Public Vote | Finalists 2024

Arts for the Blues (A4B) is an evidence-based creative psychological therapy for depression, developed jointly by researchers at the University of Salford (UoS) and Edge Hill University (EHU). This innovative model offers a proven alternative to traditional talking therapies, providing mental health support within our communities.

Over the last 18 months, members of the KE teams at UoS and EHU have collaborated to catalyse the commercialisation and growth of the A4B model. Working on this project across two similar institutions (in terms of size, target market, and location) required a novel approach.

The team worked together to overcome management challenges and mitigate competition, creating a unified operating model. This involved establishing a central finance model, shared marketing and enquiry management, a series of legal contracts, a suite of core training resources, and shared governance processes.

As a result of this collaborative approach, the model has been adopted by seven UK and international institutions, with others in development. Over 80 therapists have been trained, an additional 40 have been upskilled via an open programme, a community of practice portal has been created, and more than 300 therapists are currently being supported to implement the model in practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Liverpool hard, creating a ‘perfect storm’ that exposed and exacerbated existing inequalities. Ward-level data revealed that people living in the most deprived areas had the lowest levels of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and the highest hospital admission rates in 2021. Reaching the unimmunised posed a significant challenge, with a 40% difference in uptake between the most and least deprived wards.

Scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) leveraged their extensive experience in addressing health inequities through community-led approaches in low- and middle-income countries, combined with insights from local Primary Care Networks and community champions, to create a community-based public health intervention. In this model, Community Innovation Teams are established and empowered to develop data-driven solutions to improve health service access and quality, as well as uptake of preventative medicine.

This initiative has already helped address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in targeted communities in Liverpool and is now being used to tackle low cancer screening and MMR vaccine uptake. The project has revolutionised how public health initiatives are delivered in the city. Its integrated approach is highly flexible and adaptable to different contexts and health issues, but most importantly, it produces life-changing health outcomes for underserved communities.

Ektaa, an award-winning CIC spun out of City St George’s University of London, has broken down barriers to champion inclusive working practices, harnessing the power of DEI across a broad spectrum of clients, including academia, charities, the public sector, medtech, and pharmaceutical companies.

Central to Ektaa's mission is its pioneering training and placement programme, Equal Representation in Academia (ERA), which strives to provide equitable access to academic research careers for students from underrepresented backgrounds. This initiative has garnered endorsements from key stakeholders in higher education, driving significant transformation in inclusive education policies. A recent project under ERA focuses on enhancing laboratory accessibility for disabled students and staff. The founder, Dr Mohani-Preet Dhillon, brings personal lived experience to this venture, which she began as a PhD student, building ERA on the foundations of student voices, institutional backing, and community engagement. London Higher has described the ERA as a model of intersectional progress in higher education. Recognising that a loss of diverse talent through ‘leaky pipelines’ extends beyond research, ERA is now being adapted to other fields, including engineering and technology.

As a CIC, Ektaa is committed to investing in local talent to benefit the community, aiming to translate transformative ideas from universities into public applications. For example, Dr Dhillon’s work with post-Covid patients has been adapted for the further education sector, leading to notable reductions in stress and improved staff retention.

Now, Ektaa is entering the commercial arena with tailored early-career talent programmes for the pharmaceutical sector, ensuring Ektaa’s long-term sustainability, enabling further staff expansion, and diversifying its program portfolio.

The Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee has collaborated with Danish and Scottish police forces and forensic science services to develop novel and faster methods of training and competency testing for forensic practitioners using a Virtual Reality approach.

This project is at the forefront of forensic science, forging new global partnerships between police, forensic science organisations, private sector industry, and legal professionals. To date, this collaboration has generated four open datasets for capturing fire scenes, which can be used by forensic science researchers worldwide, thereby advancing research in the field and addressing gaps in current global knowledge.

It has also led to the creation of a new training facility for fire investigators in Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Research following the implementation of this technology has shown that more investigators were able to determine the origin and development of a fire using virtual reality than with standard methods.

Recently, the project received £82,500 in funding from Scottish Enterprise to develop a forensic services spin-out company focused on virtual reality for rapid crime scene investigation, aiming to further widen the scope and accessibility of this technology.

Hackstarter offers Imperial students and researchers the opportunity to bring their early-stage ideas to life through prototyping and business skills training. The 10-week programme provides participants with a £500 voucher for materials costs and benefits from multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange at the Advanced Hackspace in White City.

The initiative aims to eliminate barriers to prototyping and promote entrepreneurship, creating a pathway for follow-on business support so that startups can remain in the area as they grow. For instance, Hackstarter 2023 winner Papcup, a non-invasive alternative to the smear test, is now expanding into lab premises within the White City campus.

The programme has positively impacted the local economy, with startups creating jobs and attracting investment. Participants have developed award-winning climate and medtech solutions, including Koalaa, a supplier of affordable prosthetics that closed a funding round of $1.2 million this year, and biotech scaleup Multus, which received a USD$9.5 million Series A investment to facilitate cultivated meat production as a sustainable food solution.

In summary, from an initial low-level investment of just £500 per concept, Hackstarter has generated impressive results for Imperial’s innovation ecosystem, the local area, and wider society. Learn more about Hackstarter success stories in our video: https://youtu.be/mqpnseCMhSs.