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Early diagnosis of major brain diseases, especially in children, is a crucial yet largely unmet clinical need. Since 1996 Aston University researchers have pioneered the development and clinical application of Magnetoencephalography (MEG). The team's research now supports the UK's first and largest clinical pre-surgical evaluation programme in partnership with leading neurosurgery centres. This work has had the following impacts (2008 — date) on health services, patient welfare and commerce:
New criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy have been developed by the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups and adopted by the American Diabetes Association on the basis of the Hyperglycaemia and Pregnancy Outcomes (HAPO) study. These new criteria double the percentage of women diagnosed with diabetes in pregnancy from approximately 8.5% to 17%. Appropriate management improves outcomes for them and their new born children. The results, which proved valid for all ethnic groups and countries, have led to a worldwide re-appraisal of glycaemic risk in pregnancy and the introduction of new guidelines to manage this.
Insulin derivatives that stem directly from structural work carried out within the York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL) are now the standard treatment for insulin-dependent diabetes for some 35 million patients worldwide. The successful development of new insulin drugs hinged upon controlling their speed of action following intravenous administration. This speed of action is controlled by insulin's degree of aggregation, which, in turn, is determined by protein-protein interactions. Understanding, modifying and controlling these interactions depended on detailed structural studies of insulin, insulin mutants and insulin derivatives. The most widely used derivatives were developed following structural work carried out within YSBL in the Department of Chemistry. The research has had economic impact through sales of the insulin drugs (over $6 billion in 2012) and major health impacts on diabetics worldwide.
An approach was developed that allowed the design of food items to facilitate psychological functioning: the key insight was that food items that slowly and continuously release glucose have a beneficial impact on mood and cognition. The work has impacted on public policy and is used, for example, to justify recommendations made by the European Food Information Council and the US Department of Agriculture and Food. Globally the findings have stimulated significant interest from food and ingredient manufacturers as they can reformulate food items to make claims about mood and cognitive functioning. This is reflected in the funding received from multi-national corporations, based in six different countries, to exploit the key research findings for the development of novel food formulations. In one instance a patent was established.
Diabetes research at University of Ulster (Ulster) addresses the unmet need of industry for new and more effective commercially applicable approaches for diabetes therapy. We have generated a new class of innovative peptide therapeutics resulting in a strong portfolio of intellectual property, significant international recognition, financial investment and job creation, with commercialisation through Ulster's technology transfer company, Innovation Ulster (IUL), and the Ulster start-up company, Diabetica Ltd. Our substantial interactions with industry have resulted in the licensing and further development of our international patents on stable incretin peptides for diabetes and, through our discovery of their positive effects on cognition, for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This work has provided industry with new and commercially viable approaches to significantly improve the lives of people with diabetes and related neurodegenerative disease.
Research conducted by Carol Holland for the Department for Transport (DfT, 2001 - 2004) contributed to a shift in public and professional attitude, stereotypes, and to revised international guidelines that recommend encouragement of self-regulation by older drivers. Furthermore, accurate pedestrian simulation methods were developed (2007 - 2010) which led to European interventions addressing the safety of older pedestrians. Improved advice to older road users has encouraged safe-mobility and social inclusion. Thus, we describe significant impact on:
Research into healthcare associated infections (HAI) at Aston University is led by Professor Lambert, Dr Worthington and Professor Hilton. New strategies to prevent and reduce HAI through a cleaner healthcare environment (antimicrobial surfaces and disinfection) and improved pre-surgical skin antisepsis have been founded on Aston's research in this field since 2007. This work has delivered significant impact on commerce, health and welfare and policy by:
Research undertaken by Professor Frances Ashcroft at the University of Oxford and her collaborators at the University of Exeter has led to several hundred neonatal diabetes (ND) patients worldwide being able to switch from daily insulin injections to oral sulphonylurea tablet therapy since 2008. ND is a rare but potentially devastating monogenic form of diabetes affecting about 1 in 150,000 live births. Sufferers were previously assumed to have type 1 diabetes and thus were treated with insulin injections; sulphonylurea treatment has transformed their quality of life and led to marked health improvements. It has also ameliorated the mental and motor developmental delay that affects about a fifth of ND patients.
Research into electrochemical biosensors conducted at the University of Cambridge between 1998 and 2002 led to the development of the WaveSense™ line of diabetes products by start-up, AgaMatrix. By 2012 AgaMatrix had sold 3M glucose meters & 3B biosensor test strips worldwide across 20,000+ retail locations including Boots UK, and since 2010 also globally in partnership with Sanofi. [text removed for publication] AgaMatrix UK continues to grow its business with compound annual growth rates for revenue in excess of 100%. Agamatrix UK now supplies over one million glucose test strips per month to the NHS. Agamatrix has developed >10 FDA-cleared products since 2008, including the first FDA approved smartphone linked diagnostic device.