The Research and Development (R&D) MAP Health Mission is inviting expressions of interest from healthcare professionals and industry.
We are looking for clinical interventions and technological innovations that could support the delivery of the dementia challenge.
The challenge aims to identify, develop, validate and implement innovations and clinical interventions for the NHS that have the potential to ensure that, by 2029, 92% of patients referred for dementia assessment receive a diagnosis within 18 weeks of referral.
We are looking for interventions and innovations that:
- shorten time to dementia diagnosis
- enhance early detection of clinical change following diagnosis
- are capable of deployment from 2029
Clinical interventions
Clinical interventions must have been evaluated in at least a single-site pilot.
They must deliver at least one of the following:
- shortened time from referral to dementia diagnosis
- improved staging of disease state
- improved prognostic data to guide patient and carer support
- reduced resource requirement
- enhanced efficiency
- better patient outcomes
Technological innovations
Technological innovations must:
- be intended for dementia diagnosis or tracking disease progression in people already living with dementia
- be medical devices and have, or be near to, regulatory clearance (UKCA or CE mark)
- have evidence of clinical safety and efficacy through randomised controlled trial data or clinically robust real-world evidence
All interventions and innovations must:
- have been tested with user groups
- be suitable for routine use across the NHS
- have a roadmap for implementation in the NHS
- have support from a clinical champion to support real-world evaluation and rollout across the UK if agreed milestones are met
- demonstrate an understanding of the resources required to train and support adoption
- show the value of the innovation for stakeholders
Evidence of efficiency gains or health economic benefit is desirable.
Expectations for commercial organisations
Commercial organisations should provide:
- innovations
- training
- clinical support
- technical support
This must be provided for the duration of the evaluation period (up to two years) at zero cost.
Benefits for successful clinical interventions and technological innovations
Successful innovations will receive a fully funded real-world evaluation tailored to generate the evidence required for widescale adoption across the UK.
This includes:
- partnership with clinical research lead and clinical infrastructure
- collaborative protocol development
- evaluation monitoring, data collection and analysis support
- write-up and dissemination
- access to the evaluation data generated for analysis and modelling to drive product and service enhancement
- support for fast-track regulatory clearance in the UK
- guidance on commissioning, procurement and the development of a market access strategy for the NHS across the devolved nations
- publication and presentation of evaluation results as part of a national campaign to raise awareness for the dementia challenge
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of:
Trusted research and innovation
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted research and innovation is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect the international research sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible and as secure as necessary.
Our trusted research and innovation principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
Therefore, you may be asked to demonstrate how your proposed projects will comply with our approach. This may include identifying potential risks and the controls you will put in place to reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about trusted research and innovation principles, including where you can find additional support.
