ResearchPod

How can spin-outs leverage end user feedback to refine products and validate markets? Find out as Professor Michele Barbour talks to Dr Jenny Bailey, the CEO and Co-Founder of Ferryx, a biotech company focused on the commercial production of live bacterial products for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal inflammation in humans and animals.

⭐Highlights

§  Discover how a chance conversation with Co-Founder Dr Tristan Cogan sparked the innovative idea behind Ferryx: the disruption of inflammatory pathways in the gut using live bacteria that flourish in the presence of iron.

§  Find out about the steps Jenny and Tristan took to protect their new intellectual property and take it from the lab to a commercial product

§  Jenny gives her perspective on the pre-accelerator ICURe programme, which encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone, engage with stakeholders, refine the project and test its market viability.

§  Hear about Ferryx’s approach to ongoing product development and testing, including clinical trials and engagement with patient feedback.

🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions

The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. 

The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges. 

👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore

If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions. 

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions 

🔗 Connect with Ferryx

Ferryx website: https://www.ferryx.com/

Ferryx on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ferryx/

Ferryx on X: https://twitter.com/ferryx_bristol

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the field of radiology, making faster and more precise diagnoses possible. However, most radiologists aren’t familiar with AI and report a fear of being replaced by it. 

Dr Jordan Perchik from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, designed a free online ‘AI Literacy Course’ which has reached more than 500 radiology trainees from 10 countries.

Read more in Research Features

Read the original research: doi.org/10.7191/jgr.783

As a society, we have come to rely on smartphones to do far more than make a telephone call. However, concern is growing over the potential negative consequences of their over-use, such as distraction, forgetfulness and cognitive laziness. 

Led by psychologist Dr Andree Hartanto, researchers from Singapore Management University tracked how long students spent checking their smartphones and using different applications, and how this affected their cognitive functioning.

 Read the original research : https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12597

Financial stress testing generally involves a team of modellers working closely together, applying complex mathematical models to large and granular datasets. So, how can data science support the management of complex mathematical models, such as used in the financial sphere? 

STAMP€ IT – a data-science platform developed by Dr Jerome Henry and his colleagues at the European Central Bank, can be used to manage models employed in the case at hand for financial stress testing. 

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09176-6_44

Read more background research: ecb.europa.eu/stampe201702.en.pdf

Handbook on financial stress testing: doi.org/10.1017/9781108903011 

Guide on reverse stress testing: doi.org/10.1515/9783110647907

Disclaimer: The podcast builds on work by Jerome Henry that does not necessarily reflect the views of the ECB.

How can the UK address its technology skills gap? Professor Michele Barbour speaks with Kirsten Cater, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol. Kirsten leads the skills and training aspect of the MyWorld project, addressing the significant skills gap in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

⭐Highlights

§  Delve into the relationship between higher education and industry as Kirsten shares her knowledge of the challenges faced by early-career researchers.

§  Explore practical tips to help make connections at networking events and strategies for researchers to go beyond their immediate projects. 

§  Kirsten reflects on the thread that ties her diverse career together - her core as a computer scientist, coupled with a passion for understanding people.

§  Find out why interdisciplinary approaches are needed to address future challenges as Kirsten shares her experiences at the Centre for Sociodigital Futures.

🌐 About the Enterprise Sessions

The Enterprise Sessions bring together a diverse mix of company founders and researchers who talk openly about their personal experiences of forming spin-outs and start-ups, raising capital, academic-industry partnerships and the joys of translating research discoveries into real-world impact. 

The series aims to inform, inspire and challenge myths and stereotypes about research commercialisation and how businesses and universities can work together to tackle society's biggest challenges. 

👍 Like, Share, Subscribe, Explore

If you found this episode inspiring or informative, please don’t forget to like and share. Visit our website or subscribe to the University of Bristol’s YouTube channel for more Enterprise Sessions. 

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/enterprise-sessions 

 Connect with 

MyWorld website: https://www.myworld-creates.com/ 

MyWorld on X: https://twitter.com/MyWorldCreates

MyWorld on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/myworldcreates/

MyWorld  on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MyWorldCreates 

Dr Kirsten Cater at Pervasive Media Studio: https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/residents/kirsten-cater 

The process of obtaining FDA approval for a new drug costs an estimated $1.8 billion and can take up to 15 years. What’s more, only a small percentage of drugs that undergo human clinical trials are approved. 

To address this, Bartley J Madden, Research Fellow at the Madden Center for Value Creation at Florida Atlantic University, USA, has developed a free to choose medicine (FTCM) model that is currently being considered by US Congress.

Read more in Research outreach

Read the original research: econjwatch.org/science-on-fda-liberalization

CEO impersonation scams are on the rise. So, how can employees be made alert to such a scam? 

Margit Scholl, Professor of Business and Administrative Informatics at TH Wildau, explores a novel approach to giving business employees a greater awareness of fraud. Together with her research team and two corporate partners, she developed both an analog and a digital game-based learning scenario geared to this topic to determine what methods of awareness raising can best protect businesses from this costly threat.

Read the original article: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33258-6_40

Across the world, as in Germany, many employees still want to work remotely at least one or two days a week despite offices reopening. However, many SMEs failed to think about the information security risks associated with home-working.

Professor Margit Scholl of TH Wildau leads the ALARM, or Awareness Lab SME Information Security project. Using gaming as a tool for education and training, her team have developed so-called “serious games” to help employees understand the risks associated with remote working.

Read the original article: https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/1171513 

Elevated blood pressure, called hypertension, is the leading risk factor for death and disability worldwide.  However, many patients find it is not possible to achieve a healthy blood pressure despite taking three or more blood-pressure-lowering medications; a condition referred to as resistant hypertension.

Professor Markus Schlaich at The University of Western Australia, together with colleagues from other centres worldwide, has conducted the PRECISION clinical trial to assess whether the novel drug aprocitentan could improve blood pressure control in patients with resistant hypertension.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/s11906-023-01259-z

Read more in Research Features 

Recent cybersecurity reports show that the security of firms’ online presences is under ever-greater threat from cyberattack. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are attacked disproportionately often. There is also a link between people’s level of knowledge and the number of attacks.

Professor Margit Scholl and her team at TH Wildau have developed the Awareness Lab SME (ALARM) Information Security program. Their goal is to raise security awareness and increase safety education within SMEs.

Read the original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13519.29600