activities, successful applicants will receive a consumables allowance (up to £45,000) and a variety of masterclasses, mentoring and idea-sharing.

The programme also rewards the principal investigators of participating researchers with greater research impact and more commercially-aware team members.

Hiten Thakrar, MedTech SuperConnector programme manager, said: “We're very excited to be working with GSK Consumer Healthcare on this, our final challenge-led cohort. We’re looking forward to kicking off the cohort with a new batch of brilliant researchers and entrepreneurs. We encourage all researchers with a promising idea to apply. You don’t need any experience with medical technology or entrepreneurship – we’re here to help you apply your research expertise to the med tech field. I have no doubt we will build on the achievements of our past cohorts with some great new success stories.”

MedTech SuperConnector’s partner institutions are Queen Mary University of London, Bucks New University, The Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London, Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music, Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Veterinary College

Further information

Researchers who wish to find out more can visit the MedTech SuperConnector website, contact programme co-ordinator Augusta Critchley, or attend the virtual information session from 4.30pm – 5.30pm on 30 April 2020.