Annual Review 2012: Focus area 2 - Accelerating the application of research

We are committed to maximising the application of research to improve health by focusing on new product development and the uptake of patient-oriented research advances into clinical practice.

In this year's ‘Annual Review’, we welcome the first tenants at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, an open innovation campus for early-stage drug discovery and development. Other activities in this area included a new scheme supporting early research into rare or neglected diseases, an unusual and innovative therapy to tackle auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia, the establishment of a £200 million fund to invest in promising healthcare businesses, and a project developing immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes.

Further resources

Here are links to information relating to each of this year's 'Annual Review' stories in focus area 2:

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (page 13)

• News: Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst opens for business
• Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst website

Pathfinders (page 14)

• Press release: First Pathfinder Awards announced
• News: New scheme tackles orphan and neglected diseases
• About Pathfinder Awards

Avatar therapy (page 14)

• UCL: Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences research
• King’s College London: Professor Julian Leff
• About the Translation Fund

Investing in new business (page 14)

• Press release: Wellcome Trust to launch £200 million investment business

Immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes (page 15)

• News: New therapy to prevent type 1 diabetes
• King’s College London: Professor Mark Peakman
• 2011 paper in ‘Current Opinion in Immunology’

Image: Illustration of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. Credit: Bret Syfert