A new generation of researchers will learn to design medicines that seek out diseased cells while leaving healthy tissue alone. Most drugs today spread throughout the body, degrading before they reach their target or causing side effects when they act on the wrong cells. This is a particular problem for diseases that become more common with age, such as cancer—predicted to affect one in three people in Europe by 2020. The challenge is that advanced therapeutics, including nanomedicines, sit at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and medicine. No single discipline can solve the delivery problem alone. The Centre for Doctoral Training will train scientists across analytical chemistry, materials science, engineering, biology, and industrial pharmaceutics, equipping them with the skills to turn laboratory discoveries into real pharmaceutical products. If successful, the centre will produce a workforce that can develop smarter, safer medicines—treatments that work better and improve quality of life for patients and carers. The training also builds entrepreneurial skills, so graduates can move innovations from the lab into the clinic and into the chemicals, engineering, and materials sectors.
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At the forefront of global pharmaceutical research is the development of "intelligent" medicines which are effective, affordable and safe, for diseases that are poorly treated (for example, cancer, infections, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration). The ideal medicine could be taken by a variety of means (pill, injection or inhaler), but should only act on diseased tissue at a 'specific' site in the body. However, the ability to direct a drug to particular desired locations in the body is still a major scientific challenge. Drugs can easily be degraded en route to their target leading to quickly decreasing drug levels. Higher levels of medication do not circumvent this problem due to potentially increased side effects or toxicity. Some drugs can simply not be delivered to their target due to barriers within the body: the ability to reach specific disease sites while leaving healthy cells intact would mean not only better therapeutic outcomes, but better qualities of life for patients and carers. Benefits through better formulation and targeting will be very apparent for those diseases that are increasing in ageing populations, such as cancer, which is predicted to affect (directly or indirectly) 1 in 3 in the European population by 2020. For these and other devastating diseases new therapeutic regimens are urgently needed. Research into Advanced Therapeutics requires not just scientific innovation but also a changed training paradigm for the scientists involved. Many advanced therapeutic formulations are inherently in the 'nano' size range i.e. larger than conventional drugs such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, but smaller than human cells, and thus spanning the traditional domains of chemistry, biology and medicine. Developing the science of these emergent nanomedicines towards clinical products requires a new generation of researchers trained across multiple scientific disciplines. The Centre for Doctoral Training we propose builds on our existing close partnerships with leading industry and academic institutions world-wide to offer training in the diverse and challenging disciplines underlying pharmaceutical science. The proposed Centre will combine expertise in analytical and medicinal chemistry, with materials science, engineering, biology and industrial pharmaceutics, to equip researchers with the skills they need to develop the next generation of pharmaceutical products. Accordingly, the CDT offers wider benefits to society as researchers trained in the Centre will be attractive to the chemicals, engineering and materials sectors as well as healthcare and medicine. Within the proposed CDT we aim to continue our broad-based training approach, such that researchers will have innovation and entrepreneurial skills, so vital for the developing industry sector. This focus on translational and business skills helped a team from Nottingham in the existing CDT to be winners of the NanoCom business competition in 2012. Ultimately, improvements in the industry and practice of therapeutics combined with enhanced academy / industry pathways to translation offer many future advantages, not just to the science, industry and medical base, but to patients, carers and society as a whole.
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