Creating new clinical academic posts: case studies
The Academy of Medical Sciences developed a series of case studies to inform discussions at our July 2025 Summit. These case studies provide examples of the goals, development processes, challenges and impacts of creating new clinical academic posts. We would like to thank all those who have provided case studies to us.
Case studies
The MRC Medicines Development Fellowship Programme
Background: The MRC Medicines Development Fellowship for Clinician Scientists was launched in 2025. It builds on the success of the North West England MRC Fellowship Scheme in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2010–2025), which supported Clinical Research Fellows to complete a PhD.
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed
David Weatherall Chair of Medicine,
University of Liverpool
Why was the scheme set up?
The aim of the scheme is to develop clinical academic capacity that can cross boundaries between academia, healthcare and industry. Clinical academics work well within academia and the NHS, and we wanted to extend this to industry, providing Fellows with training and experience in clinical pharmacology and other related areas.
Through the scheme, we wanted to develop people who can work between universities and industry, fostering joint working and creating synergies between these sectors to benefit the UK ecosystem. Developing such porosity between different sectors, along with a highly skilled workforce, is important for attracting industry to the UK.
Our long-term goal is to develop a national scheme, which could potentially be taken up by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the future.
How was the scheme developed?
The scheme was first established in 2010 as a partnership between the University of Liverpool and the University of Manchester, which expanded to include four companies. We were successful in securing funding from the MRC to run the scheme, which supported 13 Fellows to gain PhDs. By demonstrating the success of the scheme, we sought and secured funding from the MRC to support a second round, which supported a further 15 Clinical Fellows (2016–2025). In 2024 we secured funding for the current iteration of the scheme – the MRC Medicines Development Fellowship Programme, for Clinician Scientists and Clinical Research Fellows.
In addition to funding, Fellows have access to a dedicated teaching programme, mentorship from academic and industry leaders, and opportunities to develop skills in leadership, patient involvement, communication and engagement.
What challenges did you face?
The industry partners have changed over time, which has presented challenges and opportunities. Starting afresh with new industry partners requires the development of new relationships and collaborative agreements. Working with an increased number of industry partners lays the foundation for running the scheme on a national basis, with a growing number of companies having an organisational memory of being part of the scheme.
We felt that during the first scheme there was a low level of interaction between the Fellows and industry. We were able to improve this by co-designing the second scheme with industry, providing Fellows with an industry-based supervisor. This has led to a closer engagement with industry, which we have improved further for the current scheme, where we expect Clinician Scientists to spend 50% of their time with industry.
Working for two different organisations, which could be in different parts of the country, the Fellows need to consider how their personal lives will be affected. If it were a national scheme, there would be much more flexibility on working locations.
What are the benefits?
All but one Fellow from the first scheme have continued to develop as clinical academics, moving through NIHR-funded clinical lectureships to more senior roles in HEIs. Several of these Fellows are now Professors or Associate Clinical Professors leading their own work in a range of clinical disciplines. During the scheme and since its completion, these Fellows have leveraged over £4 million in further funding to their universities and published high-impact papers.
Fellows have reported significant benefits from working with industry, developing skills and gaining insights into drug development that they could not have gained otherwise. Some Fellows have developed further interactions with other companies, which also helps the university with knowledge exchange.
We hold showcase events every year, which has increased interest from other people wanting to join the scheme.
What are the future scheme goals?
A big focus over the next five years will be the Clinician Scientists, whom we are supporting to develop their own, independent groups. I also want to emphasise the importance of this scheme, not only to the MRC, but to government. It is an important way of developing academics who can work between academia and industry, which will benefit the UK economy. It’s unique in the world – I don't know of any other scheme that’s doing this at the moment, which is a good thing for the UK, as we want to attract industry through providing a skilled workforce.
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