EMINENT Science Day 2017

The second annual EMINENT Science day was held at Stevenage R&D Hub April 10^th, attracting over 50 leading scientists in the field of experimental medicine from UK universities, GSK and the Medical Research Council.

Launched in 2015, EMINENT (The Experimental Medicine Initiative to Explore New Therapies) is a unique collaborative network between 5 leading UK academic institutions (University College London (UCL), Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, University of Newcastle), GSK investigators and the MRC to develop experimental medicine (EM) approaches with a view to accelerating understanding of disease mecha

nisms and developing therapeutic strategies in areas of unmet medical need, to enhance patient benefit.

The aims of the Science Day were to both showcase and review the on-going innovative science in the network as well as provide an interactive environment for investigators with novel ideas to develop those ideas into future EMINENT projects.

During the morning session Nicolas Wisniacki (Discovery Medicine Director, Immuno-Inflammation Therapy Area, GSK) outlined the experimental medicine strategic vision from within GSK, while Lindsay Edwards (Head, Respiratory Data Sciences, GSK) introduced the rapidly developing data analysis landscape; highlighting the big data challenges we face and evolving strategies being put in place to turn big into meaningful data. Importantly, the morning session also provided an opportunity to review the portfolio of projects in the EMINENT network looking to generate novel findings in 2017.

Key project leads from academia and GSK co-presented talks in the areas of:

Auto-Immunity:

• A mechanistic understanding of rituximab and belimumab combination therapy approach in PR3 ANCA-associated vasculitis [COMBIVAS] (David Jayne , Rachel Jones (Cambridge); Caroline Savage, Robbie Henderson (GSK).

Allergy:

• Induction of human-specific immune regulation following treatment with a combination of Toll-like Receptor 7 agonist with allergen (Stephen Durham, Daphne Tsitoura (Imperial College); Antoon Van Oosterhout, Diana Quint (GSK)

Host Pathogen Interactions

• Understanding the immune response to viral infection in elderly smokers and non-smokers (Peter Openshaw (Imperial College); Chris O'Callaghan (UCL); Edith Hessel, Malcolm Begg, David Michalovich (GSK).

Tissue Injury and Fibrosis:

• Stratified interventions in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (Edwin Chilvers, Charlotte Summers (University of Cambridge); Rachel Chambers (UCL); Andrew Bayliffe (GSK)

EMINENT is firmly committed to training the next generation of leading investigators in experimental medicine and the flagship training programme, as presented by the EMINENT training lead Edwin Chilvers (Director, Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO), University of Cambridge) was enthusiastically received by the audience. Early career clinicians and scientists working on EMINENT projects will have the opportunity to work across academia and industry, affording them unique career development experience whilst delivering high quality, integrated experimental medicine studies and early phase clinical trials. In addition, five NIHR-GSK EMINENT Clinical fellowships in experimental medicine are to be awarded to outstanding clinical fellows, leveraging support from the EMINENT institutions BRC's and GSK.

During the afternoon, pitches of novel project ideas were presented in a 'Dragon's Den' format by academic investigators ranging from early career researchers to more established fellows and professors. This was followed by round table discussions, facilitating links between academic and GSK investigators, enabling attendees to brainstorm scientific hypotheses which will be further developed into new project proposals for consideration at the EMINENT review boards.

In closing remarks, both Stephen Holgate (MRC Clinical Professor of Immuno-pharmacology) and Chris Watkins (MRC, Director of Innovation, MRC) praised the event for showcasing the seamless sharing of resources across academia and industry to stimulate scientific innovation which has the potential to bring real treatment benefits for patients. In particular Prof. Holgate commented 'I am leaving today buzzing with excitement about the EMINENT network' - a view echoed by all the attendees.