Summary of the impact

Much contemporary government activity involves regulation of the economy and society. International organisations have increasingly promoted regulatory impact assessment as a tool to appraise the likely costs and benefits of regulations. Ground-breaking research by a team at the Centre for European Governance (CEG) has exposed the limitations of narrow economic approaches to regulatory impact assessment and regulatory reform. The research shows that impact assessment and regulatory measures need to be cast in their political and administrative context to operate effectively and to ensure appropriate cross-national learning about regulation. The main impacts have been:

• Bringing in political-administrative context to change policy-makers' thinking and improve regulatory impact assessment policy in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Bank as reflected in the guidance they distribute internationally to governments;
• Improving the Netherlands Government's processes for learning about regulation from experiences in other countries;
• Developing and applying new measures of regulatory performance in the OECD as reflected in the OECD's new framework for evaluating regulation.

Summary of the impact

Dr Robert Falkner's research into international risk regulation for emerging technologies underpins the work of the Nanotechnology Policy and Regulation programme at LSE. On the basis of this work, Dr Falkner was tasked by the European Commission to lead the first ever comparative study of nanotechnologies regulation in the EU and US. This research has stimulated policy debates in the UK and Europe on how to strengthen regulatory capacity in the field of nanotechnologies. The research has highlighted, in particular, the importance of improved transparency about nanomaterials in consumer goods and supply chains. This research finding has influenced the conclusions of the first UK parliamentary enquiry into nanotechnologies regulation and has informed a recent shift in global policy debates towards comprehensive and mandatory nanomaterials registers.

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates the impact of research focussed on establishing a set of European core competences in genetics for health professionals. Prior to the research, there were clear inequities and inconsistency of practice regarding genetic health services for patients across Europe, in particular in the fields of genetic counselling and genetic nursing. The core competences for genetic nurses and counsellors are now being used as the foundation for genetic nursing and genetic counselling profession in Europe, to improve standards of patient care. Standards of practice and education, curricula for Master's degree training programmes and a formal European registration process for genetic counsellors and nurses are all based on the outcomes of the initial study at Plymouth. These measures have resulted in professionalization of genetic nursing and genetic counselling in the European context and consequently improved consistency of care.

Summary of the impact

Widdows has shaped policy-making in areas of genetic ethics and especially biobanking. She has had impact:

• As a full member of the Ethics and Governance Council (EGC) of UK Biobank (UKB)
• As a key member of the IP and Access Sub-Group of the EGC
• As a keynote speaker at the 2013 World Medical Association Conference feeding into the redrafting of the Declaration of Helsinki (the code governing research globally)

In these arenas her work on consent, trust and genetic governance has shaped understandings of genetic ethics, which has created new policy:

• Nationally in the development of the policies and processes of UKB (especially with regard to understandings of consent and trust)
• Internationally, as the processes and lessons of UKB are taken up by other biobanks — demonstrated by the interest in UKB as the first of its kind from international consortia (such as the P3G — Public Population Project in Genetics).
• Internationally, in her impact on the revision of the Declaration of Helsinki in the explicit mention of biobanks in the current draft.

Summary of the impact

The ESRC Innogen Centre brought together a multiplicity of disciplines for a large 12-year research programme (2002-14) on the impact of regulation on innovation dynamics in the life sciences. Research design promoted interactions between stakeholders to achieve policy impact. Innogen developed a range of tooIs to disseminate research findings and influence policy in Europe, the African Union (AU), Kenya, Qatar and at the OECD. We used secondments and temporary placements to achieve impact, as well as more traditional activities and outputs, resulting in major policy impacts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Summary of the impact

The four Environment Agencies in England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have introduced, or are planning to introduce, new strategies for regulating low risk treatment sites and activities. These strategies are based on Black and Baldwin's research. Implementation is planned for 2011-13 onwards. The Irish Environmental Protection Agency has led the way in 2012-13, having already implemented GRID/GRAF in a specific low risk area (domestic waste water).

Summary of the impact

An AHRC and ESRC-funded Edinburgh research collaboration with the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovative Production (MOST), from 2007-2012, served as a key driver in the formation of regulatory structures, norms, knowledge and social understanding, helping to overcome state non-intervention in the regulation of regenerative medicine. As a direct result of engagement with the stakeholders in law/policy, medical and scientific communities, the research exposed a strong appetite for top-down legal intervention. This culminated in the first-ever model law presented by the MOST to the Argentine legislature (Congress) in 2013.

Summary of the impact

Impact on productivity, the economy and the environment: UK dairy farmers can select the best animals for breeding using analysis of a wide range of traits, leading to improved productivity, greater efficiency and reduced environmental impact, because of UoE research creating a UK Test Day Model (TDM) and an overall Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI)

Beneficiaries: The principal beneficiary is the dairy industry, specifically dairy farmers who are able to generate higher profits. This has benefits for UK consumers and the economy by keeping milk prices lower. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with more efficient dairy farming practices has global benefits.

Significance and Reach: The genetic evaluation system enabled by the PLI and TDM has resulted in a financial benefit to the UK dairy industry of an estimated £440M over the period 2008-2013.

Attribution: The quantitative genetic research was led by Dr Sue Brotherstone and Professor Bill Hill of the School of Biological Sciences, UoE, with colleagues at Roslin Institute (UoE; UoA6) and SRUC (also returned with UoE in UoA6) as described below.

Summary of the impact

Our research has had impact on the activities of practitioners and their services, health and welfare of patients, on society and on public policy. New diagnostic tests for genetic deafness have been introduced, and healthcare guidelines and professional standards adopted through our investigation of the aetiology of childhood-onset hearing loss. Disease prevention has been achieved by our research on antibiotic-associated deafness, public awareness of risk to health and hearing has been raised, and we have increased public engagement through debate on scientific and social issues. We have also influenced public policy on ethics of genetic testing for deafness with our research resulting in improved quality, accessibility and acceptability of genetic services among many hard-to-reach groups (deafblind, culturally Deaf, and the Bangladeshi population of East London).

Summary of the impact

As a result of research from Oxford's Professor Andrew Wilkie, accurate genetic diagnostic tests are now available for over 23% of all craniosynostosis cases nationally and internationally, leading to improved family planning and clinical management of this common condition worldwide. The premature fusion of cranial sutures, known as craniosynostosis, is a common developmental abnormality that occurs in 1 in 2,500 births. Over the past 20 years, the University of Oxford's Clinical Genetics Lab, led by Professor Wilkie in collaboration with the Oxford Craniofacial Unit, has identified more than half of the known genetic mutations that cause craniosynostosis and other malformations of the skull.