University of Cambridge Translational Partnership Award

We aim to encourage and support scientists to realise the translational potential of their basic research. By the creation of a virtual Therapeutic Hub, which provides an integrated facility for training, advice, collaboration, funding and contracted services, we will establish a bridge between discovery science and early stage translation. The Therapeutic Hub will provide opportunities for academics across Schools to carry out target validation by functional genomics approaches, as well as working with drug discovery experts including CROs and Experts in Residence. Access to consultancy services will provide bespoke advice, such as regulatory or health economics, to support successful applications and commercialisation. The hub will cover projects spanning drug discovery, drug repurposing, cell and gene therapy, regenerative medicine, diagnostics, medical deices, apps, biomarkers and imaging. The focus will be to progress projects towards the clinic. In addition to research facilitation, regular events will take place, including women focused networking events and self-taught virtual training packages will be created. Overall the activities proposed will fill the critical gap in the Cambridge translational pipeline and create a legacy of Departmental Translation Champions delivering sustained behavioural change in the biomedical translational landscape at the University of Cambridge.