Winter 2017 | Issue 07 Research and Enterprise Newsletter
Saving little lives through collaboration SPOTLIGHT ON: Helping people with dementia through GPS technology
FEATURE: New director outlines bold plans for FortisNet
FEATURE: Breaking new ground in healthcare innovations
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Introduction
WELCOME TO RE:ACTION It is a great pleasure to provide the introduction for the winter edition of Re:action. We have chosen a theme of Health for this issue and I hope that you will be as impressed, as I have been, by the variety of high quality health-related research and enterprise activities that are undertaken at the University.
The key is to enable to such interactions and to avoid barriers that cause people to feel solely defined by their department or subject area. I believe that Southampton is particularly adept at avoiding such siloes, and has a culture that is more open than many institutions to the benefits of interdisciplinary research.
It is particularly striking how many of the highlighted projects, that have the potential to have major impacts on healthcare and public health, are based on strong fundamental underpinning science and also have a very strong interdisciplinary component.
I hope that you enjoy the articles in this issue, and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.
This combination (strong fundamental research, interdisciplinarity and a view to impact) is vital to delivering outcomes that make the greatest possible difference in wider society, and applies to far more than just health-related areas.
Professor Mark Spearing Vice-President (Research & Enterprise)
The University of Southampton is particularly effective at working across disciplinary boundaries and at conducting research that makes a difference, either through the creation of spin-outs and fostering startups, working with established companies or delivering applied research and consultancy through our enterprise units. Our interdisciplinary activities are fostered by institutional initiatives such as the Institute for Life Sciences, the Web Sciences Institute and the Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention but more generally by the attitudes of colleagues across the University who act in an entrepreneurial way to seek out the research partners they need in order to address the research challenges they have identified.
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PLEASE SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK We are keen to receive feedback about Re:action. If you have any ideas, comments or suggestions, please send them to
reaction@southampton.ac.uk
Research & Innovation Services, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
IN THIS ISSUE
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04 FEATURE:
Saving little lives through collaboration
FEATURE:
Breaking new ground in healthcare innovations Two recent projects undertaken by the Centre for Implementation Science (CIS), are paving the way for big impact changes in mental healthcare and cancer diagnostics.
Newborn mortality rates remain far too high, especially in low and middle income countries. Tragically, many cases could be prevented if pregnant women and young infants had access to life-saving vaccines.
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Shaping the future for medicine
08 FEATURE:
GPS gives new freedom to people with dementia
Future Worlds Medicine, a new arm of Future Worlds, is set to help University innovators break into the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets.
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FEATURE:
New director outlines bold plans for FortisNet
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FEATURE:
Research: What does good look like? Quality standards have never been higher and the responsibility of researchers has never mattered more.
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News in brief In this issue we feature: Z21 Innovation fund, Roaslind Franklin Institute, SETsquared, Royal Society Fellowship, Renovos, Biofilms Innovation Centre.
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Events for the diary
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Media highlights Our recent appearances in the media and events to keep an eye out for.
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Funding news The latest news on recent funding. 3
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SAVING LITTLE LIVES THROUGH COLLABORATION Newborn mortality rates remain far too high, especially in low and middle income countries. Tragically, many cases could be prevented if pregnant women and young infants had access to life-saving vaccines.
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To find out more, visit: www.imprint-network.co.uk
A new network is aiming to tackle newborn mortality rates head-on by bringing together stakeholders from basic science, immunology, vaccinology, social sciences, industry, public health and national and international policy makers. IMPRINT (the Immunising Pregnant Women and Infants Network) will enable collaborative research projects to fill some gaps in current understanding around the immune response to vaccines in pregnancy and in newborn infants. This includes questions around how antibodies transfer across the placenta, whether maternal vaccines interfere with how babies respond to vaccines later in infancy, and how nutrition and infections alter the way in which mothers and babies are protected by vaccines. The network has been set up by Dr Chrissie Jones, Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital Southampton, and Beate Kampmann, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at Imperial College London. Vaccinating pregnant women boosts the level of antibody in the mother, which in turn is passed to the unborn baby. This has already been successfully established for the prevention of tetanus, influenza and whooping cough. There is potential that the same method could be used to protect infants against other serious infections, such as group B streptococcus and respiratory syncytial virus. The network will also research why women decide whether or not to receive vaccines to optimise the current uptake and to address the challenges of vaccine safety and efficacy assessment in low and middle income countries. IMPRINT is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund’s Networks in Vaccines Research and Development, which was cofunded by the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The total grant awarded
to the network is just over £2.1 million. Chrissie explained: “It’s an exciting grant to be a part of because it is funding a network. The aim is to connect people working in the field of maternal and infant vaccinology and immunology to fill in missing links, so that together we can better protect pregnant women and their infants from infection.” As well as setting up the network and funding its activity, the grant will enable a series of pump-priming grants of up to £70,000 each for 12 month project addressing key challenges that IMPRINT is looking to tackle.
in Pregnancy (GAIA) project has developed 21 globally consistent tools to determine the safety of vaccines in pregnancy. The assessment of these tools in low and middle income countries is required, so this study will assess key case definitions and terms using data from clinical studies conducted in South Africa and The Gambia. This study connects investigators in India, Europe and Africa. To find out more, visit imprint-network.co.uk
Four two-year post-doctoral fellowships are also available for scientists from low and middle income countries with a keen interest in maternal and neonatal immunisation science. The first two pump-priming projects have already been selected for funding: Unravelling maternal protection: Factors affecting transplacental transfer of antibody from mother to infant This project, led by Chrissie, will test stored blood and placental samples to understand how antibodies are transferred from the mother’s blood to the baby, and why in some cases the amount of antibody transferred is not enough to protect the baby. The project will connect researchers and clinicians across the UK, Europe and the US.
Evaluating the field performance and validating novel case definitions designed to harmonise safety monitoring for immunisation in pregnancy in low and middle income countries
This project is facilitating a global coordinated approach to determine the safety of vaccines used for pregnant women. The Global Alignment of Immunisation Safety Assessment
IMPRINT has key scientific challenges it is aiming to address: Mechanism of production and transfer of maternal antibody via the placenta and breastmilk Effects of maternal immunisation on the subsequent development of immunity in the infant Impact of globally important co-factors on maternal and neonatal immunity
Vaccine acceptancy and preparedness for maternal immunisation, including in emergencies
Vaccine safety monitoring in low and middle income countries Development of comparable methodologies for assessing efficacy in clinical trials
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BREAKING NEW GROUND IN HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONS
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Centre for Implementation Science, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/wessexcis
Two recent projects undertaken by the Centre for Implementation Science (CIS), which sits in the Faculty of Health Sciences, are paving the way for big impact changes in the areas of mental healthcare and cancer diagnostics. Dr Catherine Matheson-Monnet, Senior Research Fellow at the CIS, undertook an independent evaluation of a small scale pilot that was running on the Isle of Wight. The pilot was a world first and involved a police officer being directly integrated into the care of individuals who are classed as high intensity emergency services users. A police officer accompanied a mental health nurse to mental health-related incidents. After the first year of the programme, it emerged that only 0.5% of high intensity emergency services users (eight individuals) had been responsible for 21% of crisis incidents. Subsequently, a mentoring style intervention was piloted with four of the eight individuals. This focused on supportive messages, giving space to express emotions, encouraging personal accountability, and promoting a consistent mindset to improve personal and social awareness and emotional intelligence. Eighteen months into the initiative, demand on the emergency services, including mental health crisis detentions, had significantly fallen. A&E visits and police deployments had reduced by about two-thirds, and police detentions and mental health ward bed occupancy had been eliminated altogether. In addition, attendance at mental health appointments had improved, and mental health staff welfare and wellbeing had improved – working alongside police officers had enabled mental health staff to become more resilient and more confident in enforcing boundaries. The clear success of the pilot, and the evidence gathered by Dr Matheson-Monnet, led to the project being rolled out on the Isle of Wight. It was given the new name of Serenity Integrated Mentoring. It has since won multiple healthcare awards and has been adopted in other areas of England. The Met Police is establishing High Intensity Teams in four London
trusts, and the initiative is being adopted in areas of Europe and the USA. Sergeant Paul Jennings and Vicki Haworth, from the High Intensity Network national team, even met HRH the Duke of Cambridge in September. Dr Matheson-Monnet said: “Research and evaluation are arguably the most important elements in mapping a route towards an improved healthcare system.” Research and tools to improve cancer diagnostics An ageing population, lifestyle factors and national waiting time targets are set to cause a surge in demand for cancer diagnostic services. The CIS, in collaboration with the University of Southampton Business School, the NHS Wessex Clinical Network and the NHS Wessex Cancer Alliance, is using data-driven methodologies to evaluate and recommend improved, more efficient healthcare systems that can prepare us for this anticipated increase in demands. The work began in 2015 with a project modelling colorectal cancer diagnostic services pathways in Wessex, and the expected impact of a new Bowel Cancer Screening Programme on the demand for endoscopy services.
Data revealed by the analysis identified a 70% utilisation of the endoscopy capacity in Wessex. It varied from 41% to 94% across providers. As a result of this work, Operational Research and Analytics has been adopted as a method to support cancer pathways and health strategy redesign in Wessex. A cancer waiting times data visualisation tool has also been developed with the potential to visualise any open data provided by NHS England, including a range of health and care subjects. The CIS is currently using the skills developed in the programme to support the implementation of a new Bowel Screening Test. The CIS is now hoping to apply the same methodology across all cancer diagnostic services in Wessex. Dr Richard Guerrero-Ludueña, Research Fellow at the CIS who is leading the project, said: “I believe that process analysis and data-centric techniques are key to making best use of healthcare resources.” Dr Guerrero-Ludueña worked with the following NHS trusts: Isle of Wight NHS Trust Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
This led to the development of detailed modelling of all NHS endoscopy services in Wessex, including patient and staff flow mapping, the analysis of bottlenecks, and resource utilisation rates.
NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust
Working in collaboration with partners meant that access could be made available on hospital wards and time arranged with staff – which played a significant role in enabling the team to build a detailed picture of activity, capacity and demand. This resulted in recommendations that will allow faster patient pathways and greater numbers of patients to be treated, whilst avoiding increased costs.
Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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GPS technology is enabling people with dementia to go out walking safely 8
For more information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/healthsciences
GPS GIVES NEW FREEDOM TO PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA People with dementia are getting the opportunity to stay in control of their own lives thanks to research carried out within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr Ruth Bartlett, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, has led research using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology with individuals and families living with the condition. During her research, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society, Dr Bartlett has talked to police officers and individuals and families living with dementia across Hampshire to find out their experiences of using GPS technologies for safer walking. Getting out and about is vital for our health and wellbeing. Physical exercise, access to nature and forming social networks are some of the benefits of being out in the community. However, for people with a cognitive disability like dementia, getting out can be risky, as the condition affects a person’s sense of direction and memory. Telecare services and the police are issuing GPS technologies to people with dementia and their family carers to enable people to get out and walk independently. During Dr Bartlett’s research, a researcher walked with the person with dementia, taking photos and filming whilst they
were using their GPS technology. The majority of participants were using an Oysta Pearl GPS device (pictured right). The research team was interdisciplinary, involving colleagues from Health Ethics and Law and from Engineering and the Environment. A lay advisory group of people living with dementia and their partners guided the research team. Dr Bartlett said: “We have discovered that people with dementia who saw a direct benefit to using the GPS device were more likely to want to use it and valued using it. “Another important finding from this research is that walking with someone around their neighbourhood is an empowering activity for a person with dementia, as it puts the person, rather than the researcher, in control.” Through this funded work, Dr Bartlett and her colleagues are helping to improve the lives of individuals and families living with a dementia at home. They are also developing capacity within the UK to conduct high quality participatory research involving people with a dementia. 9
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SHAPING THE FUTURE FOR MEDICINE Future Worlds Medicine, a new arm of Future Worlds, is set to help University innovators break into the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets. The initiative, funded by the Medical Research Council, will develop new innovations and discoveries into commercial opportunities and industry collaborations. Future Worlds Medicine was officially launched at an event in London in October. Five medical entrepreneurs pitched Southampton research and technologies to a packed audience of industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors at the event, held at the Future Cities Catapult’s Urban Innovation Centre. Lars Ewing, a Senior Director at GSK, praised the “sense of energy, innovation and drive”, commenting that “it feels more like Boston”.
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Reuben Wilcock, Future Worlds Director, said: “Our vision is to see the brilliant research taking place at the University make a real difference in the world. We’re excited that this vision has been recognised by the Medical Research Council and look forward to driving forward medical innovations. “During this 18 month project we will put in place the foundations for an ambitious roadmap that will accelerate the most promising discoveries towards global impact.” Natasha Nater has joined Future Worlds Medicine as Events and Communications Officer. Her role is to produce inspiring
events and compelling creative content to support aspiring entrepreneurs in healthcare to develop high impact businesses. “My aim is to build on Future Worlds’ successes, to grow our network of medical mentors, investors and experts, and to ultimately support the University in revolutionising healthcare,” said Natasha. To engage with Future Worlds Medicine and help aspiring entrepreneurs change the world with their ideas, email ‘Count me in’ to join@futureworlds.com
For more information, visit: www.futureworlds.com
“ My aim is to build on Future Worlds’ successes, to grow our network of medical mentors, investors and experts, and to ultimately support the University in revolutionising healthcare ” Natasha Nater Events and Communications Officer
The Future Worlds Medicine launch event 11
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Dr Martin Warner working with a research participant in the Health Sciences gait lab 12
For more information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ifls
NEW DIRECTOR OUTLINES BOLD PLANS FOR FORTISNET The new Director of FortisNet is already introducing new initiatives to further the impact of the collaborative network. Professor of Musculoskeletal Health, Jo Adams, accepted the role at the helm of FortisNet in the summer. She is now setting about introducing new ways of ensuring patient involvement is maximised. FortisNet brings together academics, clinicians, industry experts and patients to enable collaborative research and product development for the musculoskeletal sector. Jo said: “It’s important to link with and engage our end users, the patients, at the earliest stage of research design. They are the ones who will be using the research and technology. So for me it’s really important that our FortisNet collaborators have the opportunity to benefit from patient involvement from the start of their research.” She has set up a Patient and Public Involvement Group, which will launch in January. “If we engage our patients alongside academics and industry, it makes sure the research is what matters for patients as well,” she explained. “It’s a really exciting opportunity to get patients more involved. It makes us design better research projects that patients want to be part of. It also helps us in disseminating our research – patients help us to think about how to get our message across in plain English.”
Outlining why she accepted the role of Director of FortisNet, Jo said: “It’s about inter-professional working. People from surgery, medicine, basic science, applied science, health science, industry – all working together to try to implement world-leading research and get it into the NHS faster.” She is also looking to establish strong international links for FortisNet. This has kicked off with a three-year Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellowship being awarded to Professor Catherine Backman, from the University of British Colombia. The fellowship promotes further international high calibre academic collaboration for the FortisNet group and offers the opportunity to connect and support clinicians in conducting and implementing musculoskeletal research. Catherine’s research centres on the impact of chronic illness on participation in paid and unpaid work and social roles, and much of her research is based at Arthritis Research Canada. During her fellowship, Catherine will strengthen the links between Canadian and British research initiatives, like Arthritis Research Canada and the Arthritis Research UK Centres of Excellence for Musculoskeletal Health and Work and for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis.
Professor Jo Adams
The third annual FortisNet meeting will take place on Thursday 25 January 2018. If you would like to contribute to this collegiate, interdisciplinary event, please get in touch with the Institute for Life Sciences for further details. Email IfLSAdmin@soton.ac.uk 13
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RESEARCH: WHAT DOES GOOD LOOK LIKE? In an ever more competitive environment, where quality standards have never been higher and the responsibility of researchers has never mattered more, Professor Mark Spearing, Vice President, Research and Enterprise, explains how the University’s new Code of Conduct for Research aims to help achieve our ‘Simply Better’ goal. We will always be measured by the quality of our research. We are a research-intensive University and we are in an increasingly competitive environment for winning research funding and for delivering research that has impact, both academic and societal. Only research that is truly excellent will have the lasting impact that we seek. Research that does not meet the expected standards for research integrity not only cannot be considered as excellent itself but has the potential to damage the reputation for excellence achieved by our community as a whole. The new Code of Conduct for Research brings together a framework and guidance enabling everyone at the University involved in research to understand their responsibilities and to foster the ethos which will ensure our research is conducted to the highest standards. This Code also helps us meet the expectations of our funders as set out in The Concordat to Support Research Integrity and the new RCUK terms and conditions for grant awards. The research environment within which we currently operate is subject to a number of pressures, including: the need to publish in high impact journals, meeting open access requirements, achieving an excellent REF result in 2021, increasing and diversifying our 14
funding and achieving financial sustainability for the University. These requirements interact with an increasingly challenging funding landscape, featuring competition across the academic sector, the uncertainties of “Brexit”, the drive for universities to contribute to the UK economy by increased research with industry and create impact through the uptake and use of our research findings. As all these factors come into play we must continue to remind ourselves of the principles of research integrity and strive to achieve high quality in everything we do. The reputational impact of any finding of misconduct in research will not only detrimentally affect an individual’s reputation and career but it will also harm their research group’s, academic unit’s and the University’s reputation. It could also prove damaging for our ability to sustain, let alone increase research funding income. It is a critical time for those involved in research, but also a great opportunity for each of us to take advantage of the support and guidance the University is providing and to flourish as a result. As an organisation, the University is expected to provide clear policies and guidance to support and train researchers, foster a culture of research integrity and ensure robust management
systems; while researchers are expected to take a proactive approach to their own personal and career development and lifelong learning, which includes keeping abreast of changing ethical and professional obligations. This is just one area where we are all working to improve standards and demonstrate our commitment to the Simply Better Strategy, where integrity is identified as one of the values underpinning our core principles of collegiality, quality, internationalisation and sustainability. It is through working together that all of this can be achieved. The new Code of Conduct aims to be a key starting point for that. For further information on the new policies, research and integrity and all areas of research support please visit the www.soton.ac.uk/research/integrity.page The Research Integrity and Governance Team within Research and Innovation Services is there to provide support to the faculties on all aspects of research integrity. It is headed up by the newly appointed Ferdousi Chowdhury who joined from UCL having previously been a researcher here in Southampton. The team can be contacted on researchintegrity@soton.ac.uk
For more information visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research/integrity.page
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News in brief
NEWS IN BRIEF
Entrepreneurs from Aura Vision Labs, a current Southampton web startup
Z21 INNOVATION FUND TO ACCELERATE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON WEB STARTUPS The Z21 Innovation Fund will support startups capitalising on the growing potential of the Web in a new collaboration between the University of Southampton and the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The University’s Web Science Institute (WSI) will deliver expert advice to entrepreneurs in the programme while Future Worlds, the on-campus incubator, will provide acceleration through mentoring and investor introductions.
The fund is inviting applications from anyone in the University aiming to launch a Web startup and will support them towards success by offering expertise, facilities and early-stage grants, followed by pre-seed investment.
If you would like further information, please contact Z21 Coordination Manager Susan Davies at sdd1@soton.ac.uk
Solent LEP support of £500,000 toward the initiative is being matched in-kind by the University, with a view to the Innovation Fund supporting at least 16 potential ventures by March 2019 and generating 40 new direct jobs in the Solent region by March 2021.
SOUTHAMPTON RESEARCHERS JOIN ROSALIND FRANKLIN INSTITUTE Leading Life Sciences researchers at the University of Southampton will play a major role in a new national institute that aims to create a UK centre of excellence in technology development and innovation. The Rosalind Franklin Institute, which is being funded by a £100 million investment from the Government, will bring together the UK’s strengths in life sciences, physical sciences and engineering. Theme areas are proposed to develop disruptive technologies in multilevel and correlative imaging, drug development and delivery, spectroscopy and data integration. By working with clinicians and biomedical investigators the outputs will benefit people across the globe. 16
Alongside Southampton, other academic partners include Imperial College London and the universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford, Manchester, King’s College London and University College London. It will be managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and based at Harwell. Professor Peter Smith, Director, Institute for Life Sciences, said: “We are very proud to be a partner in this new initiative that looks set to push the boundaries of scientific discoveries even further.”
Rosalind Franklin. Image by Jewish Chronicle Archive/Heritage-Images
Research & Innovation Services, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
SETSQUARED CCF BID SETsquared has been named as the winning university collaboration to deliver the Industrial Strategy for Scale-Ups across the South of England. SETsquared, the enterprise partnership between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey, has been awarded £5 million by HEFCE to launch a new programme for scale-up businesses from the most innovative sectors across the South of England. Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities & Science (pictured), announced the award as part of a £20 million allocation to the first round winners of HEFCE’s Connecting Capability Fund competition. The fund, which was announced in the Government’s Industrial Strategy green paper (which also cited SETsquared), aims to support universities in working together and with external partners to commercialise research, help deliver the strategy and share good practice and capacity. The SETsquared Scale-Up Programme will be open to businesses from the Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing, Digital Innovation, Environmental, Sustainable and Marine/ Maritime, and Health and Wellbeing sectors from April 2018. You can read the full announcement at: www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2017/ Name,115845,en.html
ROYAL SOCIETY FELLOWSHIP TO ADVANCE TREATMENTS FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDERS KICKS OFF A four-year programme to progress the development of advanced bioelectronics systems that would revolutionise the treatment of nervous system disorders began in September. Themis Prodromakis is a Professor of Nanotechnology within the Zepler Institute and is the academic lead of this Royal Society Industry Fellowship, whose aim is to co-develop this technology in collaboration with Galvani Bioelectronics. This industrial engagement project will exploit the potential of nanoscale memristive devices. The aim is to deliver a
platform technology that will address the current bandwidth and power constraints of large-scale implantable neural devices.
and the EU. Our disruptive approach brings new prospects in the field of bioelectronics advanced neural interfaces.”
The advance will enable the detection, analysis and interpretation of biosignals in real time, while requiring minute power and chip area.
He added: “Through this award we aim to employ our research findings for building a highly scalable integrated neural activity decoder. The availability of such a technology would revolutionise the development of embedded devices for treating a wide variety of nervous system disorders and will bring us a step closer in realising the vision of bioelectronic medicines.”
Themis said: “I’m delighted to receive this prestigious award that will allow me to translate some of the key fundamental scientific research contributions my team has developed over the past four years with the support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
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News
UNIVERSITY SPIN OUT LAUNCHES The University is celebrating the most recent in a series of spin out companies in the form of Renovos, an orthopaedic regenerative medicine company. Founded by Professor Richard Oreffo, Dr Jon Dawson with Dr Agnieszka Janeczek and Mr James Otter, the company aims to be a leader in cross-functional orthopaedic services and solutions. Medical and technological advances have led to a welcome increase in life expectancy. However, ageing populations pose new challenges and emphasise the need for novel approaches to aid and repair tissues, such as bone, lost through damage or disease. Renovos will capture the opportunities offered by both an expanding research community and a bone repair market via a three-pronged approach:
i) Innovative cell and growth factor delivery technology using a patented hydrogel system ii) Provision of enriched and non-enriched bone stem cells unrivalled in the world for research to pharma, biotech SMEs and academics and, iii) A services facility to undertake contract research using unique skeletal preclinical models. Professor Oreffo said: “Renovos offers a step change in bone repair approaches for orthopaedic regenerative medicine providing unique skeletal cell populations, regenerative assays, and proprietary cell and drug delivery technologies.” For more information visit www.renovos.co.uk
BESPOKE TREATMENT FOR TORN CORNEA They say ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’. This certainly rings true for Professor Tim Leighton who, after emergency treatment for a torn cornea, was sporting an uncomfortable eye patch and needing to see a specialist. He was soon wearing a bespoke 3D-printed eye patch and receiving invaluable help from a colleague who happens to be a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon. Tim, Professor of Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics, said: “I have dry corneas, which I already knew about. But my right eye got so painful I went to casualty. I have a tear in top layer of the cornea.”
because I spend so much time staring at a computer screen. But it didn’t keep my eye closed so I was putting bundles of tissues underneath – it wasn’t very comfortable. I didn’t realise my crafty students had a plan.” The patch holds Tim’s eye closed, reducing pain, and allowing him to relax – keeping one eye closed without a patch uses a lot of muscles and is tiring.
infections. She said: “I thought I could make him something better. This eye patch is bigger than the other one. Then I designed the red bump on the back, which holds the eye closed.” The eye patch, which Tim will be wearing off and on until Christmas, took half an hour to print on a 3D printer, at a cost of less than £1. Tim added: “I have a very caring student, and a caring doctor from NAMRIP!”
Freya Malcher is one of Tim’s PhD students, investigating the use of ultrasound to reduce
The cornea is the clear dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. Tim was sent home with eye drops and an appointment to see a specialist, who turned out to be his NAMRIP colleague Dr Parwez Hossain. Tim is Chairman of NAMRIP, the Network for AntiMicrobial Resistance and Infection Prevention. Parwez gave Tim eye drops and a contact lens to wear over the torn cornea to protect it from recurrent tears. Tim has Recurrent Erosion Syndrome, where the top layer of the cornea is prone to tear from minor trauma. The contact lens protects this layer from further injury and potential infection. “Before I saw Parwez, I was given an eye patch by a pharmacist to keep the eye closed from time to time, to keep tears away and to stop the eye from drying out,” said Tim. “Parwez’s solutions were excellent, but I still used the eye-patch off and on 18
Professor Tim Leighton and PHD student Freya Malcher
Research & Innovation Services, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON TO LEAD NATIONAL BIOFILMS INNOVATION CENTRE The UK’s world-class expertise in the research of biofilms has been recognised through the launch of a new National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) led by the University of Southampton. Supported by a commitment of £26 million over the next five years, including £12.5M funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Centre (BBSRC) and Innovate UK, with additional support from universities and industry, the NBIC will bring the best of UK biofilm research together with UK companies from across the industrial sectors to accelerate the adoption of new technologies into live products and services as part of a global industry worth $5 trillion.
Microbial biofilm research is a feature of many scientific disciplines across the University of Southampton, lead research organisation of the centre. Southampton boasts the largest grouping of biofilm academics in the UK and is unique in its ability to consider biofilms in an integrated way across a range of research areas. These include biological sciences, medicine, chemistry, computational modelling, engineering and ocean science creating impact across diverse fields of application, from medicine to industry to the environment.
EVENTS FOR THE DIARY ARTIFICIAL ETHICS: MORAL AND PRACTICAL CHALLENGES IN THE AGE OF THE MACHINE 18 and 19 December 2017, Lecture Theatre C, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton This joint two-day symposium and workshop is a collaboration between the Autonomous Systems University Strategic Research Group and the Southampton Ethics Centre in the Faculty of Humanities, and will explore issues around integrating robotics and autonomous systems into human affairs. It aims to bring philosophers and ethicists together with engineers, operators and other stakeholders in the autonomous revolution.
For more information visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/autonomous-systems/ news/events/latest.page
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DAY 10 March 2018, Highfield and Boldrewood Campuses Annual public event on Highfield and Boldrewood Campuses, as part of Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF) that runs in parallel with National Science Week.
For more information visit: www.sotsef.co.uk 19
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MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS 1. Exeter was gripped by a fear of witchcraft for more than 100 years, and was the last place in England where people were hanged for practising ‘dark arts’. Professor Mark Stoyle discovered new evidence from court cases and executions in the Devon city in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The discovery was published by the Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Express, amongst others. 2. Southampton scientists moved a step closer to understanding relativistic jets – nature’s own Death Star beams – by successfully measuring how quickly they switch on and start shining brightly once they are launched. Relativistic jets are jets of energy that shoot out from the vicinity of black holes. The news was covered by outlets including the International Business Times, The British Journal and the Daily Mail.
A woodcut of witches from an 18th century book 1
3. Professor Dame Wendy Hall is co-leading a major review of the UK’s burgeoning Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry, setting out how Government, academia and industry can work together to increase the use of AI across the economy. The BBC, the Financial Times, the Daily Echo and Computer Weekly, amongst others, reported the news.
Relativistic jets shoot out from black holes 2
Professor Dame Wendy Hall 3
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Research & Innovation Services, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
4. Eating healthily throughout adult life improves physical fitness in old age, according to new research by Professor Sian Robinson. Cutting down on processed food and eating more fruit, vegetables and wholegrain cereals during your 30s, 40s and 50s can lead to better for mobility and fitness in your 60s and beyond. The news was reported by the BBC and The Times, amongst others. 5. Scientists made a breakthrough in efforts to develop a vaccine against Zika, dengue and Hepatitis C viruses. They found that natural killer cells, which are a fundamental part of the body’s immune system, can recognise many different viruses through a single receptor. The news was reported in the Daily Echo, Science Daily and The Conversation. 6. New marine sensor technologies to probe the mysteries of the world’s oceans will be developed thanks to more than £4m worth of funding from the Natural Environment Research Council. The funding will enable four projects, including one to develop 3D visual mapping and colour images of the sea floor, and another to analyse how phytoplankton process carbon for food. The news was reported in The Engineer.
Eating well during adulthood promotes better long term health in old age 4
Diseases such as Zika and dengue are carried by mosquitos 5
Sensors developed in Southampton will be compatible with underwater systems such as Boaty McBoatface 6
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News
FUNDING NEWS FACULTY OF BUSINESS, LAW AND ART Mr Andrew Carnie; Winchester School of Art Hybrid bodies GOLA AHRC, £4,970 over 9 months Dr Maxwell Chipulu; Southampton Business School Algorithms and System Dynamics for Decision and Policy Support of the Integrated Employment Service Greater London Authority, £25,000 over 9 months Dr Vadim Grinevich; Southampton Business School Electricity Sat Nav - Electricity Smart Availability Topology of Network for Abundant Electric Vehicles EPSRC; £21,480 over 24 months Prof Jussi Parikka; Winchester School of Art Archaeology of the Fashion Film AHRC; £28,942 over 24 months Dr Oche Onazi; Southampton Law School Is there an African path to Disability justice? ISRF Early Career Fellowship Independent Social Research Foundation; £46,967 over 9 months
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE ENVIRONMENT Prof Yifeng Yang; Engineering Sciences Collaboration in the field of cold powering in the framework of the High Luminosity upgrade for the LHC (HL-LHC) at CERN The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, £413,189 over 48 months Prof Theodore Karavasilis; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science ResFrameFireSeismic (Resilient steel frame against seismic and fire hazards) - H2020 MSCA IF 2016 call European Commission, £146,764 over 24 months Prof Theodore Karavasilis; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science TimePressCompBridge (Time-dependent design and assessment of prestressed steelconcrete composite bridges with external FRP tendons) - H2020 MSCA IF 2016 call European Commission, £156,364 over 24 months Prof Robert Nicholls; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Supporting Partners Contribution to IPCC Special Report on Impacts of 1.5 Degree Celsius Warming International Development Research Centre (IDRC); £21,086 over 4 months Prof James Scanlan; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering ULTRA - Unmanned Low cost Transport aircraft for Africa eSPe Investment Partners, £77,109 over 12 months
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Dr Nicholas Woodman; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Non Steady Analytical Models for Energy Pile Testing and Design EPSRC, £90,335 over 24 months Prof John Shrimpton; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering eCSE Proposal : Re-coding PANDORA for large scale computation EPSRC, £13,621 over 6 months Prof Neville Stanton; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science A Socio-Technical Systems Approach to Road Safety (STARS): A Global Health Research Group National Institute of Health Research; £1,986,387 over 36 months Prof Neville Stanton; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Optimising illicit dark net marketplace interventions Australian Research Council, £pro bono over 36 months Dr Thomas Blumensath; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Blueprint constrained x-ray tomography reconstruction EPSRC, £505,019 over 36 months Prof Bharathram Ganapathisubramani; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering Turbulent flow over multi scale heterogeneous surfaces EPSRC, £488,160 over 48 months Dr Denis Kramer; Engineering Sciences Entropy profiles as fingerprints to link modelling and experiment: high-voltage spinels as a test case Science And Technology Facilities Council, £1,280 over 6 months Dr Blair Thornton; Maritime Institute BioCam - Mapping of Benthic Biology, Geology and Ecology with Essential Ocean Variables Natural Environment Research Council; £587,602 over 48 months Prof Tom Cherrett; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Access Fund Monitoring and Evaluation Southampton City Council; £37,520 over 6 months Prof David Thompson; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Theoretical modelling for the development of an optimized low-noise track (Year 4) Korea Railroad Research Institute; £53,849 over 9 months Prof David Thompson; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research Shift2Rail- RUN2RAIL (Innovative running gear solutions for new dependable, sustainable, intelligent and comfortable rail vehicles) European Commission; ¤212,068 over 24 months
Prof Rodney Self; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research iFan (Generic) Research on broadband fan noise. Rolls Royce PLC; £49,647 over 12 months Prof Janice Barton; Engineering Sciences Structures 2025: a high fidelity, data rich, paradigm for structural testing EPSRC; £1,143,861 over 36 months Prof Atul Bhaskar; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering British Council Travel Grant in the area of Innovation & Enterprise. British Council; £6,000 over 4 months Prof Atul Bhaskar; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering British Council Travel Grant for developing new research and educational links. British Council; £6,000 over 4 months Prof Atul Bhaskar; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering InDEStruct - MSCA-ITN-2017 - Atul Bhaskar European Commission; £841,270 over 48 months Dr Carlos Alberto Ponce De Leon Albarran; Engineering Sciences CO2EXIDE - H2020 RIA 2017 - Ponce de Leon European Commission; £476,756 over 36 months Prof Jonathan Preston; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Access Fund Monitoring and Evaluation Southampton City Council; £120,000 over 36 months Dr Bram Sengers; Engineering Sciences Computational modelling to evaluate, understand and predict the placental transfer of xenobiotics as an integrated system BBSRC; £421,739 over 36 months Dr Georges Limbert; Engineering Sciences A computational modelling approach to the design and testing of continuous glucose monitoring and insulin delivery systems Roche Diabetes Care GmbH; £88,174 over 6 months Dr Helen Cullington; FEE Enterprise Getting ready for cochlear implant assessment using online tools at home IDA Institute; £7,567 over 12 months Dr Simon Blainey; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science UKCRIC National Infrastructure Database, Modelling, Simulation and Visualisation Facilities EPSRC; 48 months Dr Denis Kramer; Engineering Sciences ISCF Wave 1: Improved lifetime performance and safety of electrochemical energy stores through functionalisation of passive materials and components EPSRC; £1,003,422 over 36 months
For more information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
Dr Gustavo de Almeida; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Debris Effects on bridge resilience and Flooding Natural Environment Research Council; £67,886 over 10 months Dr Mohammad Kashani; Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Resilience of School Buildings in Nepal EPSRC; £186,582 over 36 months Prof Ramanand Shenoi; Maritime Institute MARITEC-X - Ajit Shenoi - H2020 European Commission; £63,291 over 12 months Dr Alan McAlpine; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research ANIMA - Aviation Noise Impact Management through Novel Approaches H2020 Call 2016-2017 Mobility for Growth, MG–1.2–2017: Reducing aviation noise European Commission; £36,519 over 48 months Dr Alan McAlpine; Institute of Sound and Vibration Research ARTEM – Aircraft Noise Reduction Technologies and Related Environmental Impact H2020 Call 2016-2017 Mobility for Growth, MG–1.2–2017: Reducing aviation noise European Commission; £576,655 over 48 months Dr Richard Cook; Engineering Sciences Isolation and characterisation of wear debris and corrosion products released from hip implants Arthroplasty for Arthritis Charity; £50,245 over 12 months Dr Camilla Colombo; Aeronautics, Astronautics and Computational Engineering ESA ITT: Life Cycle Indicator on Space Debris European Space Agency; £26,271 over 9 months
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES Prof Joanna Adams; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central EULAR recommendations/points to consider for the health professionals management of patients with osteopenia and a risk of fragility fracture and/or of (subsequent) falling The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), £29,540 over 24 months Prof Mary Gobbi; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central SmartNurse-Launchpad- H2020CSA - M Gobbi - 29 Sept 16 European Commission, £32,000 over 18 months Prof Mandy Fader; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central Anti-bacterial ‘Fill & Flush’ Urinary Catheter Development National Institute of Health Research, £171,519 over 24 months Prof Mandy Fader; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central 2017/18 Research Capability Funding Solent NHS Trust, £25,404 over 12 months
Prof Alison Richardson, Professor of Cancer Nursing and End of Life Care; Faculty of Health Sciences Methylphenidate versus placebo for fatigue in advanced cancer (MePFAC) National Institute of Health Research; £22,613 over 42 months
Dr Naomi Thompson; Philosophy Metaphysical Explanation University of Gothenburg; £193,213 over 36 months
Dr Dawn-Marie Walker; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central NIHR RfPB: Optimising hearing-Related Communication for care Home Residents with Dementia (ORCHARD): a realist synthesis National Institute of Health Research, £8,574 over 15 months
FACULTY OF MEDICINE
Prof Susan Latter; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central Accessing medicines at end-of-life: a multi-stakeholder, mixed method evaluation of service provision National Institute of Health Research; £327,580 over 30 months Prof Daniel Bader; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central Medstrom Collaboration: Dolphin and Aerospacer Research Medstrom; £14,041 over 9 months Dr David Voegeli; Faculty of Health Sciences - Central An investigation of the interaction between pad surface wetness, microclimate and skin barrier function SCA Hygiene Products AB; £52,300 over 12 months Jane Ball; Faculty of Health Sciences Implementation, impact and costs of policies for safe staffing in acute trusts and the funder of the DH Policy Research Programme Department of Health; £348,009 over 24 months
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Prof Jeanice Brooks; Music Music, Home and Heritage: Sounding the Domestic in Georgian Britain AHRC, £665,000 over 36 months Mr Kristian Strutt; Archaeology Old Sarum and its Landscape Society Of Antiquaries Of London; £2,460 over 12 months Dr Fraser Sturt; Archaeology Leverhulme Prize Leverhulme Trust, £99,727 over 36 months Dr William Baker; Modern Languages From English language learners to Intercultural Citizens: Chinese student sojourners development of intercultural citizenship in ELT and EMI programmes. British Council ELT Research Award, £9,980 over 12 months Dr David Bretherton; Music AHRC Leadership Fellowship: Queer Music, Queer Theory, Queer Music Theory AHRC; £211,593 over 24 months
Dr Rosemary Farr; Archaeology ACROSS - H2020 - ERC -2017 STG - Helen Farr European Commission; £661,018 over 60 months
Prof Paul Little; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR (Bristol) Preparing for Improving the use of NHS Primary Care Services and Antibiotics for Children with Respiratory Tract Infections (PREINACT) National Institute of Health Research, £6,224 over 18 months Prof Paul Little; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR/UCL - CAP IT National Institute of Health Research, £20,851 over 39 months Prof Paul Little; Primary Care and Population Sciences Southern Health RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £11,758 over 12 months Prof Paul Little; Primary Care and Population Sciences SPCR - Oxford CPRD study for FR14 (Dec 16) National Institute of Health Research, £3,214 over 12 months Prof Paul Roderick; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR HTA though North Bristol NHS Trust PrepareME study National Institute of Health Research, £21,381 over 60 months Prof Paul Roderick; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR 16/31/127 - Aspirin To Target Arterial Events in Chronic Kidney Disease (ATTACK) National Institute of Health Research, £1,758,991 over 90 months Prof Cyrus Cooper; Human Development and Health University Unit Strategic Partnership Funding UNIVERSITY UNIT: MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit MRC, £301,000 over 12 months Prof Mark Cragg and Dr Stephen Beers; Cancer Sciences Understanding and Overcoming resistance to antibody therapy Cancer Research UK, £2,163,945 over 60 months Prof Anthony Kendrick; Primary Care and Population Sciences Solent NHS RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £23,251 over 12 months
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News Prof Roxana-Octavia Carare; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Vascular dementia: failure of fluid drainage from cerebral white matter Stroke Association, £202,396 over 36 months Prof Colin Kennedy; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Quality of Life and Quality of Survival in paediatric medulloblastoma: A prospective study on children recruited to the SIOP-PNET5-MB trial The Brain Tumour Charity, £308,057 over 77 months Prof Sarah Ennis; Human Development and Health Metabolo-genomic interactions in paediatric Crohn’s Disease (CD). Core, £33,400 over 24 months Prof Christopher Byrne; Human Development and Health Dr Jaswinder K. Sethi: Wellcome Trust Career Re-Entry Fellowship Wellcome Trust; £589,119 over 48 months Prof Richard Oreffo; Human Development and Health Identifying the skeletal stem cell for regeneration - harnessing smart nanoparticles and single cell DropSeq molecular profiling platforms BBSRC, £675,535 over 36 months Prof Richard Oreffo; Human Development and Health Developing Clay Gels for Bone Tissue Repair Innovate UK, £101,103 and £279,228 over 18 months Dr Hazel Everitt; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR SPCR - Expectation Management for Patients in Primary Care: Developing and Feasibility Testing a New Digital Intervention for Practitioners National Institute of Health Research; £377,265 over 24 months Prof Karen Walker-Bone; Human Development and Health M Stevens MRC HEAF Study - title to follow Colt Foundation, £124,304 over 36 months Prof Karen Walker-Bone; Human Development and Health NIHR HTA Led by St Thomas Hospital National Institute of Health Research, £22,526 over 30 months Prof Graham Packham; Cancer Sciences CRUK - Conference - Precision Cancer Medicine: Forefront Technologies at the Clinical Interface (IfLS conference, UoS) Cancer Research UK, £2,000 over 1 month Prof Jane Lucas; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Accuracy of high speed video-microscopy analysis to diagnose primary ciliary dyskinesia National Institute of Health Research, £112,732 over 12 months
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Prof Jane Lucas; Clinical and Experimental Sciences NIOX VERO Nasal Application in Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, £14,550 over 6 months
Dr Beth Stuart; Primary Care and Population Sciences SPCR (Oxford) - Evidence Synthesis Group - Workstream 3 (Dec 16) National Institute of Health Research; £48,555 over 36 months
Prof Andrew Lotery; Clinical and Experimental Sciences [Chief Investigator Dr Ruth Hogg, The Queen’s University of Belfast] Self-monitoring age-related macular degeneration (AMD) disease activity at home, the MONARCH study. National Institute of Health Research, £20,099 over 42 months
Dr Stuart Clarke; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Solent NHS RCF Award - Retrospective (Jul 17) National Institute of Health Research; £38,409 over 12 months
Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences ESRC (via Oxford) - Implementation of interventions for antimicrobial stewardship in primary care (September 2016) ESRC, £21,964 over 48 months Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR HTA (via Bristol) - The Painful Runny Ear (REST) study - September 2016 National Institute of Health Research, £51,670 over 36 months Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences Southern Health RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £16,336 over 12 months Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences Southern Health RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £19,751 over 12 months Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences SPCR (Oxford) - A randomised trial of D mannose in adult female UTI (Dec 16) National Institute of Health Research, £18,356 over 36 months
Mr Marcus Parry; Medical Education Lisa Ballard - Exploring and developing an on-line behaviour change intervention to aid patients to disseminate genetic information to at-risk relatives Health Education England - CENTRAL; £46,977 over 12 months Dr Miriam Santer; Primary Care and Population Sciences Southern Health RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £9,208 over 12 months Dr Miriam Santer; Primary Care and Population Sciences Southern Health RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £7,670 over 12 months Dr Miriam Santer; Primary Care and Population Sciences Dr Duncan Platt - NIHR In Practice Fellowship - Exploring GP’s experiences of diagnosing and managing acne National Institute of Health Research, £89,752 over 24 months Dr Miriam Santer; Primary Care and Population Sciences SPCR (Bristol) - The TEST Study (Trial of Eczema allergy Screening Tests): a multicentre, pilot randomised controlled trial with nested qualitative study (Dec 16) National Institute of Health Research, £15,243 over 20 months
Prof Michael Moore; Primary Care and Population Sciences SPCR (Oxford) - Analysis of 3C Samples (Dec 16) National Institute of Health Research, £4,824 over 19 months
Dr Miriam Santer; Primary Care and Population Sciences Solent NHS RCF - Retrospective - Awarded July 2017. National Institute of Health Research, £11,118 over 12 months
Prof Graham Roberts; Clinical and Experimental Sciences NIH via KCL- Immune Tolerance Network National Institutes of Health – USA, £4,570 over 6 months
Prof Gareth Thomas; Cancer Sciences Waise. MRC. Fellowship. Characterising cancerassociated fibroblast heterogeneity in lung cancer: relating molecular phenotype to function MRC, £148,938 over 24 months
Dr Beth Stuart; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR RfPB - Delayed antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections - an evidence synthesis of individual patient date (August 2016) National Institute of Health Research; £288,758 over 36 months
Dr Sean Lim; Cancer Sciences CRUK (NAC) and Celldex : A phase IIa study of rituximab and varlilumab in relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies (RiVa study). Cancer Research UK, £149,950 over 52 months
For more information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
Dr Nigel Hall; Human Development and Health Nigel Hall (Ian Jones): Royal College of Surgeons of England: One Year Fellowship Royal College of Surgeons, £70,003 over 12 months Dr Francesco Forconi; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Hairy Cell. South Coast Observational Study (project 60050485) Hairy Cell Leukaemia Foundation; £23,815 over 12 months Prof Paul Elkington; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Investigating Matrix Degradation Products in Tuberculosis. Clinical Research Training Fellowship for Hannah Schiff MRC, £235,730 over 36 months Dr J Arjuna Ratnayaka; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Modelling effects of TIMP-3 mutations in RPE - Insights into Sorsby disease and night blindness in retinal dystrophies. RP Fighting Blindness, £188,681 over 36 months. Dr Alistair Easton; Cancer Sciences Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group. Investigation of ganglioside-specific receptor expression by tumour-infiltrating immune cells Childrens Cancer and Leukaemia Group, £9,855 over 12 months Dr Liku Tezera; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Developing the 3 - dimensional cellular model of Tuberculosis by integrating co-axial bioelectrospray, technology and stem cells (Liku Tezera) Wessex Medical Trust, £19,950 over 24 months Dr Mary Barker; Human Development and Health Engaging adolescents in changing behaviour (EACh-B): a programme of research to improve the diets and physical activity levels of teenagers National Institute of Health Research; £2,166,779 over 63 months Prof Peter Johnson; Cancer Sciences LLNI - Fellowship Bridgin Merron Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI; £30,000 over 12 months Dr Simon Crabb; Cancer Sciences Cytosight Award (Retrospective costing) Cancer Research UK; £17,500 over 12 months Mr Rahul Bhome; Cancer Sciences MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship (RCUK/UKRI Innovation) MRC; £150,803 over 24 months Dr Andrew Davies Prof Gareth Griffiths; Cancer Sciences IELSG 37 International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group; £20,000 over 24 months
Prof Joanne Lord; Wessex Institute Evaluation of the Impact of High Intensity-Led Acute Care (HiSLAC) of Emergency Medical Admissions to NHS Hospitals at Weekends National Institute of Health Research; £18,597 over 41 months Prof Joanne Lord; Wessex Institute What Works Wellbeing: Economic evidence review for culture, sport and wellbeing evidence programme National Institute of Health Research; £10,126 over 12 months Prof Joanne Lord; Wessex Institute Economic evaluation of Functional Lesion Assessment of Intermediate Stenosis to Guide Revascularisation (FLAIR) Philips Research; £45,620 over 6 months Dr Stephen Wootton; Human Development and Health NBRC renewal rare disease and cross cutting theme National Institute of Health Research; £553,911 over 12 months Prof Clive Holmes; Clinical and Experimental Sciences TNF inhibitors in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer’s Society ; £165,290 over 36 months
FACULTY OF NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Prof David Harrowven; Chemistry Turning Laboratories into the Factories of the Future European Regional Development Fund, Interreg V, £1,322,983 over 48 months Dr Maria Baker; Ocean and Earth Science Sustaining Deep-Sea Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: The Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) Arcadia Fund, £400,000 over 60 months Prof Richard Brown and Prof David Harrowven; Chemistry Photo-Electro: Transforming Chemical Synthesis, Discovery and Manufacture EPSRC; £1,210,444 over 60 months Prof Andrea Russell; Chemistry Proof of concept: Bifunctional oxygen electrodes using novel oxide catalysts Science And Technology Facilities Council, £30,437 over 4 months Prof Christopher Moore; Ocean and Earth Science Single Turnover Active Fluorometry of Enclosed Samples for Autonomous Phytoplankton Productivity (STAFES-APP) Natural Environment Research Council; £514,452 over 48 months Prof Christopher Moore; Ocean and Earth Science Carbon Uptake and Seasonal Traits of Antarctic Remineralisation Depth (CUSTARD) Natural Environment Research Council; £257,628 over 48 months
Prof Jessica Teeling; Biological Sciences Periodontitis and future cognitive decline The Dunhill Medical Trust, £88,912 over 24 months Prof Thomas Bibby; Ocean and Earth Science Rewiring photosynthesis with synthetic biology BBSRC; £460,631 over 36 months Prof Chris-Kriton Skylaris; Chemistry Excitations in Complex Environments: Multiphysics embedding for large scale electronic structure EPSRC, £215,537 over 30 months Dr Ivan Haigh; Ocean and Earth Science Synthesising Unprecedented Coastal Conditions: Extreme Storm Surges (SUCCESS) Natural Environment Research Council; £4,946 over 12 months Dr Amber Annett; Ocean and Earth Science Radium in Changing Environments: A Novel Tracer of Iron Fluxes at Ocean Margins Natural Environment Research Council, £617,294 over 60 months Dr Nuria Garcia-Araez; Chemistry SALBAGE - Nuria Garcia-Araez - H2020 RIA FETOPEN-2016-2017 European Commission, £324,081 over 36 months Dr Thomas Ezard; Ocean and Earth Science Does developmental plasticity influence speciation? Natural Environment Research Council, £1,614,998 over 60 months Dr Yihua Wang; Biological Sciences The role of Factor inhibiting HIF (FIH) in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) The Academy of Medical Sciences, £99,927 over 24 months Dr Ksenia Kurbatskaya; Biological Sciences Investigating calpain as a key mediator of Aβ-induced calcium dysregulation and synaptotoxicity in human neurons Alzheimer’s Society ; £195,526 over 36 months Dr Mariana Vargas-Caballero; Biological Sciences Targeting metabolic alterations driving olfactory deficits in an Alzheimer’s disease model Royal Society; £99,000 over 24 months Prof Graeme Day; Chemistry Leverhulme Research Centre for Functional Materials Design Leverhulme Trust; £145,470 over 36 months Prof Charles Keevil; Biological Sciences NIHR vCJD National Institute of Health Research; £817,076 over 36 months Dr Amritpal Mudher; Biological Sciences Investigating the mechanisms of pathological tau-clearance in 3D induced pluripotent stemcell (iPSC) models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Wessex Medical Trust; £13,000 over 24 months Dr Diego Gomez-Nicola; Biological Sciences Alzheimer’s Research UK South Coast Network Centre Grant Alzheimer’s Research UK; £35,000 over 12 months
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News Dr Katrin Deinhardt; Biological Sciences Dissecting the molecular basis of selective axonal subcompartment vulnerability in tauopathy Alzheimer’s Research UK; £49,972 over 12 months Dr Melissa Andrews; Biological Sciences Optimising Stem Cells for Neuronal Replacement in the CNS Wessex Medical Trust; £20,000 over 24 months Dr Yihua Wang; Biological Sciences Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by RAS activation in alveolar Type II cells leads to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or lung cancer invasion? Wessex Medical Trust; £20,000 over 24 months Dr Sam Thompson; Chemistry Peptidomimetic inhibitors of HER2 positive breast cancer Wessex Medical Trust; £20,000 over 24 months
FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING Prof Wendy Hall; Electronics and Computer Science Blockchain-empowered Infrastructure for IoT (BlockIT) EPSRC, £156,608 over 18 months Prof Wendy Hall; Electronics and Computer Science (HEALTH-I) Hybrid Engagement Architecture Layer for Trusted Human-centric IoT EPSRC, £153,309 over 18 months Prof Christopher Sachrajda; Physics and Astronomy Precision Flavour Physics with Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics Leverhulme Trust, £21,920 over 24 months Prof Anne Tropper; Physics and Astronomy Tantala Microring Resonator Platform for Compact Femto-comb Generation EPSRC, £220,018 over 24 months Prof Tim Morris; Physics and Astronomy Wilsonian renormalization group in quantum gravity Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship, £44,741 over 12 months Prof Daniel Hewak; Optoelectronics Research Centre UltraSRD – Designing a proof of concept ultra-low power, solid-state reflective colour display using novel phase change materials Innovate UK, £70,434 over 24 months Dr Mark Weal; Electronics and Computer Science A smarter approach to hearing health: Using smartphone technology to monitor real-world listening behaviour and sound exposure British Tinnitus Association, £4,500 over 6 months Prof Lieliang Yang; Electronics and Computer Science New Air Interface Techniques for Future Massive Machine-Type Communications EPSRC, £356,806 over 36 months
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Dr Sarvapali Ramchurn; Electronics and Computer Science Human-UAV teaming in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments. Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL), £73,073 over 3 months
Prof Paul Lewin; Electronics and Computer Science Condition and climatic environment for power transformer National Grid Company PLC; £928,421 over 48 months
Mr Daniel Whiter; Physics and Astronomy Shock Aurora Royal Astronomical Society, £1,200 over 2 months
Prof Paul Lewin; Electronics and Computer Science Reclamation and Gassing Issues in Transformers (TOPICS2) National Grid Company PLC; £545,053 over 48 months
Prof Hendrik Ulbricht; Physics and Astronomy Rotational tests of quantum mechanics and gravity Foundational Questions Institute, £1,900 over 12 months Prof Hendrik Ulbricht; Physics and Astronomy H2020-FETOPEN-RIA- Prof Hendrik Uibricht - 29-11-16 European Commission, £559,998 over 48 months Dr Radan Slavik; Optoelectronics Research Centre Compact Fibre-based optical oscillator UK Space Agency, £59,943 over 12 months Prof Otto Muskens; Physics and Astronomy Classical and quantum aspects of light in complex media EPSRC; £9,881 over 3 months Dr Diego Altamirano; Physics and Astronomy The first step for High-Energy Astrophysics relations between Argentina and UK Royal Society, £13,000 over 24 months Dr Milos Nedeljkovic; Optoelectronics Research Centre On-chip systems for mid-infrared sensing Royal Academy of Engineering; £496,398 over 60 months Prof Timothy Norman; Electronics and Computer Science Human-Machine Teaming for Intelligence Analysis Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL), £83,197 over 6 months Prof Michael Surridge; Electronics and Computer Science VIVACE COM010 Home Office; £3,676 over 2 months Prof Francesco Poletti; Optoelectronics Research Centre Micro/nanostructured multimaterial fibres: A novel platform for engineering light-matter interaction Royal Society; £99,000 over 24 months Prof Hendrik Ulbricht; Physics and Astronomy Non-Markovian feedback cooling - Luca Ferialdi Royal Society; £99,000 over 24 months Dr Diego Altamirano; Physics and Astronomy Fast, Simultaneous and Multi-Wavelength: New Light On X-ray Binaries with OPTICam Royal Society Newton International Fellowship; £99,000 over 24 months
Dr Corin Gawith; Optoelectronics Research Centre Establishing Supply Chains for Emergent Quantum Computers (ESCHER) Innovate UK; £149,008 over 18 months Prof Hywel Morgan; Electronics and Computer Science Towards licensing of lab on chip technologies for water quality and environmental metrology markets Natural Environment Research Council; £14,087 over 24 months Prof Francesco Poletti; Optoelectronics Research Centre Development of Polarization Maintaining Hollow Core Fibre Honeywell International INC; £209,140 over 6 months Prof Graham Reed; Optoelectronics Research Centre Silicon Photonics for low energy internet EPSRC; £2,220,207 over 60 months
FACULTY OF SOCIAL, HUMAN AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Mr Christopher Hill; Geography and Environment FAO Afghan 1 Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations; £11,565 over 1 month Mr Christopher Hill; Geography and Environment WIoDER International Development Research Centre (IDRC); £103,660 over 24 months Prof Roger Ingham; Psychology and Centre for Sexual Health Research Australian Research Council Discovery Project joint with Professor Alan McKee, UTS Pornography’s effects on audiences: explaining contradictory research data Australian Research Council, £82,417 over 30 months Mr Jason Sadler; Geography and Environment Development of research data infrastructure to support the WorldPop GridSample project Flowminder Foundation; £12,929 over 5 months Prof Nyovani Madise; Social Sciences EARF Regional Analysis of Youth Demographics Department International Development, £51,404 over 12 months
For more information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
Prof Lucy Yardley; Psychology NIHR HTA PIMMS National Institute of Health Research, £17,624 over 18 months Prof Lucy Yardley; Psychology Changing Health KTP Innovate UK, £105,391 over 24 months Prof Derek Mcghee; Social Sciences Lindsey ESRC Bookends ESRC; £78,461 over 24 months
Prof Sarah Parsons; Southampton Education School Autism Community Research Network @ Southampton [ACoRNS]: Children’s voices ESRC Festival of Social Science, £900 over 5 months Prof William Jennings; Social Sciences Canberra A survey on UK Public Opinion on attitudes to Politicians. University of Canberra, £8,652 over 3 months
Dr Nicholas Maguire; Psychology London Pathway Psychological Reflective Practice The London Pathway, £6,000 over 12 months
Prof Marika Taylor; Mathematical Sciences Turton - RS University Research Fellowship (M.Taylor supervising) Royal Society, £298,612 over 60 months
Prof Nikolaos Tzavidis; Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute H2020 - INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 - InGRID2 - Nikos Tzavidis - 30 March 2016 European Commission, £258,560 over 48 months
Dr Marije Schaafsma; Geography and Environment Valuing the ecosystem services of the eastern arc mountains in Tanzania UN Environment, £10,720 over 4 months
Prof Jadunandan Dash; Geography and Environment Veal, Small Grant, RGS Royal Geographical Society (with IBG); £2,827 over 3 months
Dr Marije Schaafsma; Geography and Environment Developing capacity to support the integration of environmental data into multidimensional poverty indicators Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation; £14,906 over 7 months
Prof Wendy Adams; Psychology DyVITO - MSCA-ITN-2017 - Wendy Adams European Commission, £210,221 over 48 months Dr Olga Maslovskaya; Social Sciences Maslovskaya - ESRC SDAI - Understanding survey response behaviour in a digital age: Mixeddevice online surveys and mobile device use ESRC, £200,869 over 18 months (RC contribution £160,695) Adam Pound, Royal Society University Research Fellow First Accurate Model of Gravitational Waves from Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals Royal Society; £424,244 over 60 months Prof Janne Ruostekoski; Mathematical Sciences EPSRC standard (lightpro) EPSRC; £325,836 over 42 months Prof Jakub Bijak; Department of Social Statistics and Demography, FSHMS Bayesian Agent-Based Population Studies (BAPS); ERC-CoG-2016-725232 European Research Council; €1,455,590 over 48 months Dr Matthew Ryan; Social Sciences Relative Inequality in the South Joseph Rowntree Foundation; £25,001 over 12 months Prof Roland Muijs; Southampton Education School Literature review into Metacognition (Education Endowment Fund) The Education Endowment Foundation; £31,401 over 5 months Prof Sarah Parsons; Southampton Education School A Scientific Critique of the BASE Research The John and Lorna Wing Foundation, £6,340 over 9 months
Prof Mary Edwards; Geography and Environment Furthering international scientific understanding of long-term climate change and ecosystem response in northeast Siberia and the Russian Far East. Foreign & Commonwealth Office; £20,033 over 12 months Dr Elisabeth Schroeder-Butterfill (International Partner-Investigator); Gerontology / Social Sciences Australian Research Council Discovery Grant: Understanding Social, Economic and Health Vulnerabilities in Indonesia Australian Research Council; £16,237 over 48 months Dr Giles Richardson; Mathematical Sciences Magnetic delivery of anti-cancer magnetosomes using MRI Cancer Research UK; £139,484 over 36 months Dr Matthew Ryan; Social Sciences Participedia .net in collaboration with Mark Warren, University of British Columbia Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; £4,501 over 12 months
Dr Ming-Chin Chu; Social Sciences Problematic Sovereignty on China’s Periphery The Chiang Ching Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange; £40,480 over 24 months
Dr Andrew Power; Geography and Environment Reclaiming social care: Adults with learning disabilities seizing opportunities in the shift from day services to community lives. ESRC; £371,246 over 24 months
Dr Sarah Lewthwaite; Southampton Education School The pedagogy of social science research methods textbooks: a scoping study. Society for Research into Higher Education; £4,996 over 12 months
Dr Kyriaki Messiou; Southampton Education School Re HaRe: Reaching the ‘hard to reach’: inclusive responses to diversity through child-teacher dialogue Erasmus+ Application: €405,432.00
Dr Jack Corbett; Social Sciences RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, £6,347 over 7 months
Prof David Martin; Geography and Environment Martin ESRC UK Data Service beyond 2017 ESRC; £291,484 over 60 months
Prof Lucy Yardley; Psychology NIHR DRF Improving Communication Between Patients & Healthcare Staff National Institute of Health Research; £1,811 over 36 months
This list encompasses a selection of awards logged with University of Southampton Finance from May to September 2017 that are considered non-commercially sensitive.
Prof Jacky Lumby; Southampton Education School BELMAS bid BELMAS; £2,455 over 12 months Prof Jane Falkingham; Social Sciences CPC-ONS-UUK Online survey of graduating international students 2017 Office For National Statistics; £14,292 over 5 months Prof Jane Falkingham; Social Sciences CPC-ESRC Follow up survey of graduating international students (wave 2) ESRC; £70,396 over 6 months Prof Jane Falkingham; Social Sciences ESRC Review of longitudinal studies ESRC; £6,123 over 1 months
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