Dr Duncan Banks

Since 1999 the Sino-British Fellowship Trust (SBFT) has had an Agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for joint sponsorship of up to 5 academics to visit the UK for three to four months each year. The SBFT will cover the bench fees for each selected scholar to a maximum of £5,000 per scholar. CSC will provide each selected scholar with a living stipend and the return international airfare between UK and China. The OU has agreed to host one scholar within the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences (confirmed with HoS). The scholar will arrive on the 19th February and will be jointly supervised by Dr Daphne Chang (SE&I), Dr Duncan Banks, PI (SLHCS) and Dr Sarah Daniell (SLHCS). The main point of contact will be Dr Banks who will be responsible for their day to day care and organisation of on-site accommodation and security access. This record is for income from bench fees and personal expenses in hosting the scholars. Please see Project 1519227: Bench Fees Sino-British Fellowship Trust for similar AMS record for project undertaken 1 Oct 2019 - 8 Jan 2020 or Project 1862858 from 2023.

Since 1999 the Sino-British Fellowship Trust (SBFT) has had an Agreement with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for joint sponsorship of up to 5 academics to visit the UK for three to four months each year. The SBFT will cover the bench fees for each selected scholar to a maximum of £5,000 per scholar. CSC will provide each selected scholar with a living stipend and the return international airfare between UK and China. The OU has agreed to host three scholars within the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences (confirmed with HoS). The scholars will arrive mid-to-late November and will be jointly supervised by Dr Daphne Chang (SE&I), Dr Duncan Banks, PI (SLHCS) and Mr Tom Olney (STEM Deanery). The main point of contact will be Dr Banks who will be responsible for their day to day care and organisation of on-site accommodation and security access. This record is for income from bench fees and personal expenses in hosting the scholars. Please see Project 1519227: Bench Fees Sino-British Fellowship Trust for similar AMS record for project undertaken 1 Oct 2019 - 8 Jan 2020.

Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS) & Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Sciences (HUCBMS) have asked that the Open University applies for £1,000 to run a Joint Biosciences Learning and Teaching Workshop 2020/21 on their behalf. HUBS and HUCBMS wish to jointly support a workshop on the theme: Robust online assessments (which produce a full range of marks and minimise the ability to plagiarise, collude or cheat). Up to £1,000 is available to fund the organisation and delivery of the workshop. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, proposals for workshops taking place prior to April 2021 should be for virtual meetings only. A proposal form needs to be submitted by email to hubs@rsb.org.uk by 20 November 2020. Prof. Hilary MacQueen has already discussed our proposal with Jon Green and Linda Walsh of HUBS.

Local Neuroscience Seminar Series.

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (EREIDs), epidemics and disasters are evolving global health challenges, especially in weak health systems which have remained highly vulnerable to these public health threats. EREIDs may arise from any viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal, helminthic or prion pathogen. In addition, the growing burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to threaten or reverse gains in the control of existing infectious diseases. The prospects through EDCTP - II are a prolific ground for the Consortium for Development of Sustainable Research Based Fellowship Training on Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Biostatistics in Africa (IDEA Fellowship) to attain its vision on "Strengthening capacity building in infectious disease field epidemiology through pragmatic fellowship training in Uganda”. The overarching objective of the IDEA Fellowship Programme is to train the next generation of infectious disease field epidemiologists capable of responding to disease outbreaks, surveillance, and moving data into practice.

Mark Endean, Tom Olney and Duncan Banks hosting two Chinese Scholars Luo Juan and Yin Shangjing from the Open University of China. They have been based in LHCS. this record is for income from bench fees and personal expenses in hosting the scholars.

Creation and development of a fibrin-based pro-angiogenic tissue matrix type scaffold. The goal is optimise the strutcure of the material to support mesenchymal stem cell pro-angiogenic and immuno-modulatory function for dermal and connective tissue reconstruction of chronic ulcers. The project involves a collaboration between the OU, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at UCL (UCL IBME) and Cells for Cells, a Chilean Cell therapy company (C4C) spun out from University of Los Andes (UANDES) managed by a grant adminstration compay, Regenero.

This project aims to promote knowledge exchange between academics, industry, business, service providers, and users of wearable activity monitors – especially older users. It builds on and uses data gathered recently about responses to wearable activity monitoring for people aged over 55, and the potential of using these devices for self-monitoring of activity and health as part of an Active and Health Ageing agenda. Given the UK’s ageing profile, there is an increasing focus on maintaining health in later life, and encouraging physical activity is an important part of this. Despite the spreading use of wearable activity monitors by older adults (e.g. provided as gifts by concerned relatives), the functionality of these devices is not informed by the kinds of activities that older people undertake, or the effects of various conditions and disabilities. Nor are they designed for or marketed to older customers. This project uses the knowledge gained to date to start a dialogue between academia/industry/users to improve activity monitoring technologies so that they work well for older users – and, in doing so, probably work better for everyone. The original research that this new project will be based on was conducted by The Open University in close cooperation with AgeUK Milton Keynes and was funded by Sir Halley Stewart Trust (http://www.shaileyminocha.info/digital-health-wearables/). It included consultations with older and younger users of activity monitors, and health professionals and carers who might be interested in data from activity tracking. We looked at the practicalities of using these devices, and what people felt about sharing data or not. We will be collaborating again on this new project, and together we want to include people from statutory and voluntary groups that have a contribution to make in discussions around design, accessibility, affordability and access for all including older users and people with specific needs.

The project aims to investigate whether and how wearable activity products such as the Fitbit wristband or the smart watches from Apple or the Android Wear that track steps walked, the sleep patterns, distance travelled, or the calories burnt can contribute towards: self-monitoring of activity and health by older people; or the data that is collected could be used by the family to remotely monitor their loved ones and to pick up any signs of health care concerns; and how this data could be used by medical professionals to facilitate timely clinical interventions during remote patient monitoring, or for making a more informed diagnosis when meeting with an older patient.