Network: POEMS - Predictive mOdelling for hEalthcare technologies through MathS

鉴于人口老龄化和降低运营成本的需要，提供医疗保健是一个日益重要的政策问题。数学，工程和物理科学（EPS）社区在开发新技术方面可以发挥潜在的重要作用，这些新技术将使医疗保健能够以更有效和个性化的方式提供。最大限度地将工具和想法从学术研究界转化为临床实践的关键是多元化和多学科社区之间的参与和互动。该网络源于EPSRC关于通过数学对医疗保健技术进行预测建模的沙坑，该网络的初始成员将是沙坑参与者。然而，该网络的一个关键目标是发展、连接和协调英国研究界的预测模型，远远超出参加沙坑的参与者的范围，特别是关注沙坑参与者中代表性不足的领域。特别是，我们将针对来自临床，医疗保健，数学，实验生物学和工业界的新成员，其研究兴趣与网络目标一致。该网络的拟议规模为200名成员。该网络的总体目标是成为医疗保健预测建模方面合作和研究活动的加速机制。这些反过来又将构成网络寿命之后更广泛的愿景和国家范围研究议程的基石。这些目标将通过四种主要类型的活动来实现：网络集会、主题活动、旅行赠款和使用社交媒体在网络内进行持续交流。网络集会包括总体活动，发生在网络期的第一年和最后一年。第一次网络大会的具体目标是确定研究挑战和初步合作分组。最终的网络组装将允许我们的总体研究议程的进展进行审查，并有机会为未来10年的医疗保健技术预测建模研究制定路线图。在此期间，该网络将提供基础设施和资源，使这种合作网络能够扩展到新的合作伙伴，发展和培养，使其能够提供出版物和筹资建议。主题活动将由成员分组提出，并将侧重于研究议程中的特定主题。这允许一个有机的自下而上的机制，通过该机制，社区成员将确定未来有希望的研究路线。这种方法将确保在塑造2013-2016年及以后的医疗保健建模国家研究议程时，充分利用英国研究基地中包含的所有专业知识和创造力。旅行赠款将允许成员邀请有声望的游客到英国探索新的合作。网络成员之间的沟通将是持续的：我们的目标是拥有一个活跃的在线社区，以及促进面对面的活动。通过外展活动向学术界，最终用户和公众传达预测模型在医疗保健领域的价值和潜力是网络目标之一。这将通过在国家会议上组织会议，通过英国科学节等活动向公众宣传以及通过与患者团体的接触来实现。

The delivery of healthcare is an increasingly important policy question, given an ageing population, and the need to decrease operating costs. The mathematics, engineering, and physical sciences (EPS) communities have a potentially important role to play in developing new technologies that will enable healthcare to be delivered in a more effective and personalised way. The key to maximising the translation of tools and ideas from the academic research community to clinical practice is engagement and interaction amongst a diverse and multidisciplinary community. This network has arisen from an EPSRC sandpit on Predictive Modelling for Healthcare Technologies Through Maths, and the initial membership of the network will be the sandpit participants. However, a key aim of the network is to grow, connect, and co-ordinate the UK research community working predictive models, well beyond the pool of participants who attended the sandpit, and especially focusing on areas that were under-represented amongst the sandpit attendees. In particular, we will target new members from the clinical, healthcare, mathematics, experimental biology, and industrial communities, with research interests aligned with the network objectives. The proposed size of the network is 200 members.The overall aim of the network is to be an accelerating mechanism for collaborations and research activity on predictive modelling for healthcare. These in turn will form the building blocks of a wider vision and research agenda on a national scale beyond the lifetime of the network. These goals will be achieved through four main types of activity: network assemblies, themed events, travel grants, and continuous communication within the network using social media.Network assemblies bracket the overall activity, occuring in the first and last years of the network period. The first network assembly will have the specific the aim of identifying research challenges and initial collaborative groupings. The final network assembly will allow a review of progress made in our overarching research agenda, and be an opportunity to create a road map for the next 10 years of research in predictive modelling for healthcare technologies.Throughout the period, the network will provide the infrastructure and resources to enable this feltwork of collaborations to be extended to new partners, developed and nurtured to the level where they can deliver publications and funding proposals. Themed events will be proposed by subgroups of the membership, and will focus on particular topics within the research agenda. This allows for an organic bottom-up mechanism by which promising lines of future research will be identified by members of the community. This approach will ensure that all expertise and creativity contained in the UK research base is exploited to the full when shaping the national research agenda in modelling healthcare for the years 2013-2016 and beyond. Travel grants will allow members to invite prestigious visitors to the UK to explore new collaborations. Communication between the network membership will be continuous: we aim to have an active online community, as well as facilitating face-to-face events.Communication of the value and potential of predictive models in healthcare to academia, end-users and the general public through outreach activities is one of the network objectives. This will be achieved by bidding to organise sessions at national conferences, by outreach to the general public through events such as the British Science Festival, and through engagement with patient groups.