Wellcome Developing Concept Fund
This internal call currently runs as Joint MRC Confidence in Concept (CiC) and Wellcome Trust Developing Concept Fund (DCF) Call - a collaboration between Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences (CATS) and the Office for Translational Research (OTR). It aims to prime translational research and accelerate the transition from discovery science to the development of products that will benefit patients. Its remit includes drug discovery, the development of vaccines, cell & gene therapies, medical devices and diagnostics, as well as drug ‘repurposing’.
Applicants can apply for up to £60K and projects can last up to 9 months. All University of Cambridge researchers are eligible to apply, but Early Career Researchers must have the University PI as a co-applicant.
The call is currently open.
To apply, fill in the Expression of Interest Form and one of our staff will e-meet you to discuss your proposal in more detail. Please allow plenty of time for setting up the meeting as well as for completing the full application after obtaining our feedback.
Panel
- Dr John Skidmore (Chair), Chief Scientific Officer ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute
- Prof Margaret Ashcroft, Department of Medicine
- Prof Michael Sutcliffe, Theme Leader of Bioengineering
- Dr Dave Smith, Principal Scientist, AstraZeneca
- Mr Stuart Kay, Director Medtech Solutions Ltd
- Prof David Jayne, Director of the Vasculitis and Lupus Service, Addenbrooke’s Hospital
- Dr Tim Allsopp, Independent Consultant
- Dr John Pritchard, Independent Consultant
- Dr Neil Thompson, Independent Consultant
- Prof Anne Willis, MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge
- Prof Steve Charnock-Jones, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Prof Tim Eisen, Department of Oncology
- Dr Stephanie Hopley, Apollo Therapeutics
- Prof Narita Masashi, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
- Prof Tim Eisen, Department of Oncology
- Prof Mark Toshner, Department of Medicine
- Dr Sofia Villar, MRC Biostatistics Unit
- Prof Duncan Jodrell, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
Funded Projects in 2021
| Lead Applicant | Department | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Ulrich Keyser | Department of Physics | Identification of viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens |
| Chris Proctor | Department of Engineering | A medical device for treatment of spinal cord injury |
| Marko Hyvonen | Department of Biochemistry | Development of inhibitors for hard to treat cancers |
| Athina Markaki | Department of Engineering | Densified Collagen Conduits as Vascular Grafts |
| Jeremy Baumberg | Department of Physics | Vitamin K Diagnostic for neonates |
Funded Projects in 2020
| Lead Applicant | Department | Title |
|---|---|---|
| David Owen | Department of Clinical Biochemistry / CIMR | A New Approach to Lowering LDL-Cholesterol in Familial Hypercholesterolaemia |
| Joanne Jones | Department of Clinical Neurosciences | Preventing Organ Transplant Rejection – A New Treatment |
| Manohar Bance | Department of Clinical Neurosciences | Development of an artificial cochlea and insertion device to reduce the trauma of cochlear implant insertion and improve hearing results |
| Folma Buss | Department of Clinical Biochemistry / CIMR | Developing new drugs to treat malaria |
| Jonathan Weir-McCall | Department of Radiology | Ischaemia detection in perfused human hearts |
| James Duce | The ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute, CIMR | Blocking Aβ production using a novel bio-therapeutic approach |
| James Lee | Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease/ Department of Medicine | A cell-based therapy for COVID-19 |
| Vasilis Kosmoliaptsis | Department of Surgery | Detection and in depth profiling of antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 |
| Christoph Hess | Department of Medicine | Cellular metabolic dysregulation in COVID-19 patient |
Funded Projects in 2019
| Lead Applicant | Department | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Pattinson | Department of Engineering | Enabling healthy motion and preventing injury through advanced orthoses |
| Clare Bryant | Department of Medicine | Targeting approaches for respiratory infection |
| Sanjay Sinha | Cambridge Stem Cell Institute | Novel strategy for improving cardiac function post-myocardial infarction |
| Margaret Ashcroft | Department of Medicine | Targeting approaches for respiratory infection |
| David Fairen-Jimenez | Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology | Novel approaches for targeting pancreatic cancer |
| Peter Arthur-Farraj | Department of Clinical Neurosciences | A novel therapy to promote peripheral nerve repair |
| David Summers | Department of Genetics | Improving the effectiveness of antibiotics |
| Jamie Blundell | Department of Oncology | Better blood cancer rosk prediction |
Funded Projects in 2018
| Lead Applicant | Department | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Hofmann | Department of Engineering | Nanomaterial based sensor for rapid detection |
| Giovanna Mallucci | Department of Clinical Neurosciences | Developing a cell-based, high-throughput assay to repurpose drugs for the treatment of neurodegeneration |
| Jenny Gallop | Gurdon Institute | Targeting phosphoinositide metabolism to rebalance defective endocytosis in Lowe syndrome |
| Sadaf Farooqi | Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science | Targeting obesity, type 2 diabetes and associated diseases |
| Matt Davis | MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit | Auditory Brain-computer interfaces |
| Fiona Karet | Cambridge Institute for Medical Research | Developing a low-cost, hand-held device |
| Ben Seymour | Department of Engineering | Chronic back pain therapeutics |
| Paul Conduit | Department of Zoology | Developing peptide-based inhibitors for targeting cancer |
