NIHR GOSH BRC Highly Specialised Biobanking (HSB) Call 2024

• Please read the guidance and application document and BRC@gosh.nhs.uk
• Applications will close on Monday 11th November 2024 at 23:59
• We anticipate that the review process will be complete by late-November
• If you have any queries, please contact Azeezat Aminu BRC@gosh.nhs.uk

We were first awarded BRC status from the NIHR in 2007 and, in 2022, we secured £35 million for our fourth term until 2022 - 2028. GOSH BRC has 5 research themes including Accelerating Novel Therapies (ANT) which is funding this call. The aim of the ANT theme is to advance novel precision therapies to clinical translation and eventual licensing as standardised treatments within the NHS and globally. This theme is investing in translational platforms including an iPSC core platform for preclinical proof-of-concept studies that will eventually facilitate first-in-child UK trials. Examples of work in this theme include using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models to test novel genetic therapies such as viral vector mediated gene therapy and different RNA therapies.

Applications submitted through the call should seek to propose novel research ideas around therapies, biomarkers, diagnostics and surgical innovations, including proof of concept, validation studies, new methodologies, novel uses of data and/or PPIE activity related to the BRC themes. We would expect successful applicants to generate preliminary data to support future grant application and patent applications, and ultimately to accelerate the likelihood of the new interventions delivering patient benefit in future. NIHR funding is not allowed to support any research using animals; therefore, the research project must not involve animal work. We welcome applications from both independent researchers and early career researchers from all backgrounds - applications will be judged anonymously on the strength and feasibility of the research idea.

This funding call has approximately £200,000 to award over two years, December 2024 to March 2027. We hope to fund 2-4 technicians/research assistants, working on HSB.

Funding will be available from 1st December 2024 so your project start date must be after this date. All funds awarded will need to be spent within the financial year (by 31st March 2026 for one-year projects and by 31st March 2027 for two-year projects). To meet this deadline, project timelines should allow for all purchase orders to be raised by the end of February of the financial year, with all invoices received by 20th March. No funding can be spent beyond the end date of the financial year and movement of funding across financial years is not permissible. Requests for no cost extensions will not be considered. Funds that are awarded will be lost if you are unable to carry out the research activity within the planned timescale.

Requests may be for support for up to two years, however, if any new approvals are needed for your biobanking activity, please ensure you’ve factored sufficient time to obtain these into your timelines (e.g. R&D approval and contract agreements can take up to six months to receive). If you are applying for a project where ethical approval is already in place, it is your responsibility to ensure the ethical approval covers the work proposed in your application. In previous years in some instances applicants have listed overarching ethics approvals to cover the proposed project. Subsequently, upon review, it has been shown to not cover the project detailed in the application. If this situation occurs and timelines do not allow for new ethics applications to be made, any awarded funding may be withdrawn.

For anyone applying for salary funding, you should factor in at least six months for recruitment of new posts (i.e. staff posts should start six months after the project start date). Salary funding for existing staff can be from the start date of the award.

Applicants may apply for funding to conduct patient and public involvement and engagement activities related to the biobank. The table below provides guidance on costs you may request for this. If you have any questions or need any guidance on this, please contact our PPIE Lead at research.ppi@gosh.nhs.uk.

Eligibility Criteria and Conditions of Award

• The applicant must be within the remit of the BRC, i.e., supporting translational research focused on paediatric rare or complex disease and aligned with the biobanking criteria described above.
• Applicants must have an existing employment contract with GOSH or UCL-ICH when they apply, which must be in place for the duration of the award.
• NIHR funding is formally not allowed to support any research using animals; therefore any project supported through this call must not involve animal work.
• No equipment may be purchased with these funds.
• Awardees must acknowledge the NIHR GOSH BRC in any publications and presentations and produce progress reports to the BRC upon request (including one year after the project end date).

Application and Selection Process

• The deadline for applications is Monday 11th November 2024.
• Applications from GOSH/ICH must be registered with the R&D office and formal costings obtained. Please ensure this is done in sufficient time as they require at least 15 working days to provide costings.
• Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application at the end of November 2024 and the funding will be available from 1st December 2024.
• Applications will be reviewed by the BRC Accelerating Novel Therapies Leadership Team.
• To apply please complete the application form below and submit an electronic copy as a word document to BRC@gosh.nhs.uk.

Selection Criteria

• The applicants will need to justify how the positions they intend to request the funding for fits with the remit of the BRC ANT Theme, with specific examples of previous achievements and future milestones.
• Likelihood that the biobanking activity proposed will support successful translational research projects related to paediatric rare and/or complex diseases.
• This call is matched funding only. Applicants will need to demonstrate how the remaining 50% of the salary will be funded.

Please contact BRC@gosh.nhs.uk if you have any questions about the scheme.

We've just had some queries come through regarding this call, and so thought it would helpful to share the answers on this webpage.

1. Can you apply for consumables?

This call is largely focused on providing salary support for RA/technicians and any incurred PPIE costs. We will however allow for consumables costs, though with a limit of £5k per year. The consumables should be essential to the collection and processing of samples and not for general research activity. Applicants can also apply for histopathology service costs in their HSB application.

2. Can salary costs cover additional researchers, outside of an RA/technician?

The salary requests are for RAs/technicians and applications should demonstrate they are needed for the biobanking activity and their grade is appropriate for the call. We will also accept salary costs for wider researchers but it must be clearly demonstrated their requirement for setting up or running the biobank and the expertise they will offer.

3. Where can the biobank samples be stored?

Storage will only be considered for the UK Biocentre in Milton Keynes, or here at GOSH-ICH if it can be demonstrated they can't be stored at the UK Biocentre.