ABSTRACT
Public Health England (PHE) commissioned RAND Europe to undertake a horizon scanning study exploring the future of public health and related scientific services. This work was intended to help inform thinking at the strategic level within PHE, firstly in relation to the wider vision of the Agency (which was only established in April 2013) and, secondly, in relation to the proposals for the creation of an integrated public health science hub. The study is based on a literature review, a brief Delphi exercise using the ExpertLens platform and key informant interviews with a range of PHE staff and external experts. It focuses on the different future public health science needs and the extent to which an integrated science hub could serve PHE as it evolves over the next twenty years. Thus, the study considers PHE's future remit and objectives in order that decisions about an integrated and co-located science hub be made in context and with reference to expert perceptions about the future.
ABSTRACT
The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) supports drug discovery efforts through a unique, open access model of public-private collaboration. This study presents the results of an independent evaluation of the Structural Genomics Consortium, conducted by RAND Europe with the Institute on Governance. The evaluation aimed to establish the role of the SGC within the wider drug discovery and PPP landscape, assessing the merits of the SGC open access model relative to alternative models of funding R&D in this space, as well as the key trends and opportunities in the external environment that may impact on the future of the SGC. It also established the incentives and disincentives for investment, strengths and weaknesses of the SGC's model, and the opportunities and threats the SGC will face in the future. This enabled us to assess the most convincing arguments for funding the SGC at present; important trade-offs or limitations that should be addressed in moving towards the next funding phase; and whether funders are anticipating changes either to the SGC or the wider PPP landscape. Finally, we undertook a quantitative analysis to ascertain what judgements can be made about the SGC's past and current performance track record, before unpacking the role of the external environment and particular actors within the SGC in developing scenarios for the future.
