| Frances Crick Institute |
Overview and strategic aims. A translational research centre opening in 2015, its strategic aims are to pursue discovery without boundaries; create future science leaders; collaborate widely in the UK; accelerate translation; engage and inspire the public. It has developed is a consortium of six UK-based scientific and academic organizations—the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London. It is anticipated that it will employ approximately 1250 scientists. Processes for promoting convergence:
The internal structure is not arranged along disciplinary lines. Instead, the bottom-up development of ‘interest groups’ that bring together researchers from across the organization to share insights and plan activities in areas of common scientific interest is encouraged. Building constructed to encourage mixing among all scientific staff i.e. break out spaces, transparent partitions, open spaces. Hiring will focus on drawing talent from physical sciences, engineering and clinical sciences. Providing PhD opportunities to individuals from an expressed diverse array of backgrounds (non-clinical, clinical, physical sciences, undergraduate and masters level). Providing PhD students with industry experience to maximal commercial career opportunities. Expressing interest in collaboration between organizations via a mix of secondments, long-term joint appointments, ‘satellite groups’ (a mechanism to enable university-based research groups to establish a small outpost at the Crick).
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| Singularity University |
Overview and strategic aims. A Silicon Valley-based, not-for-profit educational institution. To provide educational programs, partnerships and a startup accelerator to help individuals, businesses, institutions, investors, non-governmental organizations and governments to understand and utilize innovative technologies, primarily computing-based technologies. Processes for promoting convergence:
Coordination of Exponential Medicine, a conference for individuals ‘who want to break across traditional silos, cross-fertilize, understand and leverage rapidly developing technologies to innovate in health care’. This conference covers innovations such as 3D printing, stem cell therapies, artificial intelligence, lab-on-a-chip diagnostics, low-cost genomics, large-scale bioinformatics and synthetic biology. Graduate Studies Program: a 10 week immersive learning program to educate future leaders in computing-based innovations. Executive program: a weeklong workshop for corporate executives to learn tools to predict and evaluate how emerging technologies will disrupt and transform their industries and companies. Successes. 8689 people educated through the above programs. 93 countries represented through education. 109 impact initiatives developed.
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| Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, University of Southern California |
Overview and strategic aims. A major institution which aims to provide a workspace to allow collaboration between physicians, engineers and scientists to fast track the invention of new biomedical devices and development of precision medicine. It houses researchers from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine. Processes for promoting convergence:
Will house 20 to 30 principal investigators with laboratories employing hundreds of researchers and students. 190 000-square-foot center. Flexible laboratories. Recruitment of staff from a variety of scientific backgrounds. Successes.
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| University of California, San Francisco |
Overview and strategic aims. UCSF is dedicated solely to graduate education and research in health and biomedical sciences, as well as health service provision through medical centers. UCSF is uniquely positioned to promote convergence science as it has a large number of transdisciplinary institutes. Processes for promoting convergence. There are a number of transdisciplinary institutes within UCSF promoting convergence science and the imbedding of convergence science into clinical care. These include:
Center for Digital Health Innovation— serves to develop digital health innovations. Has successfully developed multiple new digital health products. Center for Computational Health Sciences—serves to develop machine learning and deep learning analytic abilities in medicine. Center for Transdisciplinary ELSI Research in Translational Genomics—serves as a novel resource for ethical, legal, social and policy analysis of emerging issues in translational genomics.
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