Diagnostics in Tropical and Infectious Diseases (DiTi)
The 2024 Diagnostics in Tropical and Infectious Diseases (DiTi) call will open soon. Further information to follow shortly.
Following the success of the pilot call through this scheme in 2023, MORU and the Translational Research Office (TRO; Medical Science Division, Oxford) aim to facilitate closer interactions between MORU- OUCRU-, and Oxford-based teams that will support and mutually benefit global health research initiatives being led out of either location.
The University of Oxford has a large concentration of Global Health (GH) and tropical healthcare activities, comprising diverse world-class research undertaken by its researchers based in both Oxford and its long-established Wellcome-funded overseas research and capacity-building programmes in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The outputs and outcomes from GH research are broad reaching, bringing significant impact across all academic disciplines of medicine, the physical and life sciences, social sciences and humanities. The overseas centres provide comprehensive clinical and public health research programmes entirely focussed on the discovery and development of appropriate, practical, affordable interventions that measurably improve the health of people living in resource-limited parts of the world.
Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), with its integrated, highly collaborative and flexible network of 5 research units and 50 sites across South East Asia, supports and conducts targeted patient-centred research addressing global and regional health problems. Current research strengths are the development of effective and practical means of diagnosing and treating tropical and infectious diseases.
The Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) is a longstanding overseas unit established by the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and the Wellcome Trust. It functions as a large-scale clinical and public health research unit based in Vietnam, hosted by the Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi with sister units in Kathmandu, Nepal and Jakarta, Indonesia.
Introduction to “Diagnostics in Tropical and Infectious Diseases (DiTi)”
This call, first piloted in 2023, is in collaboration with Mahidol Oxford Translational Innovation Partnership (MOTIP), funded by Wellcome IP Revenue Retention funds, and the institution translational partnership award (iTPA) by Wellcome (MORU, based in Bangkok, Thailand). This call aims to strengthen the long-term partnership between Oxford University and, the Faculty of Tropical Medicine (FTM), Mahidol University (Thailand) through the newly established tropical medicine diagnostic development centre (Tropmed_DC).
The call will look to establish partnerships and support collaborative projects around the priority areas of novel diagnostics technologies for infectious diseases of high burden in LMIC settings driving validation of prototypes towards implementation in the clinical setting by on the ground testing in relevant patient populations and global health settings. The focus will be on diagnostic technologies for tropical and infectious diseases which can be cross-cutting to include novel tools, devices, platform technologies, and/or digital health solutions for diseases of high burden in LMIC settings, with the goal of driving an increase in translational research initiatives in the global health arena.
Oxford employed PIs based in Oxford (UK) or MORU Tropical Health Network (Thailand) are encouraged to apply with at least one PI being based in Oxford, UK. Given the increased awareness and demand following last year’s round, we are also pleased to announce the broadening the call this year to include Oxford-employed PIs based at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) locations either in Vietnam, Nepal, or Indonesia, along with Oxford employed PIs based in MORU’s sister research unit sites including SMRU and CCRU in Thailand, LOMWRU in Laos, COMRU in Cambodia, MOCRU in Myanmar.
This scheme intends to fund short (up to 12 months) collaborative projects that will assist the translation of research towards tropical healthcare with a highlight focus area in diagnostic technologies (tools, devices, platform technologies, and/or digital health solutions) for tropical and infectious diseases. The call aims to utilise pre-existing resources made available by on-the-ground researchers in MORU in which Oxford based researchers would want to test their diagnostics tools on appropriate cohort pool on.
Appendices 1 and 2 provide two different representations of the translational pathway and some examples of translational research activities that align with each stage (please note these lists are non-exhaustive). The MORU-Oxford DiTi call will support projects that are beyond stage D1 (Appendix 1) and TRL 1 (Appendix 2)*.
The funding will not support: Discovery research (D1 or TRL1 – see Appendices 1 and 2); Entire translational projects; Staff between posts/funding (i.e. as “bridging” funds), or D.Phil/PhD studentships; Continuation of pre-existing research grants.
Activities NOT supported by DiTi:
- Identification or discovery of targets
- Exploratory science without pre-existing background data
- Candidate screening stage
- Mechanisms of action as a standalone project
- Fundamental sciences work
* Please note, these documents are not fully accessible. Should you wish to see accessible versions, please contact Kavita Subramaniam.
Any researcher from the University of Oxford (whether Oxford-, MORU-, or OUCRU- based) holding a contract extending to at least the end of the proposed project may apply to lead this project proposal, assuming they have host departmental approval. Applicants should clarify their eligibility with departments, and departmental approvers are required to check eligibility of their applicants before advancing any applications. MORU/OUCRU Network researchers who are not University employees are eligible to apply as Co-investigators. The MORU-Oxford DiTi Panel particularly welcomes applications from Early Career Researchers and applicants seeking to establish individual research careers should they fit these criteria.
Projects are anticipated to last up to 6 -12 months in duration. Funding will be provided for up to £100,000 of Directly Incurred costs. Please also note that PI or co-applicant salary is not an eligible cost.
Projects are expected to start by 1 January 2025.
It is mandatory for interested Oxford, MORU, and OUCRU based investigators to contact the TRO or your local translational support team (see section 7 for contact details) in the first instance before submitting a full application on IRAMS. The purpose of these discussions will be to i) finalise the concept for the proposal and ascertain eligibility for the scheme; ii) assist teams in finding collaborating groups in Oxford/MORU network as appropriate; iii) to identify opportunities for project support (both financial and non-financial) to accelerate translation; and iv) assist with application development.
Please provide i) summary of the proposed project and key milestones, including a summary of supporting background data, ii) objectives and proposed outcomes of the project and iii) a justification for support explaining how your proposal is aligned to the priority areas of diagnostics in tropical medicine.
Once discussions with TRO have commenced, please use the case for support form* to complete your application. The application form should be submitted online via IRAMS which requests information about the principal applicant and any co-applicants or collaborators, a lay summary (non-confidential), a financial breakdown of your proposal (X5 report must be appended), a Gantt chart depicting the timeline and milestone of your project and a case for support form uploaded to the application system.
You must incorporate all requested components of the case for support into one document (see application form) and upload this in the template provided on IRAMS as one single PDF. IRAMS Guidance in the form of quick reference guide documents for applicants, departmental approvers and administrators can be found on Research Support pages.
Please note that applications must be reviewed and approved in IRAMS by a Departmental Approver before they will be reviewed by the MORU-Oxford DiTi Panel; the advertised application deadline is the deadline for final submission to the MORU-Oxford DiTi Panel. Departments may set an earlier internal deadline to allow for departmental review, so please check with your local admin team and submit your application to your Departmental Approver in advance of the advertised deadline.
Please note: if you haven’t yet identified a corresponding partner team at Oxford, MORU, or OUCRU (as appropriate) with whom to collaborate, your organisation’s MORU-Oxford DiTi Support team can work with you to identify potential synergies and to explore potential partnerships to take your proposal forward.
The case for support must answer the following sections comprehensively:
- A 250-word non-confidential lay summary of the proposal requesting DiTi funding including specific tropical or infectious disease (s) to be tackled and the proposed diagnostic tool(s);
- A 500-word scientific justification on the background information and unmet need of the disease in which your proposal will be addressing;
- A 500-word on the Project Description and Developmental Plans including project objectives and proposed outcomes, including information about proposed development milestones and potential next steps following completion of the project; A project timeline, aligning with milestones to demonstrate that these are realistic both in terms of the objectives set and the time necessary to achieve them in the form of a Gantt chart to be appended;
- IP status: Does the project require use of background IP and do you/will you have the necessary agreements in place if such background IP is controlled by a third party? Will the project generate any arising IP? How will this be managed between collaborators;
- A discussion around market competition – will the proposed research offer significant advantages over current methodologies and/or approaches from other research teams?
- Details of any industrial engagement in your project and plans to advance this or if any conversations with regulatory experts have been had?;
- Details on any data management plans (if applicable) for projects utilising clinical or public health data;
- A justification for support for the MORU-, OUCRU-, and Oxford based teams, explaining how the proposal is aligned with the remit and objectives of the fund;
The deadline for submission of applications to IRAMS is 12pm (BST) on Tuesday 22 October 2024.
Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund (MLSTF) is a translational scheme run by the TRO. An example of an outstanding proposal which has been recently awarded by the MLSTF committee panel is shared here The proposal entitled: “Evaluation of the efficacy of an mRNA-based multi-antigen vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) disease in guinea pigs received MLSTF funding in March 2024 to Dr Elena Stylianou and Professor Helen McShane.
* Please note, these documents are not fully accessible. Should you wish to see accessible versions, please contact Kavita Subramaniam.
Reviewing Guidelines
Projects will be scored from 0-9 (0=lowest; 9=highest) based on their potential for transition from discovery research to translational development through preliminary work or feasibility studies. Please refer to the guidance provided for each section when completing your application.
Panel scores and definitions:
Score |
Score definitions |
9 |
The application is exceptional; it very strongly meets all of the assessment criteria to the highest standard. The panel agrees that it is difficult to articulate how the application could be improved. |
8 |
The application is outstanding; it very strongly meets all of the assessment criteria. |
7 |
The application is excellent; it strongly meets all of the assessment criteria. |
6 |
The application is very good; it meets the assessment criteria well but with some minor weaknesses/limitations. |
5 |
The application is good; it meets the assessment criteria well but with some clear weaknesses/limitations. |
4 |
The application is adequate; it meets the assessment criteria but with clear weaknesses/limitations. |
3 |
The application is weak; it meets the assessment criteria but with significant weaknesses/limitations. |
2 |
The application is poor; it meets the assessment criteria but has major weaknesses/limitations. |
1 |
The application is unsatisfactory; it does not meet one or more of the assessment criteria. |
0 |
The application is unsatisfactory; it does not meet any of the assessment criteria. |
Projects will be assessed on: strength of rationale; quality of science; un-met medical need; future commercial opportunity and clinical implementation into LMIC settings; IP position; likelihood of developing a full proposal to be submitted to external translational award schemes, or similar follow-on funding schemes, within the required timescale and budget. Should ethics and/or home office approvals be required for the projects, priority will be given to those applications that already have these in place.
Please note, the DiTi Panel membership comprises both internal and international academics and external commercial experts to ensure robust, vigorous review in line with funder recommendations. All external members are required to sign a CDA prior to reviewing applications. For further information on Panel membership please see here.
Date |
Activity |
10 September 2024 |
Call opens |
Friday 25 October 2024 |
Application deadline (3pm, British Summer Time) |
Between 20-26 November 2024 |
DiTi Panel review meeting and funding decision |
1 January 2025 | Project start |
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Chair
Dr Nessa Carey, Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR), Medical Sciences Division
Members
- Dr Oliver Harrison: Entrepreneur in Residence, Koa Health
- Professor David Eyre: Professor of Infectious Diseases, Big Data Institute
- Dr Giles Sanders: TTP
- Dr Karen Wei: Chief Executive Officer, DentX
Secretariat
- Dr Deepak Kumar: Head of TRO
- Dr Kavita S Subramaniam: Translational Research Manager, TRO
- Anna Camera: Translational Research Manager, TRO
- Dr Oliver Rughani-Hindmarch: Translational Research Coordinator, TRO
- Vlada Yarosh: Translational Research Coordinator, TRO
- Deborah Thomas: Translational Research Administrator, TRO
- Afroditi Tsourgianni: Translational Research Finance Administrator, TRO
All secretariat members are members of the Translational Research Office, Medical Sciences Division.
Oxford Translational Research Office
Translational Research Manager: Kavita S Subramaniam
Email: kavita.subramaniam@medsci.ox.ac.uk or Translational Research Office Website
Moru iTPA Office
Translational Partnership Manager: Maneerat Ekkapongpisit
Email: itpa@tropmedres.ac Mobile: +66(0) 824486470
Project Consultant: Maytouch Lojanarungsiri
Tropical Medicine Diagnostic Development Center
Email: Tropmed-dc@tropmedres.ac Mobile: +66(0)922 800 007
Address:
Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU),
Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University
11th Floor, Chamlong Building,
420/6 Ratchawithi Rd., Ratchathewi District, Bangkok 10400, THAILAND