Grantholders e-newsletter

Issue 5, July 2006

1. Stop press: Your chance to shape legislature on the welfare of animals used in research

The European Commission recently launched a public consultation on the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC on the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is an important opportunity to respond to the European Commission's proposals for legislative reform and it is critical that as many individuals and representative organisations from the scientific community as possible make their views known. When responding to the consulation, please also copy in Katherine Littler ( k.littler@wellcome.ac.uk).

The deadline for submission is Friday 18 August.

2. Clinical trials

Not everyone is aware that the Wellcome Trust can provide funding for clinical trials, and we have recently clarified our position.

An important point to note is that there are different criteria for trials in the UK/Republic of Ireland, and those in developing countries.

3. Wellcome Trust announces Aaa/AAA credit rating and proposed bond issue

The Wellcome Trust announced this July that it has received an Aaa/AAA bond credit rating from Moody's and Standard & Poor's respectively, representing the highest credit rating available. The Trust is the first UK charity to have been awarded the Aaa/AAA rating. It will help us to continue to increase the amount of money we spend each year in support of the very best scientists.

4. 'The Genetics Revolution' conference

The Trust is hosting a conference from 20-26 August 2006 at Hinxton Hall, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, near Cambridge, UK, organised by the 21st Century Trust on the subject of 'The Genetics Revolution'. If you are interested in attending, please visit the 21st Century Trust website. The conference is fully residential and there will be no charge.

5. Changes to Tropical Medicine Fellowship schemes

The Trust is simplifying its fellowship schemes and will no longer retain separate tropical fellowship schemes for UK and European Economic Area (EEA) candidates. From October 2006 UK and EEA candidates who intend to undertake public health or tropical medicine research in a developing country should apply through the generic clinical or basic UK fellowship schemes. The Trust remains committed to supporting tropical medicine and public health research and a specialist interview committee will consider candidates working in developing countries within these fields.

6. Masterclasses in Clinical Neurosciences

The Trust is piloting a new initiative - ' Masterclasses in Clinical Neuroscience' - to bring together basic researchers and clinicians to tackle key clinical problems in the field, and to promote translational research. The Neuroscience and Mental Health stream is now inviting applications for funding to create and host Masterclasses in Clinical Neuroscience, in partnership with UK-based learned societies.

7. Advanced Courses

Earlier this year, the Wellcome Trust Advanced Courses (WTAC) programme at the Genome Campus in Hinxton completed its 50th Advanced Course – 'Microarrays and the Transcriptome'. The course represents a milestone for the WTAC programme, which has trained over 1200 scientists from around the world in its 18-year history.

The programme also runs training courses abroad, such as those held in Brazil and Mexico earlier this year, and a new centre has been built and equipped to run computer-based courses in Uruguay.

For application deadlines, see Advanced Courses.

8. Biomedical Image Awards 2006

Beautiful microscopic structures have gone on show in London and online. Marvel at the Award-winning images, listen to interviews with their creators, learn about how they were made and vote for your favourite.

9. Are you ready for eGrants?

Don't forget that from 1 October 2006, grant applications for many WT schemes will need to be made using our web-based application system, eGrants. See our funding pages for more details.

1 0. Open access papers: recent highlights

Recognising the benefits of open access, a number of Trust-funded researchers are already publishing their research in journals that support this model. Below, we provide a summary of some recent highlights.

Blood clots in the brain - A potential treatment for dementia
Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia account for 80 per cent of all dementias. Professor Alistair Burns and colleagues at the University of Manchester conducted a study to compare the occurrence of spontaneous blood clots in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia against a group of controls. They found that blood clots were present in significantly more of the Alzheimer patients and vascular dementia patients compared with the control group. It is hoped that the research will pave the way to preventing and/or treating dementia.
Burns A et al. BMJ 2006;332(7550):1119-24. Full text

Global traffic and disease vector dispersal
Two types of mosquito are responsible for transmitting many dangerous infections to humans. Aedes albopictus is the vector for many viruses, while Anopheles gambiae is the vector for transmitting deadly malaria. Although mosquitoes do not generally fly very far, some are taking advantage of modern transport methods to extend their range. In a novel analysis using a 'coupled human–environment framework', Andrew Tatem, Simon Hay and David Rogers demonstrated that the ship has become the vehicle of choice for certain mosquitoes. The volume of marine traffic and similarity of climate between origin and destination are significant factors in explaining how Aedes albopictus has spread to many parts of the world. By contrast, because shipping traffic from African ports is lighter, and often terminates in the colder ports of Europe, Anopheles gambiae has yet to take a firm foothold outside Africa. The study provides a timely warning that rising world trade and global warming should be factored into efforts to control vector-borne diseases.
Tatem AJ et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006;103(16):6242-7. Full text