Health Innovation Challenge Fund – Monitoring of Chronic Illness

 Posted by  Funding
Sep 102010
 
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The Health Innovation Challenge Fund is a five-year parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health to stimulate the creation of innovative healthcare products, technologies and interventions, and facilitate their development for the benefit of patients in the NHS and beyond.

Priorities of the programme are:

  • encourage innovative products for patient benefit
  • improve the uptake of new technological advances into patient management pathways
  • integrate the clinical, research, informatics and product development communities

The third theme for HICF is monitoring of chronic illness in the home and remote settings.

Key requirements of this call are:

  • Stand-alone Devices vs. ‘End-to-End Solutions’: HICF is looking for a demonstrable overall solution that provides a complete monitoring solution rather than isolated devices or technologies that address only part of the problem.
  • Multidisciplinary approach: The collaboration between academia, clinicians and industry is strongly encouraged for this theme in order to maximise the chances of success.
  • Delivery timescale: The HICF is targeting opportunities that can deliver a healthcare outcome within a timescale of around 3-5 years from the date of the funding decision. For example, eligible proposals could be at the stage where:
    • A ‘working prototype’ is confidently expected to be ready for small scale, proof-of-principle, pilot studies by year 3 or;
    • The technology is at an advanced stage of development and requires formal clinical trialling.
  • Business case: Applicants should provide a clear business case on why their ‘remote monitoring solution’ will overcome the issues relating to compliance by patients, technical challenges and adoption by professionals.
  • Out of scope: The HICF is NOT considering the following for Theme 3:
    • A ‘working prototype’ is confidently expected to be ready for small scale, proof-of-principle, pilot studies by year 3 or;
    • The technology is at an advanced stage of development and requires formal clinical trialling.
    • Acute condition monitoring solutions
    • Monitoring that is routinely performed on an in-patient basis or within a hospital environment by a doctor or other healthcare professional
    • Screening technologies that increase clinical workload but cannot realistically be integrated into clinical practice

HSC Trusts are eligible to apply to this fund or may be a collaborator in an application led by partner.

Full funding is available. The closing date for preliminary applications is 1st October 2010. Full information is on the Wellcome Trust website at http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Technology-transfer/Awards/Health-Innovation-Challenge-Fund/index.htm.