Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund

Given the recent success of the Translational Research Office (TRO) in increasing the funding volume available to the Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund (MLSTF), we are pleased to announce an earlier return of the next round for MLSTF. MLSTF supports proof-of-concept projects at the early stages of translation that are of high risk but with potential of high reward. It funds researchers to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of a translational approach.

This fund does not support exploratory basic science.

MLSTF is a consolidated fund comprising devolved funding from MRC Impact Acceleration Account, Wellcome IP Revenue Retention Funds, with some additional aligned funding. In 2024, the project managed fund will be in the region of £1.3M to ‘pump-prime’ the translation of novel therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and other therapeutic interventions (including ‘repurposing of existing therapies’) toward clinical testing.

The Novo Nordisk Innovation Fund and the Oxford Biomedica Innovation Fund will continue to run under the umbrella of MLSTF in 2024. In addition, we are pleased to confirm facilitated co-funding opportunities with Cancer Research Horizons (CRUK), EPSRC IAA (administered by the MPLS Impact Office) and the University Challenge Seed Fund.

New and Improved Award Scheme Key Highlights

Following feedback from key stakeholders, including previous applicants and award holders, MLSTF has undergone transformational changes with the ambition to increase the quality of applications submitted to MLSTF that have great potential in creating commercial, clinical, societal or global impact. Our revamped MLSTF scheme offers a dedicated stepping stone opportunity for early career researchers to enhance their skillset and pursue their translational research endeavours. Key changes to the scheme include:

1.  An increase in funding volume per project from £75k to £85k
2. A dedicated route termed “Emerging Translational Innovators (ETI)” which provides an opportunity for early career researchers to use this fund as a stepping stone towards independently pursuing their translational research endeavours*.
3. A softened cap on the maximum number of applications from two to three per applicant (as PI, or Co-I) **

Remit

The fund supports goal-oriented translational research projects with a strong scientific rationale and which meet a clear and important translational medical need. Projects should also demonstrate distinct advantages over competing translational approaches that are in development or are already available in the marketplace. Projects should aim to provide sufficient preliminary data to establish proof of concept, strategic merit in a translational context, or the viability of a translational approach (i.e. to provide confidence in the underlying concept, before seeking more substantial funding from other sources), such as MRC Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS), or equivalent schemes from other funders, or from industry. An explicit outcome of the award of MLSTF is that projects should subsequently be strong candidates for external follow-on translational funding.

To be competitive, the project proposal should identify a critical path for generating preliminary proof-of-concept data that supports moving to the next stage of translation. The project should be milestone-based with clearly articulated and quantifiable markers, which will form the basis of a rigorous monitoring process that will take place throughout the project's lifetime.

All modalities of therapy and diagnostics including engineering/medical technology, bioinformatics approaches, and research tools that increase the efficiency of developing interventions are welcomed.

Examples of activities supported by the MLSTF include:

• Candidate therapeutic entities such as drug discovery. (Mechanism of action (MoA) can be included as part of the critical path to translation but a standalone proposal on MoA will not be considered in remit).
• Vaccines for infectious or non-infectious diseases
• Biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins)
• Advanced therapy medicinal products (gene therapy, T cell therapy, a tissue engineered product)
• Regenerative medicine approaches
• Repurposing clinical studies or using existing therapies for new indications
• Medical devices
• Digital healthcare, app development or Artificial Intelligence
• Diagnostics (including biomarker validation)
• Medical imaging technology
• Behavioral and psychological interventions
• Radiotherapy and radiation protocols
• Interventions benefit health in low and middle-income countries.

The activities below are not supported by MLSTF:

• 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

Read an example of an outstanding proposal which has been recently awarded by the MLSTF committee panel. 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.

Applications demonstrating academic-industry collaboration are particularly encouraged, principles and policies of a MRC Industry Collaboration Framework (ICF) should be followed, with heads of terms being agreed with partners prior to application submission. Please contact your local Research Services team who will be able to assist with this.  Where the partner is an existing or prospective spinout, there must be a strong and clear case that the proposed project is a new stream of work and not additional development of the initial technology that was licenced to the spinout. It should also be clear that the spinout is the most appropriate company to support this particular project. A clear statement of how conflict of interest will be managed must be included.

Emerging Translational Innovators (ETI)

* Please note, the remit around the dedicated MLSTF-ETI route, with the ETI being the principal applicant, is as follows:

• ETIs here are defined as Oxford employed-, early career researchers which includes post-doctoral researcher, clinical researchers, or junior group leaders within the first few years of independence and/or on their first permanent, open-ended or long-term rolling contract.
• Volume of funding available is up to £50K, for projects lasting 6-8 months in duration.
• The ETI must consult and inform the TRO at grant application stage that they are considering applying as an ETI applicant. The TRO will support the ETI to draft the most compelling proposal and provide access to the relevant training material and resources available.
• The ETI must obtain approval from their PI/line manager confirming support and/or permission to undertake the proposed activity stated in the application, subject to award recommendation by the MLSTF committee.
• The ETI will be required to officially identify a mentor who will support the ETI and their proposed research workplan.
• The ETI together with the mentor is required to carve out the expected skill sets to gain/develop during the proposal and how this application would support the ETIs future aspirations. 
• ETIs must use the main MLSTF case for support application but with the above outlined limits on funding volume and project duration.

** Please note that this year we have softened the cap on the maximum number of applications that are allowed per applicant to be three applications. One can be named as PI or co-PI on a maximum of three applications per research group and therefore it is expected that an internal triage is performed within research groups in order to select the best applications to be submitted to the scheme.

** Please note that this year we have softened the cap on the maximum number of applications that are allowed per applicant to be three applications. One can be named as PI or co-PI on a maximum of three applications per research group and therefore it is expected that an internal triage is performed within research groups in order to select the best applications to be submitted to the scheme.

Format

It is envisaged that the available funds will finance in the region of 15-17 projects, with the Translational Research Office (TRO) providing project management support for the scheme and projects where appropriate.

Funding available from MLSTF will be up to £85k per project (for non-ETI applicants) and up to £50k (for ETI applicants); awards will be made from MLSTF for direct costs only. Whilst a ‘match’ contribution is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged. The cost of individual projects in this case can be up to £170k with applicants being required to demonstrate at least 50% matching from another source of the direct costs awarded. If your research scope falls within the interest areas of Novo Nordisk, Oxford Biomedica, or Cancer Research UK, an expression of interest form (EOI) will be required. Please see below for more details.

Projects should be in the region of 6-12 months (for non-ETI applicants) and 6-8 months (for ETI applicants), with funding for 12-month projects requiring full justification. Awards must commence within 1 month of the award being issued. All projects must be completed within 1 year of the start date and/or in line with overarching MRC grant conditions. Please ensure that your project is scheduled accordingly, and that the timeline is appropriate to the objectives and milestones set out.

Please note funding will not support: entire translational projects; bridging funding or PhD studentships; continuation of normal research grants; and costs relating to protection of intellectual property. Please also note that PI or co-applicant salary is not an eligible cost. Awards will be managed from the Translational Research Office on behalf of the University.  Applications, scores and reviewer comments may be shared with other internal University panels to ensure maximum value for money. An award condition is acceptance of a ‘mid-term’ review meeting with the Translational Research Office and a panel of experts to discuss progress made towards milestones.

Innovation Co-funding Strands

If your project aligns with any of the innovation collaborator’s research priority areas listed below and to facilitate the co-development of projects with an appropriate Novo Nordisk or Oxford Biomedica investigator, Oxford-based researchers should submit a non-confidential Expression of Interest (EOI) to the Translational Research Office (TRO) by 5pm on Wednesday 31 July 2024. Please go to the Expression of Interest page to complete the respective Expression of Interest form.

This EOI should provide a summary of the proposed project, including a summary of supporting background data, objectives and proposed outcomes of the project and a justification for support explaining how your proposal is aligned to the priority areas of Novo Nordisk or Oxford Biomedica, as identified below. 

It is anticipated that Novo Nordisk will be co-funding (50% contribution) up to two projects, whereas Oxford Biomedica will be co-funding one project through this scheme in 2024. Intellectual property rights arising from NNIF-supported projects and OXBIF-supported projects will vest in the University of Oxford, with Novo Nordisk or Oxford Biomedica having a time-limited first right to negotiate an appropriate commercial licence. For further information please contact the TRO (translationalresearchoffice@medsci.ox.ac.uk).

In addition to the innovation co-funding streams detailed below, we have one further co-funding opportunity available to Oxford researchers (SSO required).

Novo Nordisk Innovation Fund (NNIF)

The Novo Nordisk Innovation Fund will run for the fifth consecutive year under the MLSTF umbrella. Projects addressing unmet patient need in diabetes and other cardiometabolic disease (obesity, cardiovascular, liver and renal disease) as well as within the field of rare endocrine and rare non-malignant blood diseases are eligible to apply for this stream. High priority will be given to projects that will identify and/or robustly validate novel targets in relevant diseases and to projects using computational approaches. Researchers with relevant programmes of activity are strongly encouraged to apply to this stream. 

Oxford Biomedica Innovation Fund (OXBIF)

The Oxford Biomedica Innovation Fund will be running for the fourth consecutive year alongside MLSTF. Projects focusing on the development of Advanced Medicinal Therapy Products are encouraged to apply here. Oxford Biomedica are particularly interested in viral vector production platform technologies such as lentivirus vectors, AAV, and adenoviruses. Therapeutic areas of interest include, vectorology, cell line development and process development. Researchers with relevant programmes of activity are strongly encouraged to apply.

Co-funding with Cancer Research Horizons Innovation Fund (CRHIF)

The TRO is pleased to announce the continuation of the CRHIF innovation stream this year with the anticipation to co-fund (50% contribution) one project. Cancer Research Horizons is CRUK’s Drug Discovery, Development and Commercialisation Company. This funding will specifically support the translation of CRUK-funded research projects only. Applicants will have an opportunity to leverage Cancer Research Horizons’ Project Development Fund after endorsement by Cancer Research Horizons at the EOI stage. A key requirement for this funding strand is that the funding would need to be used to deliver key go/no-go experiments garnering data for filing a patent and/or a key inflection point to enable the next step in translational development/commercialisation. It is expected that the investigator would be willing to work with Cancer Research Horizons to develop the IP and development strategy of the novel technology.

University Challenge Seed Fund

Applicants should also note that the University Challenge Seed Fund will open on Thursday 8 August 2024 and the Oxford University Innovation (OUI) will accept applications based on a first-come-first-served basis. The call will close on Thursday 19 September 2024. OUI will stop reviewing applications sent after this date.

In this instance, two separate proposals would be submitted to each scheme (UCSF, MLSTF) and would be reviewed by their respective committee members. Researchers should engage with both the TRO and OUI to discuss potential match funding models. The lead contact from OUI for UCSF is Dr Naunehal Matharu (naunehal.matharu@innovation.ox.ac.uk).

Co-funding with EPSRC IAA

For life sciences researchers with underpinning research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), there is an opportunity to access some EPSRC-IAA funding.  Applicants are encouraged to select the relevant, aligned research area in the MLSTF case for support application form which will assist the TRO in aligning and administrating the proposal for EPSRC co-funding consideration.

BBSRC IAA funding opportunity

For life sciences researchers with underpinning research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), there is an opportunity to access some BBSRC-IAA funding.  Applicants are encouraged to highlight their aligned research area in the MLSTF case for support application form which will assist the TRO in aligning and administrating the proposal for BBSRC funding consideration. Relevant topics could include the development of materials, processes, platform technologies and tools that have commercial potential for underpinning biological research or for their benefit to human health, and the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for livestock and companion animals.

BBSRC remit does not include the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for specific human diseases or conditions.

If you are planning on submitting an application that is within BBSRC remit, please contact Dr Oliver Rughani-Hindmarch - oliver.rughani-hindmarch@medsci.ox.ac.uk.

Eligibility

Any researcher from the University holding a contract extending to at least the end of the proposed project may apply, 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. The Committee welcomes applications from Early Career Researchers and applicants seeking to establish individual research careers should they fit this criterion – such applicants are encouraged to select the ETI option and complete relevant sections within the case for support application form.