| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/K037099/1 |
| Title: |
EPSRC Fellowships in Manufacturing - Regenerative Medicine Manufacture: A Systems Based Research Platform |
| Principal Investigator: |
Medcalf, Professor N |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Wolfson Sch of Mech, Elec & Manufac Eng |
| Organisation: |
Loughborough University |
| Scheme: |
EPSRC Fellowship |
| Starts: |
05 August 2013 |
Ends: |
31 August 2017 |
Value (£): |
887,759
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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20 Feb 2013
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EPSRC Manufacturing Fellowships
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Announced
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Regenerative medicine (RM) is the application of living cells and tissues to resolve disease or injury. It has the potential to revolutionise healthcare. RM has been named by the Government as one of the priority technologies for UK competitiveness. The market has a global value estimated to grow to $20.0B by 2025. This Fellowship will enable a five-year programme of manufacturing research to be conducted using industrial practice and experience. The aim is to accelerate the commercialisation of RM.
The work will focus initially on methods that can be used to increase the speed of growth of cell and tissue products and that will provide the means for more effective control of production than is currently possible. The aim is to open up the commercialisation of RM to different modes of production than are currently possible, enabling entrepreneurs to choose business models that fit the type of product and the way it must be delivered to clinic. This will involve working on example systems that have the same characteristics as particular types of RM product and measuring the response of the growing cells or tissue to systematic changes in the feeding regime and the physical environment. The results will be simplified to provide robust, controllable growth instructions that can be built into self-contained, automated units for reliable manufacturing even with non-specialised staff working in non-factory settings.
The programme will be pre-competitive, that is, it will concentrate on the common features of RM manufacture and will aim to provide generic solutions that can be tailored for specific products. Researchers will acquire a commercial outlook and will become fluent in the regulatory and economic aspects of RM manufacture. This meets EPSRC's ambition to create leaders who will deliver engineering excellence and real-world outcomes.
The work will take place at Loughborough University where the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in RM and the EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in RM comprise an ideal setting. The School sets the pace of UK innovation in engineering-driven methods to commercialise RM.
The Fellowship will enable Nick Medcalf, an industrial engineer with experience leading collaborative research in cell- and tissue-based therapeutics, to move into academia and to influence the direction and practices of RM research at Loughborough University and beyond.
By the end of year five the Fellowship will have:
1. Created a thriving network of pre-competitive research collaborators from industry who are seeking and sharing practical methods for rapid RM commercialisation
2. Delivered 'demonstrator' projects based upon selected clinical indications
3. Created new production tools (reactors and control systems) that are practical and pragmatic, flexible yet robust
4. Identified novel modes of manufacture that are accessible to new RM business with modest outlay in capital and labour.
5. Built a team that works to a shared vision of systematisation of research. This method of working will make the team immediately recognisable to industry as one that speaks their language. It is hoped that the team will become, in time, the team of choice for entrepreneurs who need pragmatic engineering support for RM manufacture
In the longer term the Fellowship will enable the Fellow to achieve a personal ambition to change the way that the innovation pipeline in RM is managed in terms of the manufacturing research.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.lboro.ac.uk |