funding

Main funding awards and grants received, in reverse chronological order.

2026

  1. RISE— Reducing Immune Stress from Excess Cytokine Release in Advanced Therapies (APP67256)

    2026.01 - 2030.12

    MRC, United Kingdom

    MRC Prosperity Partnership · CIMIM as Co-Investigator on Advanced Therapies Safety & Toxicity

    • RISE is a multidisciplinary initiative addressing the challenges of advanced immunotherapies (ATs) such as CAR-T, with a focus on improving safety, accessibility, and long-term outcomes. It tackles critical issues such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and other severe adverse effects, which currently hinder broader adoption. Methodologically, RISE integrates cutting-edge in silico techniques — including AI-driven digital twins and multimodal data integration — to simulate patient outcomes and toxicity mechanisms. Through collaborations with the NHS, academia, and industry, RISE combines high-dimensional immunoprofiling, wearable technologies, and patient-reported outcomes to enhance pharmacovigilance and establish new standards for AT development and regulation.
    • CIMIM leads the in silico digital-twin and multimodal data-integration work package, providing the computational backbone for safety and toxicity simulation across the consortium.
    • Funding: £3.199m.

2025

  1. funding thumbnail

    UK CEiRSI— The UK's Centre of Excellence on In-silico Regulatory Science and Innovation — Pilot Phase (10139527)

    2025.02 - 2026.01

    MRC-InnovateUK, United Kingdom

    UKRI Regulatory Innovation Networks · Implementation Phase (Human Health) · Hosted at CIMIM

    • The UK Centre of Excellence on in silico Regulatory Science and Innovation (UK CEiRSI) addresses a critical deadlock in medical-product development and regulation. Computational Modelling and Simulation (CM&S) techniques offer the potential for more reliable, faster, and cost-effective testing and approvals, but their adoption is hindered by a regulatory-industrial impasse: regulators lack evidence to accept in silico methods as alternatives to live trials, while developers hesitate to invest without regulatory assurance. Building on preliminary work in international partnerships and regulatory guidance, the Pilot Phase implements an In-Silico Regulatory Airlock initiative. Through pre-competitive pilot case studies of hypothetical medical products, the Centre evaluates and refines existing credibility frameworks (including FDA and ASME V&V standards) to establish robust UK principles for the regulatory adoption of in silico technologies.
    • Hosted by CIMIM at the University of Manchester.
    • Academic partners: University of Oxford, University College London, Queen Mary University of London, University of Birmingham, University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, University of Sheffield, University of Strathclyde, Swansea University, University of York.
    • Industry and standards partners: ANSYS UK, Association of British HealthTech Industries, BioNow, Edwards Lifesciences, Health Innovation Research Alliance, Health Innovation Manchester, Medtronic, NAFEMS, NHS England, NPL, the British Standards Institution, and the Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs.
    • Funding: £1m.

2024

  1. Manchester Radiation Research Centre of Excellence (C1994/A28701)

    2024.11 - 2029.10

    Cancer Research UK, United Kingdom

    CRUK Radiation Research Network · CIMIM contributes computational radiation oncology

    • CRUK RadNet Manchester works in partnership with The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester to develop an integrated, world-leading radiation oncology programme. The Centre pursues individualised, personalised physical and biological testing, informed by real-time outcomes and a mechanistic understanding of the tumour microenvironment, immune response, comorbidity, and genomics.
    • The network represents a major investment by Cancer Research UK to establish a critical mass of radiation research activity across seven strategic UK locations, including Manchester. The Manchester Centre focuses on three priorities: personalised and adaptive radiotherapy, re-irradiation strategies, and combining radiotherapy with novel therapies.
    • Within the Manchester Centre, CIMIM develops the computational approaches supporting these priorities — particularly image-guided therapy planning and treatment-response prediction.
    • Funding: £4,520,648.14.

  2. BHF Manchester Centre of Research Excellence (RE/24/130017)

    2024.10 - 2029.10

    British Heart Foundation, United Kingdom

    BHF Centre of Research Excellence · CIMIM co-leads Work Package on computational cardiovascular medicine

    • The Manchester British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) advances cardiovascular research through interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle cardiovascular disease. It focuses on innovative prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care strategies, combining cutting-edge technology with clinical expertise to deliver high-impact, translational discoveries.
    • The Centre integrates world-class cardiovascular science, data science, and AI researchers, supporting groundbreaking research in cardiovascular genomics, heart failure, and the inflammatory drivers of disease. CIMIM contributes the in silico and AI-driven imaging methods that underpin the Centre's computational cardiology workstream.
    • Funding: £8.1m.

  3. UK Centre of Excellence in In-Silico Regulatory Science and Innovation supporting the Entire Product Lifecycle in Life and Health Sciences — A Network of Enabling National Capabilities (10110484)

    2024.03 - 2024.08

    InnovateUK, United Kingdom

    UKRI Regulatory Science and Innovation Networks · Discovery Phase · Hosted at CIMIM

    • The UK Centre of Excellence in in silico Regulatory Science and Innovation (UK CEiRSI) extends the InSilicoUK Pro-Innovation Regulations Network's work in advancing computational modelling and simulation (CM&S) for the Life and Health Sciences.
    • Traditional testing methods for medical products are costly, lengthy, and stage-bound — from bench tests to human clinical trials. In silico testing uses computational models, including digital twins and virtual patients, to simulate the product life cycle, offering a more efficient, cost-effective, and ethical alternative by reducing animal and human testing.
    • Launched in March 2022, InSilicoUK has grown into a community of more than 2,600 members across academia, industry, and regulatory bodies. The Discovery Phase, hosted at CIMIM, scoped the operating model, partnerships, and skills foundations of UK CEiRSI in preparation for the Pilot Phase.
    • Funding: £50k.

2023

  1. INSILICO— Cardiovascular Device Innovation and Regulatory Science: Virtual Chimaeras and In-Silico Trials with Novel Hybrid Machine Learning (EP/Y030494/1)

    2023.12 - 2028.10

    Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom

    EPSRC Frontier Research Guarantee (UKRI replacement for ERC Advanced Grant) · Hosted at CIMIM

    • INSILICO lays advanced computational foundations to accelerate the adoption of in silico trials as a cost-effective, rational route to medical-device innovation and regulatory evidence. The programme unifies data- and knowledge-driven deep learning through hybrid representations.
    • It will deliver: (a) virtual patient cohorts that reflect complex features of real-world populations; (b) mechanistic and phenomenological prediction of interventional outcomes in those virtual populations; and (c) the accuracy, reliability, and scalability needed for trustworthy computational predictions and their uncertainty quantification.
    • INSILICO will deliver the first head-to-head comparison between a Randomised Controlled Trial and an In Silico Trial, using a real-world dataset from an $80m cardiac prosthetic-valve trial.
    • Funding: £2.163m.

2022

  1. NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203308)

    2022.11 - 2027.10

    National Institute for Health and Care Research, United Kingdom

    NIHR Biomedical Research Centre · CIMIM leads the Digital Infrastructure programme

    • The NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) received a £59.1m award — the largest single research grant ever made by the NIHR to the city region — to translate scientific discoveries into new treatments, diagnostic tests, and medical technologies that will improve outcomes for patients in Greater Manchester and beyond.
    • CIMIM leads the BRC's Digital Infrastructure programme, contributing to the delivery of the Greater Manchester Secure Data Environment and the data-platform foundations that underpin the BRC's translational research themes.
    • Funding: £59.1m.

2019

  1. INSILEX— Precision Computational Medicine for In Silico Trials of Medical Devices (CiET1819/19)

    2019.05 - 2029.04

    Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom

    Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies · Hosted at CIMIM

    • The Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies scheme identifies global research visionaries and provides them with long-term support to lead the development of emerging technology areas with high potential for economic and social benefit to the UK.
    • INSILEX is the flagship long-horizon programme that anchors much of CIMIM's research agenda, providing sustained capacity for foundational work on computational precision medicine and in silico trials of medical devices.
    • Funding: £2.69m.