NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Wellcome Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council today announced they are providing £30 million ($47.5 million) in funding for biomedical engineering solutions to address unmet healthcare issues.
Called the Innovative Engineering for Health partnership, the initiative will target a limited number of projects that seek to solve healthcare problems that current solutions cannot address properly, the partners said. Such projects include but are not limited to the development of technologies that tackle rare diseases, the facilitation of care for babies and infants "that accommodates challenges posed by growth and development," and the development of engineering-based solutions for mental health issues.
Up to £10 million for seven years are available for each project.
The initiative builds on earlier funding of £45 million by Wellcome Trust and EPSRC to support four multidisciplinary centers of excellence in medical engineering around the UK, and "provides the resources and flexibility to both conduct high-quality basic research and enable its adoption into clinical or public health practice," they said in a statement.
Applicants outside the UK may apply for the funding and collaborations between the UK and "the best international groups" are encouraged, they added.
"Bringing together the UK's world-class biomedical and physical sciences researchers will be vital in developing the technology to solve our biggest healthcare challenges," David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science, said. "This unique initiative supports both basic science and its translation, advancing knowledge and bringing benefits for patients."