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£6m to spearhead training for a healthcare revolution
Posted on 28/12/08
6m to spearhead training for a healthcare revolution
A surge in demand for revolutionary new medical treatments is to be met by training up a new breed of scientist at a 6 million specialist centre at Loughborough University.
To realise the full potential of the latest healthcare advances such as regenerating cartilage and bone and growing heart muscle cells graduates are to be trained in the latest scientific techniques as well as commercial expertise.
Experts say an acute shortage of willing organ donors and the shortcomings of conventional therapies lead to the preventable death of many patients each year. They believe the next healthcare revolution is in the field of regenerative medicine creating biological therapies or substitutes for the replacement or restoration of tissue function lost through failure or disease.
To provide the highly-skilled scientists required to speed-up the development of new therapies and treatments Loughborough University, in collaboration with The University of Nottingham and Keele University, are to establish a new Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) in Regenerative Medicine.
With funding of over 6m from the Engineering and Physcial Sciences Research Council this new centre will combine the expertise of all three institutions to tackle some of the most difficult to treat medical conditions.
Specific expertise of the collaborative team includes ground breaking surgical procedures, stem cell biology, new materials for implantation into the body and commercial translation.
Students will be trained in the core skills required to face engineering and life science challenges in the development of replacement human tissue and related therapies. They will be equipped with the expertise to engage in strategic research programmes designed to address major challenges in this field and the commercial realities of their work and its application.
This new breed of highly skilled scientist will help speed up the development of new and affordable therapies for the benefit of millions of patients and establish a leading role for the UK in this rapidly growing worldwide marketplace.
The University of Nottinghams expertise in orthopaedics and cardiology is already showing potential.
In orthopaedics researchers are aiming to help patients with non-healing bone fractures, loss of bone due to tumour removal or degeneration due to age. The DTC will target the regeneration of cartilage and bone, which will make a major contribution to the quality of life of patients.
In cardiology they are already developing techniques to generate heart muscle cells from stem cells. In the future these cells could be used to reverse damage to heart muscle and restore the function of the heart after a major heart attack.
Loughborough Universitys Professors Chris Hewitt and David Williams, who will lead the DTC, said: Regenerative medicine has been described as a new industry for a new millennium and it is very exciting to be training the next generation of biological engineers who will make a real contribution to improving the nations health. Loughboroughs world-class engineers will bring expertise in commercial bioprocess development, which will be a unique strength of this Centre.
Kevin Shakesheff, Director of The University of Nottinghams new 25m Centre for Biomolecular Sciences and Professor of Tissue Engineering in the School of Pharmacy said: This funding confirms Nottingham and our collaborators as a world class centre for scientific breakthroughs in regenerative medicine and the invention of new therapies for major diseases and injuries. Therapies that re-grow human tissue promise to revolutionise human health over the next 100 years and we are excited that Nottingham is at the forefront thanks to quality of our scientists and clinicians.
Alicia El Haj, Professor of Cell Engineering and Director of the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine at Keele University said: We are delighted to be part of this exciting new centre of excellence which will bring together expertise from academia, industry, and healthcare to further the UKs world class position in regenerative medicine.