The Technology Strategy Board’s Stratified Medicine Innovation Platform (SMIP) seeks to build on the UK’s strength within the global healthcare industries and put it at the centre of the next generation of medicine.  Its seven partner organisations will together invest around £200m over 5 years in the area of stratified medicine.

The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £4.5m in the area of Enabling Cellular and Tissue Analysis technologies for Stratified Medicine. The competition has been developed in collaboration with the partners of the Technology Strategy Board’s SMIP and will address the key issue of improving laboratory based technologies that will enable and improve diagnostic analysis of samples from cells, tissues and tumour biopsy to stratify patients for treatment where there is current clinical challenge.

Previous workshops have been used to provide the final scope for this competition which may include technologies to enhance digital pathology by improving standardisation, reducing subjectivity, allowing analysis of fresh and fixed tissue samples, reducing the costs or time to perform and report histopathological analysis. Projects may also include improved processes and preservatives for tissue sampling, preparation, storage and analysis of samples for histopathology, functional testing and storage through biobanking, and can include data handling capabilities for sample tracking and  linking pathology data with patient records  The ability to perform multiple forms of analyses on samples will provide an optimal interpretation of disease condition and allow stratification of disease to ensure the most effective therapies are delivered.

In preparation for this, its 4th series of competitions, scheduled to open on 28th October 2013, SMIP will be holding a series of consortium building events in London on 3rd October, Leeds on 4th October and Glasgow on 17th October.

A total of £4.5m is allocated to this competition to fund individual projects of between £100,000 and £1.0million per project.  This will be a two stage competition: Stage 1:-Applicants will submit a compulsory EOI which is assessed by an independent panel of experts. Stage 2 Selected applicants from stage 1 are invited to submit a full application.

Register for the events via this link: http://www.smip-event.co.uk/

Further information can be found at:
http://www.innovateuk.org/ourstrategy/innovationplatforms/stratified-medicine-.ashx