The Wellcome Trust Translation Awards are designed to bridge the funding gap in the commercialisation of new technologies in the biomedical area. Their aims is to support exceptional individuals with the brightest minds through larger and bolder awards to accelerate product development. Awards are designed to be flexible, enabling freedom to innovate and push the boundaries of current knowledge.

Projects covering any aspect of technology development from a range of disciplines – including physical, computational and life sciences – will be considered for funding . Projects must address an unmet need in healthcare or in applied medical research, offer a potential new solution, and have a realistic expectation that the innovation will be developed further by the market.

Whilst applications can be made in any eligible area, the Trust particularly welcomes applications in the area of their current strategic highlight, ‘Restoring the Body.’

Strategic highlight: ‘Restoring the Body’

The global population is rapidly expanding and people expect to lead longer and healthier lives, but their ageing bodies are continuing to suffer from wear and tear. At the same time, in part because of increased life expectancies, the demand for donor organs exceeds supply. With few alternatives to transplant available, this shortage presents a clear unmet medical need worldwide.

In recent years, huge advances have been made in translating stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and developing novel medical devices that can replace the function of an organ. These areas of medicine are excellent examples of themes we will consider as part of ‘Restoring the Body’, our first strategic highlight.

We are particularly keen to receive ground-breaking proposals in novel biomedicine that seek to restore function to the body and enable people to lead full and independent lives.

For more information on the scheme and details of how to apply, please visit the Wellcome Trust website here.