University of Birmingham receives funding to support at least 5 new fully funded clinical PhD studentships for health professionals.
Significant funding secured to support the development of the UK's future healthcare research workforce will benefit Birmingham’s pipeline of clinical researchers equipped with the skills needed to apply data science to medicine and healthcare.
The MEDATA programme will be led by University of Liverpool, partnering with Health Data Research UK and the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds and Strathclyde.
The £13 million PhD training programme will train a new generation of Clinician Data Scientists from a range of healthcare professions. The funding pot is made up of £12 million funding from Wellcome and a further £1 million contribution from Health Data Research UK (HDR UK).
The initiative aims to address a growing skills gap by combining clinical expertise with advanced data science capabilities.
Birmingham will play a central role in training a new generation of health care professionals in data science and medicine safety.
“As Deputy Director for the programme, I am delighted that Birmingham will play such a central role in training a new generation of health care professionals in data science and medicine safety. Birmingham is perfectly placed as a training centre, with access to national health data from PIONEER, our training academy, and a world-class network of supervisors and mentors,” explained Professor Elizabeth Sapey, Deputy Director for the MEDATA programme and Head of School of Medical Sciences at University of Birmingham.
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.
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, David Weatherall Chair of Medicine and NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics, who leads the programme from University of Liverpool 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. We are delighted to lead this outstanding partnership and help build the research workforce needed for the future of healthcare.”
Head of School of Medical Sciences
Staff profile for Professor Elizabeth Sapey, Head of School of Medical Sciences and Consultant in Respiratory Medicine and General Internal Medicine, University of Birmingham.
