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Asthma UK and Innovate UK have up to 1.25 million to invest in ideas for improving the diagnosis of asthma so patients can more quickly receive better, personalised treatment.
Improving diagnosis and treatment
Each patients asthma is unique and has individual triggers that vary over time.
Current tests for asthma often lead to misdiagnosis and mean patients have to receive trial treatments to find what works for them. Up to 40% of people are put on the wrong treatment initially. Diagnosing asthma in pre-school children is extremely difficult.
Asthma UK is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the 5.4 million people in the UK whose lives are affected by asthma. It is contributing up to 750,000 to this joint funding competition, with Innovate UK investing 500,000.
Seeking quick, accurate and non-invasive tools
The competition is seeking proposals with potential for adoption or commercialisation. They should address a number of challenges including:
- develop quick, accurate, reliable, low-cost, non-invasive tools capable of differentiating between different and changing asthma types
- develop specific tools for under 5-years-olds able to predict those at risk of persistent asthma
- prevent over and under-diagnosis of asthma using tools such as biomarkers, lung-function tests and -omics technologies
- use emerging technologies to mechanise diagnostic processes in primary care and provide support to non-experts
Competition information
- the competition is open, and the deadline for applications is at 1pm on 27 March 2018
- applications should be made through Asthma UKs online management system
- projects can be led by a researcher or a business but must include at least one business working in collaboration
- we expect grants to range between 50,000 and 250,000 and for projects to last up to 3 years
- businesses could attract up to 70% of their costs