WMG News
Latest News from WMG
Dementia Action Week: WMG calls for volunteers for ground-breaking Alzheimer’s screening tests
Expert comment from Professor Alan Chalmers
For Dementia Action Week, WMG at the University of Warwick, together with Superlunary Labs, are doubling their efforts to develop a low-cost, non-intrusive method for the early screening of Alzheimer’s disease using a simple flavour test which can be undertaken as part of a regular health check-up by a nurse, at a pharmacy or community centre.
The test can help diagnose the beginnings of Alzheimer's years before symptoms of memory loss through a loss of taste or smell.
Scientists at WMG are looking to get data from at least 1000 people before aiming to roll the screening out nationwide, potentially as early as next year. If you want to take part in the trial, and can get to the University of Warwick campus, contact Alan.Chalmers@warwick.ac.uk to be part of the future of medicine.
Professor Alan Chalmers commented: “Working with MPs and their constituency offices we will be collecting more data across the country to significantly enlarge our dataset of people’s flavour perception ability. This dataset, together with AI and MRI scans, will enable us to validate our screening method. Once validated we will be able to roll out the method widely, hopefully as early as next year.
"New drugs that slow disease progression down offer real hope to people living with Alzheimer’s Disease, but crucially the disease needs early diagnosis for these drugs to be most effective. One might have the disease many years before failing a memory test, the current means for diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease.”
WMG researchers present new Alzheimer’s widespread screening device at parliament
On Wednesday (24th April), WMG at the University of Warwick’s Professor Alan Chalmers, and his research team, held a parliamentary drop-in session, hosted by Sir Jeremy Wright, MP for Kenilworth & Southam and Vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Dementia.
Scientists at WMG, have been working on ground-breaking medical screening for neurodegenerative conditions, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease. The research is based on growing evidence that people suffering with such diseases can lose their sense of smell and taste, many years before other symptoms, such as memory loss, become apparent.
An early diagnosis is critical for those with the disease. New drug technology can slow the progress of Alzheimer’s, but only if detected early enough.
Together with research partners including the NHS, Neurosaliance, and Superlunary Labs, the scientists updated policy makers on the progress of a National Engagement Framework for facilitating screening across the county and demonstrated a new working prototype of their flavour perception testing system.
Matt Western, MP for Leamington and Warwick, said: “We should strive for equality in dementia diagnosis across the UK. It was great to meet Professor Chalmers and his team from WMG. They are working with Superlunary Labs to develop flavour perception technology, for wide-spread non-invasive screening, which could help us achieve that goal.”
The Framework was piloted last year and resulted in data being collected at a number of venues across the country facilitated by MP’s constituency offices.
The plan is for the easy-to-use, low-cost perception testing system to be deployed in pharmacies, care homes and GP surgeries across the country.
This will allow people to measure their own flavour perception ability without the need for a GP appointment. The results will be sent to GPs via a mobile app, and those who perform poorly can then be referred for further tests.
WMG’s Professor Alan Chalmers, who is leading the research said: “In this simple screening test, people are given different flavours to smell and taste. They then, for example, determine which is sweeter, less astringent or smells more of lemon. It’s an easy, non-invasive test which can be rolled out to people quickly right across the UK. It was great to have an opportunity to share our Framework with policy makers.
“At the moment, people who present with symptoms of memory are referred for MRI scans and spinal fluid tests to confirm a diagnosis. By the time memory loss occurs things are often too late; pioneering drug treatments only perform well in the early stages of degeneration. MRI scans and spinal fluid tests are currently not done before there is an indication of the disease as they are incredibly invasive, can cause distress and are expensive and time-consuming for the NHS. Failure of the flavour test can give the necessary early indication.”
Marcus Jones MP for Nuneaton, added: “It was wonderful to meet the team from WMG and Superlunary Labs working to develop flavour perception testing as a method of early screening for neurodegenerative conditions. Work like this is essential for tackling the growing problem of dementia in the UK.”
Read more about WMG’s Visualisation research here: Visualisation Group (warwick.ac.uk)
WMG welcomes guests from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
It was a pleasure to welcome senior delegates from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to WMG, at the University of Warwick, on Wednesday (24th April).
Dr. Khairul Munadi, Education and Culture Attaché; Mrs. Anggarini Sesotyoningtyas, Head of Economic Department; and Mr. Raksa Permana Ibrahim, Economic Department; were invited to visit by Dr Kogila Balakrishnan, WMG’s Director of Client and Business Development (Southeast Asia).
As a leading international role model for successful collaboration between academia and industry, the guests were particularly interested to hear more about WMG’s work in entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as the department’s extensive SME support programme.
The guests enjoyed a tour of the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) and the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC), before meeting with Gary Dimmock and Bethany Haynes from WMG’s SME Group.
The visitors also had the opportunity to meet with MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course Director, Dr Ali Ahmad; and Deputy Course Director, Dita Amry; as well as Indonesian students currently studying on the programme.
Dr Kogila Balakrishnan, WMG’s Director of Client and Business Development (Southeast Asia) said: “It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to share the work we are doing here at WMG on both the education and research side. I look forward to further discussions and future collaborations.”
Anggarini Sesotyoningtyas added: “We’re interested in learning more about WMG’s experience in building an effective industry-university R&D collaboration as a means to solve global challenges, such as climate change and energy transition.”
While Dr. Khairul said: “We gained valuable insights from the visit. WMG serves as an outstanding example of bridging academic research with industry-driven demands. This aligns closely with Indonesia's recent focus areas.”
Find out more about WMG SME Group here: SME Support - WMG - University of Warwick
Find out more about WMG’s Master’s Courses here: Master's Degrees | WMG, University of Warwick
Top of the class!
WMG at the University of Warwick has seen five of its courses ranked number one in the UK by the Eduniversal Best Masters 2024.
Eduniversal ranks the quality of Master’s both in the UK and worldwide. This year a total of five WMG programmes have been recognised in their respective categories, with MSc Cyber Security Management being ranked number one in the world.
Accompanying MSc Cyber Security Management in the rankings were the MSc e-Business Management; MSc Supply Chain and Logistics Management; MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship and MSc Engineering Business Management programmes.
The rankings were as follows:
· MSc Cyber Security Management –number one in the world for Cybersecurity, Systems Security and Data Protection programmes
· MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship – number one in the UK and number 22 globally for Entrepreneurship – up three places on the 2022 rankings
· MSc Supply Chain and Logistics Management - number one in the UK and 28th globally for Supply Chain and Logistics - up one place from 2022
· MSc Engineering Business Management - number one in the UK and number three in Western Europe for Industrial and Operations Management.
· MSc e-Business Management - number one in the UK and fifth in Western Europe for E-business and Digital Marketing.
Professor Dan Nunan, Associate Dean (Postgraduate Education) at WMG at the University of Warwick, explained: “I am thrilled to see WMGs specialist courses in applied engineering, management and technology once again recognised as a leading choice for students seeking to develop their careers. These rankings are testament to the hard work and dedication of all our teaching team at WMG.”
Harjinder Lallie, Discipline Group Lead for Cyber Security at WMG, and Director of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education at the University of Warwick, said: “I am absolutely delighted that our MSc Cyber Security Management degree continues to receive recognition both nationally and globally. The course has an international reputation for excellent teaching, hands on practical experiences and superb post-study employment opportunities. To be ranked number one in the world is an outstanding achievement.”
Eduniversal Group is a global leader in higher education information, providing students worldwide with the tools to find the best education opportunities. Eduniversal publishes annual rankings of the best Master's programmes in 50 fields of study, covering 154 different countries within nine geographic zones. The ranked programmes come from more than 1,800 universities and schools.
WMG offers 14 applied Master’s courses across technology, engineering and management all designed to meet the needs of global industry. Find out more here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/study/masters-degrees
WMG Professor leads next phase of key research project
In 2023, WMG at the University of Warwick, received a share of £19 million from the Faraday InstitutionLink opens in a new window - the UK’s flagship institute for electrochemical energy storage research.
The funding was allocated to four key battery research projects aimed at delivering an impact for the UK. These existing projects across three different research areas - next generation cathode materials, electrode manufacturing and sodium-ion batteries - have been reshaped to focus on the areas with the greatest potential for success.
WMG took a key role in two of the four, reshaped projects entitled FutureCat and Nextrode. FutureCat is now entering its second phase with Louis Piper, WMG’s Professor of Battery Innovation, appointed as the new Principal Investigator (PI).
The battery cathode research project, focuses on understanding novel redox processes as a route to stabilise both high capacity, high performance, nickel rich and emerging cathodes and scalable designer morphologies. The next phase of the project will build on its success in developing reliable, scalable routes to deliver a longer lifetime, high-energy/power cathodes, essential for electric vehicles.
Professor Louis Piper explains: "Professor Cussen's leadership on FutureCat has resulted in significant advancements in Ni-rich cathodes. We are looking forward to continuing the pace of Ni-rich cathode innovation and development in phase II of the project. I am pleased that she will still work closely with the team."
James Gaade, Research Programme Director, commented: “We extend enormous thanks to Professor Serena Cussen for her engaging and collaborative leadership of the FutureCat project since its inception in 2019. In Professor Louis Piper the project has an accomplished research leader to take over the reins. WMG, University of Warwick has always been a key university partner for the Faraday Institution and is currently a member of five of our cross-disciplinary, multi-university battery research projects. We’re delighted to see the University becoming project lead for the first time.”
Professor Serena Cussen, former Principal Investigator of FutureCat, commented: “It has been the greatest privilege to lead the UK Faraday Institution's consortium on next-generation cathodes, FutureCat, as principal investigator since its inception in 2019.
“At the heart of our success has been a shared research vision and a culture of collaboration, which has seen our consortium deliver deep scientific insights on next-generation cathode discovery, development and scale-up as well as exciting partnerships with industry colleagues.
“While I am sad to leave the role of PI of FutureCat, I am delighted to see my friend and colleague Professor Louis Piper take over the leadership of this fantastic project. I have no doubt this is a project which will continue to go from strength-to-strength, and I look forward to collaborating with the FutureCat family of researchers.
Read more about FutureCat here: https://futurecat.ac.uk/
University support boosts West Midlands economy by £450 million – for every £1 invested, £22 returned to the local economy
WMG at the University of Warwick has boosted the West Midlands economy by £450 million – with every £1 invested into WMG’s small and medium enterprise (SME) programmes, around £22 has returned to the local economy.
Celebrating 20 years of tailored business support, WMG has delivered manufacturing expertise to 15,000 SMEs in the Midlands. It has supported the creation of more than 13,000 jobs, 350 new businesses and 355 internships over the last two decades.
WMG has delivered critical projects to SMEs to help them succeed in digitalisation, business change and product design. A key ongoing project is helping SMEs mange the energy crisis with a specialised toolkit and tailormade roadmaps to help organisations reach Net Zero.
As a High Value Manufacturing Catapult (a government initiative driving manufacturing innovation), WMG is playing a pivotal role in the revival and development of the West Midlands and the wider UK manufacturing base.
Dr Mark Swift, Director of SME Engagement at WMG, University of Warwick, said: "Our work over the last 20 years has shown that targeted, high value support can help SME manufacturers accelerate growth, improve productivity, and create jobs.
"It is vital that we continue to be a guiding force to help businesses implement new technologies, develop their teams, and continue to innovative and prosper. We have an important legacy to protect and continue and I am delighted to lead a team of industry experts working tirelessly to do just this."
Adrian Williams, Managing Director, Pashley Cycles, said: "Working with WMG over the years has given Pashley the opportunity
to take advantage of skills, expertise and facilities which we would never otherwise have access to. This is really helping us create robust and reliable, yet lightweight products which we’re confident will give us a competitive advantage in the market.”
Peter Davies, Co-Chair of the Manufacturing Assembly Network and CEO of James Lister & Sons, said: "WMG has been an outstanding source of advice, guidance, support and access to funding opportunities for all members of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN).
"The specialist assistance has helped us unlock innovations, bring new services to market, achieve efficiency gains and, in more recent years, accelerate our move towards sustainable manufacturing and taking advantage of the green economy.
"WMG 'gets' manufacturing and what we need and is happy to work with us to achieve an outcome that works for all parties."
Founded by the late Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya forty years ago, WMG began offering tailored support to SMEs in the Midlands in 2004.
Read more about WMG and the manufacturing supply chain here.
Media contact
University of Warwick press office contact:
Annie Slinn 07876876934
Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | University of Warwick Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk