24 Jan 2022
Knowledge exchange programme led by the RVC announces commercialisation pilot of 12 new grants for projects to develop tools for fighting infectious diseases or antimicrobial resistance.
Joshua Silverwood
Job Title
A range of projects aimed at tackling infectious disease and the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been backed by new grants worth more than £1 million.
The Bloomsbury SET – a knowledge exchange programme led by the RVC – has announced its Impact Connector scheme, which will distribute 12 new grants to fund projects developing tools to better fight infectious disease or AMR.
The programme will target academics and university staff across the group to help allocate funding to develop new products for the veterinary industry.
Grants have been awarded to 12 projects with the intention of bringing together researchers and businesses to deliver new vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics that will benefit human and animal health.
The group is comprised of the RVC, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the Infection Innovation Consortium led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and SOAS University of London.
One of the chosen projects will look at probabilistic diagnostic algorithms for early serological detection of Johne’s disease in dairy cattle, led by Javier Guitian, professor of veterinary public health at the RVC.
Emma Tomlinson, head of research development at the RVC and chair of the Bloomsbury SET steering committee, said: “These 12 projects represent the strongest applications received by the Bloomsbury SET from our partner universities, all working with relevant industry partners.
“In addition to development funding, the commercialisation pilot also includes support from a dedicated mentor and networking and training opportunities through the Bloomsbury SET. We look forward to seeing these ideas develop further along their translation journey.”
Another project funded in part by the grants is a study led by Nicholas Furnham, associate professor in computational biology of infectious disease at LSHTM, which will seek to advance inhibitors targeting Cathepsin D as a new drug treatment for schistosomiasis.
Richard Bomphrey, interim vice-principal for research at the RVC, said: “There has never been a better time to bring together an outstanding interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial consortium, to take on the globally important and pressing issues of infectious disease and AMR.
“The Bloomsbury SET Impact Connector programme will support innovators as they take promising therapeutics from the laboratory to communities worldwide.”
