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Radiationshield for unborn babies
A device that protects unborn babies from large doses of radiation is one of the latest projects being supported by a scheme that turns Yorkshire's top academics into entrepreneurs.
The CT Foetal Shield aims to give peace of mind to pregnant women who undergo scans. It is being developed by Gareth Iball, one of Yorkshire Forward's new Yorkshire Enterprise Fellows.
The Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) is helping post-doctoral researchers from our region's universities create businesses based on their research.
The scheme is open to acad-emics in the fields of bioscience, chemicals and healthcare. The value of the contract is 2.145m, which will support 60 Fellows over 30 months. When the scheme ends it's hoped a host of new businesses will have been established, providing everything from medical devices to new drugs.
Mr Iball is developing a CT foetal shield, which protects the foetus from radiation when a pregnant woman is undergoing CT examinations for suspected pulmonary embolism. It can lead to cuts of up to 50 per cent in the foetal radiation dose while placing only minimal weight on the mother's abdomen.
Mr Iball, based in the department of medical physics at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, said: "Our work is looking to dev-lop the device as a commercial product. Every clinician should be trying to reduce the radiation dose for the patient and for the foetus. In our department of the NHS we are serial innovators.
"Fortunately for us, the recession hasn't really affected us. Most of our work is done within the NHS and we've got a commercial partner already. The money from Yorkshire Forward and Medipex (the NHS innovation hub for the Yorkshire and the Humber) has helped us to develop the device. This is my first innovation and we've had lots of support from within the NHS."
Other Fellows include Dr Kathryn Taylor, who is developing RescuDent, a medical emergencies kit for dentists, and Dr David Punt, who is developing a "smart" wheelchair which has an anti-collision device.
YEF is building on the success of the Bioscience Yorkshire En-terprise Fellowship (BYEF) programme, which ran from 2004 to 2006 and helped to establish nine spin-out companies that secured 4m of extra funding.
An exhibition, Seeding Success: Taking Yorkshire Universities Science to Market, was held at 3 Albion Place in Leeds to give investors, academics and entrepreneurs a chance to forge links.
Apart from the YEF the event also highlighted work being done by the Yorkshire Concept Fund, which is supported by Yorkshire Forward and Yorkshire Universities, a group acting as a regional voice for higher education.
Alex McWhirter, assistant executive director for business with Yorkshire Forward, said the YEF was the "second generation" after the BYEF scheme's success.
He added: "The original programme focused on bioscience and life sciences. We put in a little bit of funding and had a huge multiplier effect. We've liberated a huge number of entrepreneurs from that academic base.
"The businesses that came out of BYEF were very focused within bioscience. We wanted to prove that the concept would work. You've seen a number of companies spin-out from universities and you've seen them generate private sector money."
Dr Simon Ward, of the South Yorkshire Bioscience Enterprise Network, said: "We're very lucky in Yorkshire that we have so many schemes to encourage entrepreneurial growth. We have a host of universities who have a huge impact on British research. The real key is turning that research into products...
"There's an increasing engagement because universities have opened their doors much more to business. Everybody has opened their eyes and found that... we need to look at our universities as assets."
Enterprise aid for academics
Yorkshire Forward's Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) is designed to help university researchers create a business based on their research.
It delivers practical support to commercialise ideas and research findings from Yorkshire's universities.
Fellows selected to join the programme have access to a fully-managed support scheme, offering a tailored science and business develop-ment programme. Over the course of the programme (2007-2010) a total of 60 Fellowships will be awarded across the eligible disciplines of biosciences, chemicals and healthcare technologies.
The package includes a specialist enterprise and personal development programme delivered by professional trainers. Topics include business finance and accounting, intellectual property management and leadership skills. For inform-ation visit www.yef.org.uk.
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