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The Chief Scientist Office Festive Message 2024

The Chief Scientist Office Festive Message 2024

19th December 2024

Euan Dick, Head of Chief Scientist Office (CSO), Scottish Government, looks back on a positive, progressive 2024 and how our research, development, and innovation community continues to shape the direction of healthcare

It has felt to me like time has simply flown by this year; but as 2024 comes to a close, it is beneficial to reflect on achievements thanks to the hard work and collaborative efforts that continue in abundance across our community.

Indeed Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Professor Gregor Smith applauded “the research that Scotland has given the world — the lives it has improved as well as the lives it has saved” in his Annual Report published earlier this year.

In doing so, he also reflected the CSO belief that our research, development and innovation efforts cannot stand still; and therefore, I look forward to working with you all to further advance Scotland's diverse portfolio of research across all research phases, treatment types, and conditions.  

Of huge significance is the investment in Scotland as part of the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicine Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme. A £36.9 million investment in Scotland, includes four Clinical Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs) as part of initial activity. Continued work across the community will help support faster patient access to cutting-edge treatments, and strengthen clinical trials activity across the country.

The importance of VPAG cannot be understated when set in the context of the recent Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) report which found that the UK is making strong progress in the global rankings as a desirable location for placing industry clinical trials, but of course highlights the need for further progress. Scotland must play an active role in attracting more commercial research as part of our diverse portfolio and expediting the setup of such trials.

Progress is already being made here. We are an active partner in the National Contract Value Review (NCVR), working with others across the UK to reduce the time taken to set up commercial research studies. This is already seeing results with 12-month analysis showing a 36% reduction in time taken, and this remains a priority area as we look to 2025.  

Earlier this year, we saw the value of working with industry with a partnership between NHS Scotland, AstraZeneca and the Universities of Dundee and Glasgow helping to accelerate research into treating chronic kidney disease and in turn reducing the risk that patients might need dialysis or kidney transplantation. Dr Samira Bell of the NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Renal Network is leading this work; and hearing firsthand the difference this could make to the lives of patients is testament to why our work, and these types of collaborations, are so vital.

Enhancing expertise and strengthening the research and innovation culture in the NHS is also part of creating a stronger, more sustainable system, and therefore I’m also hugely proud of the CSO capacity building programme with a range of Fellowship opportunities currently live, including for non-medical applicants, helping to embed research and innovation across a range of diverse roles.  

We have seen notable success this year from a number of our CSO funded Fellows including Dr Gerald Lip who led the pilot of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool Mia in NHS Grampian. Seeing the exciting results of the work of our Fellows underlines the importance of supporting the next generation of research and innovation experts, so I really encourage individuals to consider applying before the early new year deadlines.

We are also at an exciting time in health research and innovation where the fusion of knowledge and expertise from different sectors is becoming more important than ever. This is one of the drivers of the new Scottish Cross-Sector Networking Hub, hosted by NHS Research Scotland in partnership with the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS). Launched just last month, it will focus on bringing together a network of active stakeholders, from NHS, academia, industry and third sector to develop synergistic, multi-sector approaches to explore and address areas of clinical need in Scotland and beyond; with the first event taking place early in the new year.

We further recognise the powerful contribution that our patient and public involvement (PPI) partners offer, encouraging diversity of views and experiences, while reducing health inequalities and ultimately delivering better care for people across Scotland. The strength of PPI activity was evident at our first national Patient and Public Involvement Event hosted earlier this year. It brought together over 50 speakers including public contributors and early career researchers – all united in ambitions to improve the quality of PPI in research. Due to the success of the event, we are delighted to be supporting the event to deliver again in 2025 with opportunities to get involved now available.  

We must also spotlight some of the individual studies and successes evident throughout the year:  

It is a small snapshot of successes through the year, and whilst healthcare is complex and fast evolving, our efforts as a community remain vital to supporting broader efforts to transform health and social care.

On behalf of CSO and the NRS Management Board, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for being an invaluable part of continued collective efforts and achievements. We wish you a very happy, healthy festive season and look forward to working with you in 2025.

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