Closing a skills gap that threatens translation of research into new medicines

The UK's Pharma university-based projects attract private funding to mitigate skills gap in biomedical research, reports the country's  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Four research  projects, funded largely by public money, have successfully attracted  additional private and public funding to help fill a skills shortage  that could seriously restrict the translation of UK science into  medical treatments, it says.

Over GBP12.0 million ($17.4 million) of funding was awarded to four  university-based Integrative Mammalian Biology projects in Glasgow,  Liverpool, London and Manchester. The projects are now successfully  training scientists in the specialist skills required to use biological  systems that are useful models of human physiology - whole animals, for  example. These systems are essential for the translation of basic  research discoveries into new treatments through safety and efficacy  testing.

The projects have now secured additional funding from private and public  sources to build on their initial start. This has provided the necessary  cash for a professorship, a lectureship, a business development manager  and at least six CASE (Collaborative Award in Science and Engineering)  awards. Private sponsors include AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer,  Abbott and Syngenta. Public sector funding includes doctoral training  grants from the BBSRC and the Medical Research Council.