Impact Global Location: United States

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Animal Protection: Ethics and Politics

Summary of the impact

The use and treatment of animals in the provision of our food, clothing and other raw materials, as well as in the areas of medical research, sport and entertainment, polarises public opinion and provokes extreme views. Research by Professor Robert Garner on the ethics and politics of animal protection has provided a springboard for political debate and decision making both in the UK and internationally. In particular, Garner's work has impacted upon the debate within the animal protection movement, and has helped to shape aspects of government policy on animal welfare issues in general, most notably on the UK Government's approach to the issue of whaling, and DEFRA's approach to the ethics of using wild animals in circuses.

Submitting Institution

University of Leicester

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Law and Legal Studies: Law
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Philosophy

1 Accelerating the development of new chemotherapy drugs using bioluminescent bacterial biosensors

Summary of the impact

Novel bioluminescent bacterial biosensors developed at UWE, Bristol, and commercialised by Randox, have been used by a range of companies to demonstrate effectiveness of drugs and decontamination procedures. This has improved development processes at companies including Clavis Pharma, Purest Solutions and Dycem, leading to new manufacturing processes and quality control test methods. The biosensors are used in novel applications to give pharmacodynamic data on effectiveness of drugs and real time in-situ demonstration of effectiveness of decontamination processes. These biosensors, pioneered and developed by Vyv Salisbury's group, have been commercially adopted and used for evaluation by at least six collaborating companies.

Submitting Institution

University of the West of England, Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Medical Microbiology

Accessibility & User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments (AUNT-SUE)

Summary of the impact

The case study captures and describes the outputs and impacts arising from cumulative research on the theme of accessibility in transport and urban design. Impacts are evidenced both through the research process in terms of end-user engagement, collaborative research and real world test bed research (local communities and neighbourhoods); and through intermediary and professional/ practitioner body validation, policy-making and take up of research findings and guidance/toolkits arising. Impacts have also occurred through wider dissemination, follow-up research and collaboration both nationally and internationally.

Submitting Institution

London Metropolitan University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Urban and Regional Planning
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Access to Justice Through Education: Building a Law Clinic Culture in the UK and Beyond

Summary of the impact

The pedagogic research undertaken by the School of Law has produced an ambitious and innovative model of clinical legal education: the in-house live client model, which offers a university-based free legal service offering full representation to private clients and NGOs in the form of the Student Law Office. The Student Law Office integrates supervised legal service in the law curriculum, thereby delivering free access to justice to the wider community whilst benefiting the learning environment. Impact is three-fold:

  1. a major contribution to voluntary legal services in a region with high social deprivation: over 1,000 clients secured access to justice and over £840,000 of compensation has been recovered for clients;
  2. a national and world leading role influencing the legal profession, regulators and policy makers; and
  3. building the capacity of law clinics in other HEIs to provide a free legal service.

Submitting Institution

Northumbria University Newcastle

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Accurate diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in both hospital and rural clinic settings

Summary of the impact

Pre-eclampsia is a major contributor to death and disability in pregnancy. Diagnosis, based on accurate blood pressure (BP)/proteinuria determination, is limited by measurement errors and being late features of the disease. In collaboration with industry, King's College London (KCL) researchers have developed an inexpensive, accurate, simple BP device suitable for rural clinics. This device allows intervention to reduce mortality/morbidity and is currently being rolled out in a Gates Foundation project in Africa and Asia. KCL researchers have also helped the company Alere Inc. with the development of a diagnostically accurate test of placental growth factor (PlGF) in women with suspected pre-eclampsia: Alere Triage®PlGF. This demonstrates high sensitivity, superior to current tests, and following commercialisation is being adopted internationally. Their work is additionally reflected in guidelines of international standards for BP device accuracy.

Submitting Institution

King's College London

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology, Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine, Public Health and Health Services

Accurate in vitro prediction of in vivo genotoxicity and cancer hazard; reducing costs to industry and the use of animals in research

Summary of the impact

Development of the human cell GADD45a assay enabled accurate identification of carcinogens in vitro, with a low rate of misleading positives. Through the spin-out company Gentronix, this research is reducing costs to industry and decreasing the use of animals in research. Industrial collaboration has enabled commercial adoption of the technology in many sectors. With a 10-fold increase in orders in 2012 versus 2008, Gentronix is a profitable business employing 17 people and with an annual turnover of £1.88m. During 2008-12, Gentronix released a series of new products, established testing services, and signed a product license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. More than 100 companies worldwide are using Gentronix kits, including pharmaceutical, agricultural and health and beauty companies, along with manufacturers of food flavourings and household goods. The Gentronix assay is currently being reviewed by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Genetics

A Contribution to Commemorating and Learning From the 1994 Rwanda Genocide

Summary of the impact

Hitchcott's research on the relation between textual and material commemorations of the 1994 Rwanda genocide has benefited survivors and rescuers whose experiences form the basis of the Francophone African novels on which she publishes. As a result of her leadership of a research collaboration between The University of Nottingham and The Aegis Trust, a leading Nottinghamshire-based NGO dedicated to the prevention of genocide through education, an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award has ensured that:

  • the stories of Rwandan survivors and rescuers are more accurately preserved in Genocide Archive Rwanda in Kigali
  • their stories are digitally available worldwide through the new Rwanda Archive and Education Programme of The Shoah Foundation (the American partner of Aegis), following the selection, translation and editing by Hitchcott's CDA-holder of 50 Rwanda genocide testimonies
  • authentic survivor testimonies can be accessed by school teachers for use in teaching about crimes against humanity
  • the quality of evidence available to historians of the 1994 Rwanda genocide has improved
  • the quality of materials available to the general public, within Rwanda and worldwide, for understanding and learning from the genocide has been enhanced.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Acrobot: Active Constraint Robots Improve Outcome in Arthritis Surgery

Summary of the impact

Collaboration between Imperial College Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Surgery led to the development of active constraint robot solutions which augment surgeon skills so that joint replacement components are implanted accurately and successfully. This led to the founding of Acrobot to develop innovative surgical technologies. Acrobot was acquired by Stanmore Implants Worldwide in 2010. An orthopaedic stereotaxic instrument, based on Imperial research, obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance in 2013. This has led to Mako-Surgical purchasing Stanmore Implants Acrobot technology in April 2013.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Clinical Medicine

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Medical and Health Sciences: Clinical Sciences, Neurosciences

Adoption of behavioural roadside training programme improves children’s road crossing skills.

Summary of the impact

In a series of training studies on children between the ages of 5 and 12 years, a research team at the Department of Psychology successfully demonstrated that substantial improvements in roadside decision-making and behaviour can be achieved in children as young as 5 years. Based on their findings, the team developed and evaluated a training intervention (Kerbcraft) aimed at improving children's pedestrian skills through practical roadside activities which was formally adopted by the UK government. Since 2008, the majority of 5-7 year old children in the UK have received formal pedestrian skills training using Kerbcraft either in its full or adapted form. Kerbcraft now plays a key role in the UK Government's road safety strategy and has been cited as an example of best practice by the World Health Organisation and safety agencies across Europe, the US, Australia and in developing countries such as Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

Submitting Institution

University of Strathclyde

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Adoption of new engineering solutions to reduce the patient experience of intense acoustic noise during Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Summary of the impact

Reduction of unpleasant ambient noise during MRI has been enabled through innovative engineering solutions developed at the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research (MRC IHR). Intellectual property was licensed to Optoacoustics Ltd and the resulting OptoActive™ active noise-cancelling headphones for MRI are the only one of their type commercially available, enabling free conversation between patients and clinicians. The product was formally launched in September 2012 and has worldwide sales including in the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

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