The brightest researchers and innovators at universities across the country are to become the best in their fields, thanks to government investment to be announced today.

In a speech in London, Science Minister Chris Skidmore will confirm the first wave of Future Leaders Fellowships – 41 early career researchers at universities from Edinburgh to Bristol and from Belfast to London, who will each benefit from a share of £40 million towards cutting edge research addressing fundamental global issues, including tackling climate change and revolutionising travel across cities.

The scheme, supported by a total £900 million government investment over 3 years, invites people throughout the world with academic or business backgrounds, to apply for the prestigious Future Leaders Fellowship, which offers support to work closely with business to take their discoveries from the laboratory to the commercial market.

Supporting the Industrial Strategy’s Grand Challenges, the new Fellows and their projects include:

• Anahid Basiri to create accurate 3D maps of cities that could help emergency services reach scenes quicker, help drones to deliver accurately without causing damage and support local authority planning
• Fiona Watt to look into how clinicians can predict the development of osteoarthritis in patients who have had a knee joint injury and are at greater risk of developing the condition. Osteoarthritis currently affects 8.5 million people in the UK, with no drug treatments that prevent or slow it
• Marc Aurel Busche to research the relationship between molecular processes in the brain that often leads to Alzheimer’s, and make this data available to researchers and industry partners that are responsible for finding treatments for Alzheimer’s patients
• James Lea to use cloud computing to monitor changes of all glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic for the first time, and then use machine learning to analyse the data. This will provide key understanding of future rates of sea level change and iceberg risks affecting polar shipping routes
• Helen Frances Dodd to research how children’s adventurous play can lower levels of anxiety in young people. By looking to address reasons why children are not playing adventurously, the quality of life for children could be improved and avoid future mental health issues

The fellows’ ground-breaking work also forms a key part of maintaining the UK’s status at the forefront of cutting-edge research and innovation long into the future. The UK is already a research superpower, producing 6% of the world’s total research publications and 15% of the world’s most highly cited articles.

Science and Innovation Minister Chris Skidmore said:

From Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s creation of the World Wide Web, to Rosalind Franklin whose work was critical in understanding DNA, we have a rich history of talented individuals who have paved the way for ground-breaking research and discoveries in their fields.

Our investment in these Future Leaders Fellows will enable the brightest and best of our scientists and researchers to work with leading lights in industry, to help their research move from the laboratory to the commercial market.

This support to the next generation of scientists and researchers is a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy, and our commitment to raise R&D spend to 2.4% of GDP by 2027 will maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in science and innovation and building on our historic legacy.

Over the next 3 years, the Future Leaders Programme will support 550 academics with an investment of £900 million in their research.

UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive Mark Walport said:

The Future Leaders Fellowships offer long-term support for the most talented researchers and innovators. Fellows will be encouraged to be adventurous in tackling tough and important research questions and opportunities for innovation.

The Fellowships offer opportunities to move across disciplinary boundaries and between academia and industry. These Fellowships will enable us to grow the strong supply of talented individuals needed to ensure that UK research and innovation continues to be world leading.

The 41 Fellowships are:

• Lucy Barnes, University College London
• Katie McQuaid, University of Leeds
• Hatef Sadeghi, Lancaster University
• David Schaich, University of Liverpool
• Eamonn Reading, King’s College London
• Marta Andres Miguel, University College London
• Constance Smith, The University of Manchester
• Paul Donaldson, STFC – Laboratories
• Sarah Lewthwaite, University of Southampton
• Sanjeev Kumar, University College London
• Michelle Percharde, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences
• Reinhard J Maurer, University of Warwick
• Alkistis Pourtsidou, Queen Mary University of London
• Sarah Marks, Birkbeck College
• Esther Breithoff, Birkbeck College
• Hong Liu, University of Warwick
• Adam Perriman, University of Bristol
• Eva Vilella Figueras, University of Liverpool
• Fiona Watt, University of Oxford
• Kirsty Le Doare, St George’s University of London
• Conor Fitzpatrick, The University of Manchester
• Alexander Valavanis, University of Leeds
• Lauren Gregoire, University of Leeds
• Marc Aurel Busche, University College London
• Ke Li, University of Exeter
• Rod Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
• John Simeon Biggins, University of Cambridge
• Mathilde Jauzac, Durham University
• James Lea, University of Liverpool
• Filipa Cox, The University of Manchester
• Fay Bound Alberti, University of York
• Amanda Gail Jarvis, University of Edinburgh
• Natalie Shenker, Imperial College London
• Hien Ngo, Queen’s University of Belfast
• Helen Frances Dodd, University of Reading
• Anahid Basiri, University College London
• Ruth Keogh, London Sch of Hygiene and Trop Medicine
• Sarah Lloyd-Fox, University of Cambridge
• Benjamin Lichman, University of York
• Anna Lisa Varri, University of Edinburgh
• Baojun Wang, University of Edinburgh

Industrial Strategy

The Industrial Strategy sets out a long term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. It sets out how we are building a Britain fit for the future – how we will help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure.

UK Research and Innovation

UKRI is a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.

Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £7 billion, UK Research and Innovation brings together:

• the Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• Economic and Social Research Council
• Innovate UK
• Medical Research Council
• Natural Environment Research Council
• Research England
• Science and Technology Facilities Council

Science Minister announces first wave of Future Leaders Fellowships, helping researchers and innovators become world-leaders in their fields

Statement on the JCPoA by the High Representative of the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The government is backing plans to create new digital innovation hubs, changing the way scientists access NHS data

• Digital innovation hubs, part of our modern Industrial Strategy, to be created to transform the way researchers and innovators can access data from the NHS
• Innovators will be able to access data more easily and use it in their efforts to find cures and treatments for diseases including cancer and diabetes
• The project may also enable scientists to find ways to diagnose disease earlier, speed up drug development, and give people faster access to more personalised treatments

Plans to transform the way scientists access health data are being backed by £37million of Industrial Strategy Government investment, to pioneer new, faster treatments for patients and new cures for diseases.

The new centres across the UK – known as Digital Innovation Hubs – will enable scientists and innovators to access data from the NHS, universities and social care to deliver more efficient clinical trials. They can use the data to answer the most important and complex questions about people’s health in the future.

The centres will make data accessible from some of the UK’s major health providers in one place for the first time, including the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These will allow experts to research the factors behind many familiar common diseases and identify revealing data trends which may help with finding cures or treatments.

The information will go through a de-identification and encryption process to preserve privacy.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Access to anonymised health data has huge potential to allow us to better understand diseases and develop life-saving new drugs and treatments.

The Digital Innovation Hubs, backed by over £37million of Industrial Strategy investment, will ensure researchers, innovators and clinicians can access a large quantity of anonymised data responsibly and ethically – allowing them to pioneer new medicines and treatments.

These hubs are a major part of our modern Industrial Strategy, building on the UK’s world leading life sciences sector and health service to the benefit of researchers, industry and patients.

The project, led by Health Data Research UK (HDR-UK), aims to improve health and care in the UK in areas like speeding up drug development and giving people faster access to more personalised treatments. It also aims to help in diagnosing diseases earlier and help in wider efforts to find cures and treatments, including for conditions such as cancer.

Health Minister Nicola Blackwood said:

It is absolutely crucial that researchers are able to access the NHS’s world-leading anonymised data so they can develop cutting-edge treatments and solutions to some of healthcare’s biggest challenges. This will mean people can receive new medicines quicker and get more timely diagnoses which will ultimately save lives.

As part of our Long Term Plan, we are determined to encourage more innovation in the NHS than ever before so patients benefit from the best medicines and technologies.

A £3 million trial is underway with 10 projects across the UK. In Manchester, patients with already implanted pacemakers and defibrillators will have their health data analysed in real-time to detect signs of deterioration earlier and prevent hospital admissions.

About 1,000 patients with heart failure, being cared for by Manchester Royal Infirmary, already had an implantable device such as a pacemaker or defibrillator which captures information about their health. The project’s clinical team used the data to detect signs of deterioration earlier and to transform care for the patient.

The new centres will be selected through a competition and are expected to be established by the end of this year.

They will also be tasked with ensuring responsible access to anonymised health data in a trustworthy and ethical way, by involving patients to ensure that benefits are returned to the NHS for the greater public good.

The £37.5 million investment in Digital Innovation Hubs is a key part of the modern Industrial Strategy, and its Data to Early Diagnosis and Precision Medicine Challenge. Backed by a total of up to £210million Government investment, it aims to combine data and real-world evidence from across the health service to create new products and services to help diagnose diseases earlier and more efficiently.

This also forms part of wider work to ensure the UK remains a world-leader in the life sciences sector, already worth nearly £74billion to the UK economy. In December 2018, the government agreed a second life sciences sector deal, drawing substantial investment into the sector from across the world, ensuring that the next wave of breakthrough treatments, innovative medical research and technologies, and high skilled jobs are created in Britain.

Professor Andrew Morris, Director of Health Data Research UK, said:

We are excited about the tremendous opportunities that Digital Innovation Hub Programme brings to the future of health research and innovation in the UK. Working closely with UK Research and Innovation, our focus in delivering these new centres of excellence is first and foremost on ensuring that patients reap the rewards and are reassured that all data are used ethically and responsibly.

The UK has a high energy community that brings together leading health experts, entrepreneurs and data scientists. When combined with the UK’s ability to bring data together from hospitals, patients, public health and laboratories, we can power an open innovation platform that improves the health and care of people living with cancer, diabetes and heart disease and make the UK the place for ethical data research.

Notes to Editors

1. The Digital Innovation Hub programme forms part of the modern Industrial Strategy’s Data to Early Diagnosis and Precision Medicine Challenge led on behalf of UK Research and Innovation by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK).

2. The investment in Digital Innovation Hubs builds on smaller UK digital innovation projects currently underway and also funded through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) that show the exciting potential for larger programmes.

3. For further details about the Digital Innovation Hub Programme visit Health Data Research UK’s website https://www.hdruk.ac.uk/digital-innovation-hubs/.

4. For information about the funding opportunity visit the MRC website https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/iscf-dih1/iscf-dih-programme-hubs