Dr Matt Jones
MRC senior non-clinical fellow at the University of Bristol.
Dr Matt Jones is an MRC fellow whose research into neuronal networks and control of cognitive behaviour is underpinned by a number of productive industrial collaborations.
“I’ve always collaborated with industry,” says Matt. “A range of companies have provided access to the pharmacological tools, disease models and techniques that I need for my research. Ultimately, if you want to have a positive impact on patients, then you need industry’s support.” Indeed, Matt’s first postdoctoral position was at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, funded by an industrial collaboration grant linking the MRC and Glaxo Wellcome, now GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). It gave him access to early transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, an area he was just moving into researching, and Matt remains in touch with those early collaborators.
“I’m less wary of industry than many academics tend to be,” he admits. “Approaches do vary from company to company but common scientific interests and goals mean I’ve always found industrial collaborations invigorating. For non-clinicians, industry can provide a bridge to patient data and they have a much better appreciation of what’s important in the clinic.”
After several years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he learned state-of-the art electrophysiological techniques used to record neuronal network activity during behaviour, Matt returned to the UK in 2006 to start his own lab applying the technique in models of psychiatric disease. His first Principal Investigator position was funded by a Research Councils UK Academic Fellowship alongside an Integrative Pharmacology Fellowship co-funded by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. “As soon as I got to Bristol,” says Matt, “I contacted everyone I knew in UK industry and said: ‘This is what I’m doing, is it of any interest?’ It’s vital for academics to be proactive.”
As a result, Matt has cultivated collaborations with Eli Lilly & Co, Janssen, GSK, Pfizer and others, always driven by scientific need. “I’m fortunate that our research on neural networks and cognition is riding a wave at the moment,” says Matt. “Saying that, it’s not enough just to be in the right place at the right time – you need to know that you are. So a broad network of contacts is vital. It’s an exciting time for me and for the field. But it’s a bleak picture in industry where improved psychiatric treatments are concerned – there are few new drugs in the pipeline and there’s a growing appreciation that companies need to be supporting research into fundamental mechanisms of brain function.”
Through his contacts and collaborations, most of the PhD students in Matt’s lab have some involvement with industry through MRC Industry CASE studentships or similar schemes. “It benefits the student because they get experience of industry,” says Matt. “It benefits me because I get to access the tools and expertise that industry has. And it benefits the company because they get access to our unique electrophysiology and broader view of mechanisms of cognition.”
As part of his MRC Fellowship, Matt will spend time at Lilly’s Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN, directed by Dr Mark Tricklebank of Lilly), using proprietary technology to study altered sleep states that contribute to cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. “The Lilly CCN model of jointly supervised postdoctoral Fellows and a broad range of academic collaborations has set a powerful precedent,” he says. “It’s been hugely productive and enjoyable and, alongside academic-industry links, has also fostered new academic collaborations amongst the universities involved.”
Matt has also been successful in getting further funding for a collaborative project with Janssen, who will support a PhD student and postdoc in his lab. The University of Bristol is part of the Severnside Alliance for Translational Research (SARTRE), which took part in a pilot scheme whereby they locally managed one of the MRC’s translational research funding schemes: the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS). Through SARTRE, Janssen became interested in psychiatric research in Matt’s lab at Bristol and at the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics at Cardiff. Following a one-year pilot, DPFS-funded work contributed to Matt and Professor Lawrence Wilkinson (Cardiff University, also a member of the Lilly CCN) securing an MRC grant to study the neurobiology of a gene linked to schizophrenia. “This is just one example of how a broad network of collaborations spanning industry and academia can fuel future research,” says Matt.
Given his success in working with industry, does Matt have any advice for academics who want to follow his lead? “All my industry collaborations have been about answering specific scientific questions that can help people – disregard academic and industrial stereotypes to focus on your common goals and you will certainly find common benefits. The landscape has changed in industry in the last five years, especially in psychiatric research. The business of industrial R&D is always in flux but they know that academic collaborations offer an invaluable knowledge and skills base and – provided the expectations of both parties are realistic – good value for money. Perhaps academics need advertise their wares a little more actively.”
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Read more about the MRC working with industry.
Published June 2011