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The work described here has impacted on European policy and standards concerning energy efficiency in Building Services.
The impact arises from two Welsh School of Architecture led and European Commission funded projects, HARMONAC (focussed on inspection of air-conditioning systems) and iSERV (focussed on automatic system monitoring and feedback). These pan-European projects demonstrate achieved energy savings of up to 33% of total building electricity use in individual buildings, and potential savings up to €60Bn. These projects demonstrably impacted the recast European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the revision of EU Standards (European Committee for Standardisation (CEN)).
Responding to the crisis in confidence amongst clinicians involved in child protection, Cardiff University developed the world's first research programme to provide the scientific basis for more reliable clinical assessments of child abuse and neglect. The programme, which involves 21 systematic reviews (updated annually) and related primary studies, has directly informed five national clinical guidelines, the National Child Protection training program and the first NICE guidance on child maltreatment. Through the Core-Info website, the evidence base created by the Cardiff team is accessed each year by 100,000 users. Key messages from their research have been published in a series of Core-Info leaflets which have reached more than 250,000 allied professionals nationally. The Cardiff research informs standardised national clinical practice, training and legal decisions, ultimately improving the recognition and protection of children from abuse or neglect.
Before 2008-9 the worldwide Anglican Communion had no global legal framework for its 44 autonomous churches with their 80 million members. Historically, the Communion has been maintained by mutual "bonds of affection" held by members one for another on the basis of shared beliefs. This is changing. The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion were launched at the Lambeth Conference in 2008, while the Anglican Communion Covenant (2009) is currently before each church for ratification. Research by Professor Norman Doe at Cardiff Law School first identified the need for these initiatives and informed his drafting and advocacy of both documents, each providing a framework of `house rules' for the Communion.
Cardiff University research led to second-generation chemiluminescent technology. The invention allowed for internal amplification control in nucleic-acid based clinical diagnostic assays for infectious disease and produced results with greater accuracy and fulfilled previously unmet regulatory standards. Adopted by the market leader in nucleic acid diagnostics (a sub-licensee of Cardiff University) the Cardiff technology is used globally in more than 60 million in vitro diagnostic tests annually. Sales of the tests approach $500 million per year and the sub-licensee was subsequently sold for $3.8 billion.
Producers of dietary supplements have historically lacked scientific rigour when advertising the health benefits of their products. Researchers at Cardiff University have addressed this problem in relation to omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). They identified a family of enzymes (aggrecanases) as key players in the onset of arthritis, knowledge subsequently used to identify a specific subset of omega-3-PUFAs with beneficial activity in a canine arthritis model. This led to novel patents and product development in both the pet food and human dietary supplement markets. These include the patented use of omega-3 PUFAs in Hills'® Prescription Diet® range and the development and marketing of Seven Seas' `JointCare' products.
Research led by the Cardiff School of Psychology first revealed a `governance trap' hindering decisive long-term action by the UK government on climate change. Nick Pidgeon co-authored a Parliamentary Research Report that identified a solution to this problem, which was the creation of an independent expert Committee to advise the government of the day on long-term climate change targets and to evaluate progress. This recommendation was enshrined in the 2008 Climate Change Act, which formalised the scope and composition of the UK Climate Change Committee. Since its inception the committee has shaped the future energy strategy of the UK and devolved administrations. The committee is also providing a blueprint for approaches in other countries.
Research at Cardiff University is underpinning the abandonment of the 100-year-old surgical practice of removing all axillary lymph nodes in cases of breast cancer. Such surgery frequently caused arm lymphoedema, loss of arm mobility and lymphatic system damage. Cardiff led the seminal ALMANAC trial which showed that full node clearance was unnecessary if a biopsy of the first draining `sentinel' node was cancer-free. Cardiff then spearheaded the impact on practice through a training and awareness programme for surgeons, primarily in the UK, but also in China, India, Brazil and Turkey. By 2010 these efforts had established the Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) procedure as standard in the UK, while the study was also cited in USA guidelines. The main beneficiaries of the impact are the 50-75% of breast cancer patients who now enjoy lower levels of pain, shoulder disability and arm lymphoedema. Healthcare providers also benefit financially from a reduced need for extensive surgery.
In the late 1990s the new Welsh Assembly Government publicly acknowledged a significant evidence gap in relation to rural policy. A Cardiff University team of rural researchers led by Terry Marsden and Paul Milbourne has since played a significant role in filling this gap. A major programme of longitudinal and place-based research has revealed the need for a more integrated approach to rural policy development. Key findings from this research have been used by the Welsh Government to develop more sustainable and integrated forms of rural policy, particularly in relation to anti-poverty and agri-food strategy. The research evidence has also influenced policy debates in the UK on agri-food, as well as negotiations between the Welsh Government and European Commission in relation to European objectives for rural development.
New approaches to analysing and modelling water systems, developed at Cardiff, have driven national policy changes to improve the proportion of fully functioning water ecosystems in the UK. UK Government, Welsh Government and a range of NGOs have adopted these new approaches, which replace traditional descriptive methods with experimental, analytical and modeling techniques for understanding water ecosystems.
These approaches have been used to develop the water-related component of the National Ecosystem Assessment. This document has directly impacted on UK river management policy, forming the basis of two Defra White papers, `Natural Choice' and `Water for Life', underpinning Welsh Government's Natural Environment Framework and informing the work of a range of NGOs.
A new family of antiviral agents, bicyclic nucleoside analogues (BCNAs), discovered in Cardiff University has led to a highly potent anti-VZV (shingles) molecule, FV-100. On a worldwide basis more than two million patients are affected by shingles annually. FV-100 has successfully completed Phase II clinical trials, showing it is safe, potent and effective and with clinical advantages over the current standard of care. FV-100 has received more than $30 million in R&D investment, generating patents and creating highly skilled jobs in the UK and the USA, with the parent company currently valued at $397 million. It will enter registration trials in late 2013.