World-leading researchers have secured funding to support the development of the UK's future healthcare research workforce through a new major doctoral training programme.
The University of Strathclyde is a partner in MEDATA (Medicines and Health Data Science), supported by £12 million in funding from Wellcome and a further £1 million from Health Data Research UK (HDR UK).
The £13 million PhD training programme will equip healthcare professionals with the skills needed to apply data science to medicine and healthcare.
Skills gap
Led by the University of Liverpool, and also delivered in partnership with Health Data Research UK and the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge and Leeds, the programme will train a new generation of Clinician Data Scientists from a range of healthcare professions. The initiative aims to address a growing skills gap by combining clinical expertise with advanced data science capabilities.
Data science has the potential to transform medicine and healthcare, but progress is dependent on developing a workforce capable of analysing increasingly large and complex health datasets. MEDATA will focus on medicines-related data science, training fellows to generate insights that can support the discovery of new medicines and improve the use of existing treatments.
The programme will bring together internationally recognised expertise from across the consortium and provide trainee-centred support, including bespoke mentoring and career development opportunities. Fellows will be trained to work in collaborative, computationally enabled research environments that promote innovation, inclusivity and interdisciplinary working.
Pharmacy workforce
Professor Marion Bennie, Academic lead of the programme at Strathclyde, said: “Strathclyde has a strong track record in data science, leading the development of our NHS Scotland national medicines assets, and developing our pharmacy workforce to deliver new insights and pathways for the safe and effective use of medicines in clinical practice.
We look forward to working with academic partners to attract clinicians across the disciplines, to create the next generation of clinician data scientists in partnership with our health system partners. Securing fully funded clinical PhDs is a major step forward in creating a sustainable pharmacist academic pathway.
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, David Weatherall Chair of Medicine at the University of Liverpool, and NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics and co-director of the HDR UK Medicines in Acute and Chronic Care Driver Programme, said: "Data science is rapidly changing the way we understand disease and develop treatments, but we need healthcare professionals who can bridge the worlds of clinical practice and advanced analytics.
"MEDATA will create a new generation of clinician data scientists, equipped to use complex health data to improve medicines development and patient care.”
Extraordinary power
Professor Sir Andrew Morris, Director of HDR UK, said: “The medicines and treatments of tomorrow will depend on our ability to harness the extraordinary power of health data today. MEDATA will help ensure we have the skilled people needed to turn data into discovery, and discovery into better outcomes for patients."