The partnership will provide industry placement opportunities for six MRC clinical fellows.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ) have partnered to offer industry placement opportunities for clinical research to six MRC clinical fellows.
As part of AZ’s biopharmaceutical research and development (R&D) business, the partnership aims to help further promote clinical research in the UK.
Currently, the UK is projected to see a decline in the number of academic clinicians within the health system, which may make future clinical research more difficult.
The program will enable currently MRC-funded clinically active medical professionals to further build regulatory experience and clinical processes around new medicines and strengthen their ability to lead future translational clinical trials. We aim to provide you with the opportunity to progress in
Additionally, this partnership will support career development by developing skills and knowledge in good clinical practice, providing talent capable of leading translational clinical trials in academic or industry settings.
Additionally, the scheme will bring long-term benefits to the UK’s clinical trials and research landscape, while supporting the development of new medicines.
Dr David Pan, head of Programmes, Training and Careers at the MRC, commented: “This new partnership will provide an excellent opportunity for MRC clinical fellows to gain knowledge and experience that will help develop therapies of the future.”
Jacqueline Hall, early careers head for biopharmaceutical R&D at AZ, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the future talent pool and wider scientific skills environment in the UK.
“Strengthening links between industry and the UK research community has huge mutual benefits for academia, industry, the healthcare system and ultimately patients.”
In April, the £8.2 million MRC Drug Development Fellowships programme was announced to strengthen interactions between academia and industry to deliver world-class drug development.
The program was led by the University of Liverpool in partnership with Queen Mary, University of London, the University of Glasgow and the University of Manchester, and co-funded and supported by GSK and AZ, as well as Optum UK and Hammersmith Medicines Research.
