The goal of the proposed Oxford Industrial Doctorate in Systems Approaches to Biomedical Science is to ensure that the UK has a strong pipeline of future innovators and research leaders in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, biotechnology, and biomedically-related IT sectors. It will build on the track record and model of inter-disciplinary scientific training of the two existing DTCs in Oxford (at the Life Sciences Interface and in Systems Biology), and of our existing Industrial Doctorate pilot scheme, to provide a comprehensive industrial research training programme, tailored to the needs of each individual student, and will engage with internationally leading industrial partners and academic groups drawn from across the spectrum of EPSRC's healthcare-related programmes. Graduates from the IDC programme will receive extensive exposure to the industrial context of their research in both the taught programme and in their industry-based research projects. This will allow them to develop the skills in project management, strategic planning, leadership, team working, commercial awareness, and problem solving that will be required to translate innovations in basic and medical science into commercial product development.The proposal has very strong support from across the relevant industry sectors (pharmaceutical, biomedical and imaging, health-related IT and biotechnology). The 13 companies supporting this proposal are: GE Healthcare (Dr Jonathan Allis, Vice President for Technology); GSK (Professor Paul Matthews, Vice President, Imaging and Head, GSK Clinical Imaging Centre); AstraZeneca (Dr Andy Hargreaves, Director, Advanced Science and Technology Lab); Roche (Dr Bryn Roberts, Global Head of Group Research); Novartis (Dr Ulrich Hummel, Unit Head, Structural Sciences); Pfizer (Ian Machin, Director Pain Discovery Biology); Siemens Molecular Imaging (Dr. Jrme Declerck, Head of Science and Technology), Microsoft Research (Prof Stephen Emmott , Director of External Research), Philips (Dr Lothar Spies, Head of Digital Imaging); Fujitsu European Laboratory (Dr Ross Nobes, Head of Computational Biology), UCB Celltech (Dr Jiye Shi); Inhibox (Dr Paul Finn); and Summit (Richard Vickers, Drug Discovery). Full details of the levels of support to be provided to the IDC by each of these companies are given in the attached letters of support from each of the representatives listed above. Several of these companies will be directly involved in the teaching programme of the proposed IDC.Producing these industrial scientists is of paramount importance if the UK is to remain at the forefront of the biotechnology, biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors. Current economic conditions are resulting in financial pressures across these sectors, but future innovation and product development requires that the training of these future generations of scientists commences now. EPSRC support is therefore vital. Similarly, the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed training and research programmes necessitate a critical mass of students within the training programme who can support and learn from one another, and the overall goals of the IDC simply could not be met by the standard PhD training route.

Digital Health technologies can make a positive difference to the outcomes of patient treatment, management and care. Improving digital services and the sharing and use of data will also save time and resources so that staff can better focus on delivering medical and social care. Examples of such technologies include data collected through smartphones. For example, the ZOE COVID Symptom Study App used during the pandemic was jointly developed by King's College London, and now has more than four million users. Other digital technologies include wearable devices which can help monitor heart rate, activity and sleep and remotely assess and help manage a wide range of conditions. For example, the £23M Innovative Medicines Initiative RADAR-CNS led by King's has pioneered their use in depression, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Our aim is to enable the development of new digital technologies and reduce the time it takes for these to benefit patient care. The King's Health Partner (KHP) Digital Health Hub will do this by helping researchers, health and social care staff, patients and industry to work together better. We also hope to increase the availability of such technologies nationally by offering support to enable new businesses to grow rapidly, thereby making a more immediate difference to patients' lives. Digital health technologies have lots of potential but their widespread use is limited by: - A lack of examples of how clinicians, academics, engineers, quality assurance experts, health economists, patients and end users can best work together during development - Specific gaps in training and knowledge amongst the different groups, for example: - Academic and industry technologists may have trouble understanding NHS systems and fail to engage with the end users of the technologies they are trying to develop, such as health care providers, patients and carers. They may not know about or understand the complex regulatory pathway which needs to be followed before such technologies can be used in clinical practice. - Clinical specialists may lack the appropriate technical skills such as data analyses, coding and programming languages to help them develop digital applications they think will be helpful to their patients. The KHP Digital Health Hub will help to overcome the barriers to the rapid development and use of digital technologies nationally. It will be an accessible "ecosystem" comprising specialists from different sectors working together to improve understanding and use of digital technologies and addressing the government's long-term goals for health and social care. With our partners, we will connect the digital health research community to the substantial opportunities for investment in London and our diverse and world leading healthcare research environment. We have brought together a wealth of expertise from across KHP, including King's College London and partner NHS Trusts, patients and industry collaborators, to provide support and training, and create opportunities for the acceleration of digital health across the UK. KHP includes seven mental health and physical healthcare hospitals and many community sites with ~4.8 million patient contacts each year and a combined annual turnover of more than £3.7 billion. The KHP Digital Health Hub will provide: - proven expertise, infrastructure and experience of co-creation and commercialisation - a three-way clinical, academic and industry partnership - a physical location where technology developers can work collaboratively, and - an excellent track record in training which will be offered to all our partners across the health and social care sectors. With the right support and networks in place, digital health technologies have the power to transform patient care and experiences across the UK. The knowledge and expertise is all there, and together we can make sure it is shared, translated and built upon, at every step of the way.