Wellcome funding opportunities

in health-related ethics

Jacob Leveridge & Liz ShawMedical Humanities Programme, Wellcome Trust

Outline of talk

1. Wellcome Trust & Strategic Plan

2. What is Biomedical Ethics (BmE)?

3. What is research in BmE?

4. Some e.g.s

5. Funding priorities

6. Other BmE schemes

7. Other funding opportunities

• An independent research-funding charity

• Established 1936

• Funded from private endowment

• Managed for long-term stability and growth

• Interests range from science to history of medicine

The Wellcome Trust

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

researcherssupporting 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 examplesDr 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 researchGeographic 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 ProgrammeHistorically-grounded research addressing important questions at

interface of science, medicine & humanities, drawing on other

disciplines in medical humanities & social sciences

• Public Engagement ProgrammeSupport for projects aiming to inform & inspire public about biomedical

sciences & their social, ethical & historical contexts

Medical Humanities

Strategic awards

• Brian Hurwitz, Kings College London

•The Boundaries of Illness

• Martyn Evans, Durham

•Medicine and Human Flourishing

Medical Humanitiessome examples

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 Humanitiessome 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

•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

Overview of MHH schemes

•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

Research Leave Awards in Medical History for Clinicians & Scientists

•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

Public Engagement

THEATRE IN EDUCATION

ARTS

EXHIBITIONS

SCIENCE/HISTORYLECTURES/TALKS

WEBSITES

PEOPLE’SPANELS

EDUCATIONPROGRAMMES

SCIENCECENTRES

PUBLICDEBATE

INTERACTIVEWEBSITES

NEWS/NEWSPAPERCOVERAGE

LIBRARYRESOURCES

TVPROGRAMMES

MAGAZINEARTICLES

ATTITUDERESEARCH

CITIZENJURY

OPINIONPOLLS

SOCIALRESEARCH

CONSULTATIONS

FOCUSGROUPS

ADVISORY/USERCOMMITTEE

COMMITTEEREPRESENTATION

CONSENSUSCONFERENCE

PUBLIC IMPACT ON RESEARCH/POLICY

DIALOGUE INFORMATION

•People Awards

•Society Awards

•Arts Awards

•Broadcast Development Awards

Public Engagement Grant Schemes

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

•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 Awards

Arts Award: The Lion’s Face

•Opera & education

programme

•Social, emotional &

physical impacts of

Alzheimer’s

Contact us:www.wellcome.ac.uk/biomedicalethics

biomedicalethics@wellcome.ac.ukj.leveridge@wellcome.ac.uk

e.shaw@wellcome.ac.uk

Any questions?