Transcript Biomedical Ethics re-launch

Wellcome funding opportunities
in health-related ethics
Jacob Leveridge & Liz Shaw
Medical Humanities Programme, Wellcome Trust
Outline of talk
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Wellcome Trust & Strategic Plan
What is Biomedical Ethics (BmE)?
What is research in BmE?
Some e.g.s
Funding priorities
Other BmE schemes
Other funding opportunities
The Wellcome Trust
• An independent researchfunding charity
• Established 1936
• Funded from private
endowment
• Managed for long-term
stability and growth
• Interests range from
science to history of
medicine
Strategic Plan 2010-20
• One vision
• Three focus areas
• Five challenges
Our new vision and mission
Our vision is to achieve
extraordinary improvements in
human and animal health
Our mission is to support the
brightest minds in biomedical
research and the medical
humanities
Our breadth of support includes
public engagement, education and
the application of research to
improve health
Three focus areas…
• Supporting outstanding
researchers
supporting the best researchers at all
stages of their careers; creating the best
research environments; influencing the
policy landscape
• Accelerating the application of
research
stimulating Technology Transfer, clinical
research and uptake to policy & practice
• Exploring medicine in historical
and cultural contexts
fostering medical humanities, education
& public engagement
Five major challenges…
• Maximising the health benefits
of genetics and genomics
• Understanding the brain
• Combating infectious diseases
• Investigating development,
ageing & chronic disease
• Connecting environment,
nutrition and health
What is Biomedical Ethics (BmE)?
• Some form of engagement with ethical/moral
dilemmas arising in development & delivery
of healthcare or use of medical techniques
in non-healthcare contexts
• Trust interested in both research & public
engagement
• As far as research concerned, includes
- research ethics
- translational ethics
- clinical & healthcare practice ethics
- public health & health policy ethics
What is research in BmE?
• 3 broad kinds of ethical enquiry
• Empirical ethics – what is e.g. finding out what particular
group of people think about, or how they negotiate,
ethical dilemmas
• Normative ethics – what ought to be (or not) - a
systematic analysis of what ought or
ought not to be done
• Meta-ethics – nature of ethical properties, statements,
judgments
What kinds of research in BmE is
the Trust interested in?
• Purely normative analysis – philosophical or other
systematic analysis of what ought or ought not to be done
• Purely philosophical or other systematic conceptual
analysis of key concept(s) employed in ethical
analysis
• Combination of empirical research with philosophical
ethical/conceptual analysis or sustained critical
reflection on how data inform/challenge questions
about what ought or ought not to be done
or key ethical concepts
A couple of examples
Dr Gareth Owen (Psychiatry, IoP)
‘A phenomenological study of decision-making capacity in psychiatric disorders’
- How can & should notion of mental capacity be interpreted & applied
in context of psychiatric disorder?
- Clinical/empirical Q: What is phenomenology of decision-making incapacity
in schizophrenia, severe depression & frontal brain syndrome,
is this phenomenology similar or different across & within disorders?
- Legal Q: How should ‘use or weigh’ inability be interpreted in these disorders?
- Philosophical Q: Can study of decision-making incapacity in these
disorders advance philosophical understanding of autonomy?
Dr Paul Baines (Paediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Keele)
‘Making medical decisions for children: a philosophical approach’
- How ought we to make medical decisions
for children (esp. in face of disagreements
between parents and treating clinical team)?
- How parent's rights & parent's interests are
and ought to be balanced with child's
interests in deciding correct course
Funding priorities 2010-2012
• Review of Programme in 2006/07
• Recommendations included more targeted support
for capacity-building – SAs, RFs
• …And greater support for clinicians, other health
professionals & scientists interested in doing
research in BmE
Research Fellowships in Biomedical Ethics
Purpose
For individuals not yet in established academic posts, to undertake period of
postdoctoral research
What’s included?
• Salary for up to three years
• Essential research expenses + set amount for travel to conferences etc.
• Support available for research training in new discipline
Application process
• Applications two times a year, deadlines 1 Aug, 1 Dec
• Preliminary applications min six weeks before full application deadline
• Prelims: outline (2pp max), approx costs, CV & publications, sponsor’s
name and contact details, letter of support from HoD
University Awards in Biomedical Ethics
Purpose
For universities to attract/retain outstanding research staff at an early
to mid-stage in their careers, with support for up to five years, university
guarantees permanent post after that, usually at lecturer level
What’s included?
• Full salary for three years, 50% in Y4 and 25% in Y5
• Travel expenses to attend meetings for five years
• Research expenses for first three years
Application process
• Applications three times a year, deadlines 1 Aug, 1 Dec, 1 Mar
• Preliminary applications min six weeks before full application deadline
• Prelims: outline (2pp max), approx costs, CV & publications, letter of support
from HoD, statement from dean confirming salary costs & post as above
RFs & RLAs in BmE for Healthcare
Practitioners & Scientists
Purpose
For clinicians, GPs, other health professionals, to undertake period of
research within remit of Biomedical Ethics Programme
Research Fellowships in Biomedical Ethics for Healthcare
Practitioners & Scientists
For longer period of research, clinical/other practitioner salary for up to 4
years p/t + research expenses + travel allowance, can request support
for training in new discipline; can also be used to enrol for PhD
Research Leave Awards in Biomedical Ethics for Healthcare
Practitioners & Scientists
To be released from duties to undertake short period of research,
3-12 months f/t, salary of temporary cover for candidate
+ research expenses + travel allowance
Smaller grants
• MHH Small Grants
Up to £5k for symposia, conferences, travel, meetings to discuss
project idea or work up proposal, research expenses etc. within
broad purview of medical humanities
• Dissemination Awards
For dissemination of WT-funded BmE research to new audiences
or in new or particularly innovative ways
• WT/POST Fellowships
For WT-funded BmE final year doctoral students or early-stage
postdocs to spend 3 months in POST
International Ethics programme
• Project Scoping Travel Grants - For short-term visits
by LMIC scholars within their own country, or to another
country, to discuss ideas for ethics research collabs
• Symposia – For capacity-building to conduct research
in ethics, or scholarly discussion of ethical issues
in LMICs
• Small Project Grants & Project Grants - For research
• Studentships – Can be held at UK institutions
Places: Strong track record in global health research
Geographic focus
Major Overseas Programmes
Focus countries
Other eligible countries
Investigator Awards
• Extension of successful existing Fellowships model to those in
established academic posts, who might previously have come
in for Programme Grants & Project Grants (which replacing)
• Greater focus on individual researcher and their needs, greater
flexibility since not so much about particular research project
or programme but more about key research question(s) &
individual researcher’s vision & approach to answering those Qs
• New IAs & Senior IAs
• £100-425k/yr for up to 7 years
• Being rolled out across Science Funding from Oct 2010, MH
from Oct 2011
Other funding opportunities
• Strategic Awards
Highly flexible, support expansive research & capacity-building
programmes that don’t obviously fit existing mechanisms, esp.
multi-disciplinary programmes, esp. to support strategically-important
topics, 5 challenges
• Medical History & Humanities Programme
Historically-grounded research addressing important questions at
interface of science, medicine & humanities, drawing on other
disciplines in medical humanities & social sciences
• Public Engagement Programme
Support for projects aiming to inform & inspire public about biomedical
sciences & their social, ethical & historical contexts
Medical Humanities
Medical Humanities
some examples
Strategic awards
• Brian Hurwitz, Kings College London
•The Boundaries of Illness
• Martyn Evans, Durham
•Medicine and Human Flourishing
Wellcome Trust Book Prize
Wellcome Library
http://library.wellcome.ac.uk
Wellcome Collection
http://www.wellcomecollection.org
Wellcome Trust Book Prize
http://www.wellcomebookprize.org
Medical History & Humanities
• We encourage research applications that address
important questions at the interface of science, medicine
and the humanities.
• We expect that these questions will further develop our
understanding of the impact of medicine and medical
sciences on human and animal health.
• Research must be historically grounded, drawing, where
appropriate, on wider disciplines, in particular the
humanities (e.g. Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, etc.).
Medical History and Humanities
some recent examples…
Before ‘Translational Medicine’: Bench-Clinic
Relations since 1950
Franco Basaglia and Mental Health Reform
in Italy 1960-2009
A translation of 6 volumes of the works of
Galen of Pergamum (129–210 CE), ‘the Prince of Physicians’.
The Casebooks Project: Simon Forman and Richard Napier's
Medical Records, 1596-1634
Overview of MHH schemes
• Programme Grants
Long-term funding for up to 5 yrs, focused theme
• Pilot Grants
2 yrs support to develop competitive Programme Grant
applications, by developing & piloting research Qs, methodology,
collabs
• UAs, RFs, RLAs, PhD Studentships
• RLAs for Clinicians & Scientists
Research Leave Awards in Medical History for
Clinicians & Scientists
• Enables clinicians or scientists to undertake full-time research at
a centre or department with academic expertise in medical
history
• Provides the salary of a locum or
replacement lecturer for the
duration of the award
• Up to 6 months
support
Public Engagement
• Supporting projects that aim to
inform and inspire the public
about biomedical science and its
social/historical contexts
• To engage with society to foster
an informed climate within which
the medical Humanities and
biomedical science can flourish
SCIENCE/HISTORY
LECTURES/TALKS
EXHIBITIONS
NEWS/
NEWSPAPER
COVERAGE
EDUCATION
PROGRAMMES
OPINION
POLLS
CONSENSUS
CONFERENCE
PEOPLE’S
PANELS
SCIENCE
CENTRES
SOCIAL
RESEARCH
CITIZEN
JURY
DIALOGUE
COMMITTEE
REPRESENTATION
LIBRARY
RESOURCES
THEATRE IN
EDUCATION
INFORMATION
CONSULTATIONS
FOCUS
GROUPS
MAGAZINE
ARTICLES
PUBLIC
DEBATE
ADVISORY/USER
COMMITTEE
ATTITUDE
RESEARCH
TV
PROGRAMMES
INTERACTIVE
WEBSITES
ARTS
WEBSITES
PUBLIC IMPACT ON RESEARCH/POLICY
Public Engagement Grant Schemes
• People Awards
• Society Awards
• Arts Awards
• Broadcast Development Awards
People & Society Awards
•People < £30k, Society > £30k
•Exhibitions
•Events & debates
•Education projects
•Drama productions
•Films
•Festivals (Science, History & Literature)
People Award: Interior Traces
• Radio drama, video, performance & debate
that looks at how our images & imaginings
of the brain have radically changed
(& may further change) medicine,
law, ethics & our sense of self
• Events in Wellcome Collection,
Dana Centre, Birkbeck Cinema
www.interiortraces.com
Society Award: Debating Matters
• Inter-school sixth form
debating competition
• Emphasis on content
not rhetoric/style
• Increasing participation
from state schools
• At least 1/3 of debates on
biomedical topics
• Adapted for use in Ireland
& India
Arts Awards
• Two schemes: Small <£30k, Large >£30k
• Dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music,
film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital
media
• Projects must involve creation of new work
Broadcast Development Awards
• Seed funding for getting early-stage ideas for TV,
radio or new media projects to a ‘pitchable’ stage
Arts Award: The Lion’s Face
• Opera & education
programme
• Social, emotional &
physical impacts of
Alzheimer’s
Contact us:
www.wellcome.ac.uk/biomedicalethics
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Any questions?