Drug Discovery and Team Science

This programme focuses on the application of a multidisciplinary Team Science approach to develop novel approaches and technologies involving the physical, biological and medical sciences to study membrane receptors in the right cell type and tissue. The programme embraces colleagues from UoN, pharmaceutical companies, SMEs and learned societies to develop a training programme that has the student at its centre but which engenders a collaborative multidisciplinary approach within a cohort-based programme of research. Each entry of four students will study one of the following disease-related themes: (a) cancer angiogenesis; (b) pain and addition; (c) respiratory diseases; (d) immune-oncology and (e) inflammation. Each cohort will tackle their given disease theme as a multidisciplinary team, with each student working in one of four key experimental areas: (a) Target engagement; (b) cellular environment; (c) in vivo and ex vivo models and (d) mathematical modelling and systems biology. The key programme goals will address: (1) the major skills gaps identified by ABPI in complex in vivo experimental models and in vitro pharmacological analytical approaches; (2) the need for multidisciplinary programmes, industrial/transitional placements and the provision of training in ‘translational’ skills such as communication, leadership and entrepreneurship; and (3) the need for supportive training environments.