Vision

The vision is to facilitate new academic collaborations within the region by:

• integrating outstanding research facilities at different GW4 sites into a single translational research platform, able to progress discoveries from small rodents to large animals and ultimately to people in the NHS;
• amalgamating the multidisciplinary biomedical network of researchers across these GW4 sites into an integrated and cross-fertilising research community;
• delivering though this community novel developmental and translational research at high potential to impact.

Aims

The new GW4 Network will amalgamate with the TBRC's expanding biomedical community, which currently includes over 150 biomedical scientists and companies from the GW4 South West, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Southampton and beyond (e.g. Japan, USA, Austria).

Within the GW4 Community, we aim to develop new operational and academic models based on a synergic and sharing approach between universities, the NHS, veterinary clinical science, emerging biomedical technologies, and the biomedical industry.

Ultimately, by integrating Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter within this initiative we aim to impact on patient benefit by:

1. delivering via this community developmental and translational studies, through an unprecedented package of research facilities with specifications aligned to NHS, GLPMA, and Home Office standards;
2. transforming ideas, concepts, fundamental discoveries, and prototypes in validated advances ready to be tested in first-in-man trials in the NHS or for commercialisation;
3. bridging the gap between basic science, the NHS and industry for societal and economical benefits;
4. facilitating wider engagement with the biomedical industry.

By establishing new collaborations under this GW4 Initiator, we will prepare to apply for a GW4 Accelerator in summer of 2016.

In addition, by establishing new pilot data, we aim to secure external funding for major GW4 collaborative projects in 2017.