Report of EPSRC Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare Scoping Meeting 15 SEPTEMBER 2014

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Stephany McLaughlin
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1 Report of EPSRC Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare Scoping Meeting 15 SEPTEMBER 2014

2 Introduction and goals of the scoping meeting A small-scale scoping meeting was held on 15 th September 2014, to identify opportunities to stimulate and support the creation of centres where novel mathematical sciences solutions to current needs in healthcare research and provision would be developed. The goals of the workshop were to: Identify areas of mathematical sciences research that could address current need(s) in healthcare research and provision Explore options for such areas that could be highlighted in a future call as; a) presenting potential opportunities for disruptive/transformative mathematical sciences innovation within the healthcare space and b) that would benefit from an ambitious, coordinated, collaborative effort (i.e. a centre based approach) to attempt to resolve longstanding problems at the Mathematical Sciences Healthcare interface. The remit of the scoping meeting was broad in that it encouraged discussion of any perceived opportunities within the Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare space; involving novel statistics, applied and pure Mathematics. Scoping meeting attendees were encouraged to focus on the types of research that would be suitable for development within dedicated multidisciplinary centres at the Mathematical Sciences Healthcare interface. The outputs from this scoping meeting will help EPSRC identify areas in which it is well positioned to make a contribution to the development of centres for mathematical sciences in healthcare, with a view to providing disruptive/transformative innovation that increases both the effectiveness of and efficiencies in healthcare provision. Attendees This was a small-scale scoping exercise, with participants invited rather than identified through an open expression of interest. Attendees were selected based on meeting some or all of the following criteria: Has a strategic overview of the mathematical sciences in healthcare space Has a strategic overview of an associated discipline in the healthcare space, i.e. a research area that is at least in part underpinned by mathematical sciences and innovation therein Is an active researcher in a mathematical sciences sector, i.e. Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics Has existing interactions/familiarity with the EPSRC Mathematical Sciences and/or Healthcare Technologies Themes Is a funding representative whose organisation has an interest in and/or track record of funding mathematical sciences research for healthcare

3 A full list of attendees is shown below: Peter Burlinson Ian Craddock Rod Hose Chris Jennison Oliver Jensen Carron Shankland Rachel Shaw Mark Tarplee Marcus Tindall Mike Ward Jimmy Whitworth BBSRC University of Bristol University of Sheffield University of Bath University of Manchester University of Stirling Cancer Research UK EPSRC University of Reading EPSRC Wellcome Trust Workshop and Outputs The workshop consisted of a three hour round table facilitated discussion addressing three key questions: Q1. What are the major opportunities at the interface of Mathematical Sciences and Healthcare Technologies? What are the key mathematical sciences challenges? Q2. Why would the Mathematical Sciences Healthcare Technologies interface benefit from a managed activity? Q3. How could EPSRC facilitate the formation of new collaborations between Mathematical Scientists and Healthcare Technology researchers? A summary of the discussions around each question is provided below. Q1. What are the major opportunities at the interface of Mathematical Sciences and Healthcare Technologies? What are the key mathematical sciences challenges? A list of suggestions was drawn up as follows: Multiscale modelling techniques - mechanistic and statistical, a longstanding problem Data analytics for healthcare, especially at the interface between statistics and applied mathematics; to include data integration and synthesis, incorporating incomplete / sparse / dynamic data into models Network mathematics / topology (e.g. for neuroscience, understanding disease progression) Uncertainty quantification (e.g. regarding the accuracy of prognoses)

4 Innovative design of clinical trials (e.g. adaptive designs, mathematical sciences based non-animal testing technologies, advanced in silico analyses); mathematical sciences approaches for the validation of N=2 clinical trials Greater integration of computational models (e.g. linking individual organ models) Network analysis of healthcare delivery (e.g. Operational Research at organisation to national levels) Big data processing for point of care/home healthcare (e.g. wearable/smart sensor telemetry) Mathematical sciences for the design and operation of medical devices (e.g. data processing) The pure applied mathematics applications chain: involving/integrating all sub-disciplines to provide transformative healthcare solutions Virtual Physiological Human and equivalent organisations (e.g. Human Brain Project, The Brain Initiative) as collaborators and/or users of the research outcomes Attracting greater input from pure mathematics Q2. Why would the Mathematical Sciences Healthcare Technologies interface benefit from a managed activity (the development of dedicated centres)? The group identified a number of potential benefits of running a call for centres at this interface. The points raised focussed primarily on the potential of the centres to act as a focal point for activity at the interface. For example, it was felt that centres would: Provide more focus and coherence for mathematical sciences research relevant to Healthcare Technologies. Historically, the community working at this interface has not naturally coalesced to achieve critical mass, thus a centre based approach could help to catalyse this. Help bring people together and engage a wider section of the Mathematical Sciences community. Act as a focal/contact point for industrial partners with interests in this area; both to seek solutions to existing problems and identify potential opportunities for future investment. Provide heightened visibility for mathematical sciences research relevant to healthcare, increasing the potential for impact/translation (e.g. into the clinic). The group also felt that there continued to be an important role for research base funding (e.g. Standard/First grants and Fellowships) at this interface as such mechanisms offer funding to a broad applicant base that can bring an array of skills to the area. However it was acknowledged that centres would complement and perhaps stimulate research base applications by providing a point of focus for activity in this area. Q3. How could EPSRC facilitate the formation of new collaborations between Mathematical Scientists and Healthcare Technologists? A managed call to support the creation of Centres for Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare was recognised as an effective way of stimulating new and existing research collaborations in this area. Another key way to promote the formation of new collaborations at the Mathematical Sciences Healthcare Technologies interface could be via the Predictive Modelling for Healthcare through Maths (POEMS)

5 network. To date the network has received moderate interest and hence has additional capacity. Were a call for proposals to create centres for mathematical sciences in healthcare announced the network could be used to facilitate the linking of interested researchers from both sides, without the need for a location specific workshop. Conclusion There are a significant number of challenges/opportunities at the interface between Mathematical Sciences and Healthcare. Anecdotal evidence at the meeting indicates that both industry and the wider user base (e.g. clinicians, charity funders, organ/disease specific initiatives) would both welcome and benefit directly from such a stimulus. It may therefore be timely for EPSRC to consider how it might generate the required stimulus.

Before I talk through the strategy itself, I want to tell you more about why

Before I talk through the strategy itself, I want to tell you more about why This presentation was given by Dr Annette Bramley, the Healthcare Technologies Theme leader. She thanked Professor Nelson and Professor Taylor for their presentations, and thanked everyone at the meeting