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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/K004549/1
Title: The Global Hub in Medical Technologies and NanoHealth at Swansea University
Principal Investigator: Wilks, Professor S
Other Investigators:
Williams, Professor R Rees, Professor P Ford, Professor DV
Thornton, Professor CA Thimbleby, Professor H Summers, Professor H
Doak, Professor SH Conlan, Professor RS
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: College of Science
Organisation: Swansea University
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 April 2012 Ends: 31 March 2013 Value (£): 493,093
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
With its Centre for NanoHealth, Swansea University leads Europe in NanoHealth and Medical Technologies, underpinned by existing and emergent international collaborations.

Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth (CNH) is a £30M investment, state of the art facility conducting research and development in medical technology and nanotechnology for healthcare. The scope and breadth of the facility is unique in Europe allowing the design, fabrication, characterization, scale up in a cleanroom, embedded in a Category 2 biological environment; CNH covers translation through a clinical research unit. CNH opened in 2009 and has been the catalyst for interdisciplinary projects spanning Engineering, Medicine, Science and hospitals, internationally and nationally.

Much international collaboration has been forged through CNH's activity, particularly with leading international institutions in Medical Technologies and NanoHealth. The majority of CNH projects have direct clinical support through the University Hospital, which is co-located on campus and shares facilities. The current portfolio of externally funded projects supports over 25 RA/PDRFs and 40 PhD researchers with the involvement of circa 40 academics and clinicians, all having access to over £20M of state of the art equipment. Successful inward (interdisciplinary) and outward-reaching collaboration by CNH has attracted in excess of £16M from EPSRC, EU, MRC, TSB, the Royal Society, and industrial partners, who have a strong foothold in CNH as partners or spin-out companies.

This Global Hub will go beyond the limitations of standard operational practice: time constraints, single ad hoc staff exchanges, access to facilities and budget availability tend to stifle outputs and frustrate academic vitality and pace. The Hub will lead to increased productivity from existing international links with the US and rapidly build on the early stage collaboration with France and China. The objective is to create a high-profile Global Hub centered at Swansea University.

The Global Hub's programme of collaborative activity in Medical Technologies and NanoHealth focuses on four primary research clusters to intensify capacity and capability: Technology Development, Safety Assessment, Therapeutics, and Human Factors Engineering.

Key Findings
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Project URL:  
Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.swan.ac.uk