Area of investment and support

Bioscience for an integrated understanding of health

Bioscience for an Integrated Understanding of Health is a strategic challenge which provides research and innovation funding to improve the health and wellbeing of animals and humans across the life course, with broad benefits to society and the economy.

• Partners involved: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

The scope and what we're doing

Bioscience for an Integrated Understanding of Health (BIUH) aims to provide a deep, integrated understanding of the fundamental biological mechanisms of healthy systems across the life course. It promotes ‘One Health’ and 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) approaches to improve human and animal health and wellbeing.

The BIUH Strategic Research and Innovation Framework expands upon BBSRC’s strategic delivery plan and sets out a collective research and innovation roadmap for bioscience and biotechnology to help address health challenges in the UK and globally.

It outlines our mission, aims, strategic drivers and how our investments and activities will enable the delivery of wider benefit and impact. The framework highlights four key themes:

• Ageing and health across the life course: advancing the understanding of biological mechanisms of ageing and maintaining cognitive, mental and physical health and wellbeing across the lifespan
• Food and nutrition for health: advancing the understanding of how the components and nutrients of food and diet, as well as their interactions and consumption patterns promote health across the life course
• Combatting infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR): understanding, forecasting, avoiding and mitigating animal infectious diseases and AMR to improve the health and wellbeing of animals and people
• Transformative technologies for health: developing, validating, implementing and applying tools, technologies, methodologies and data to understand and manage the health and wellbeing of animals and humans across the life course

These themes are underpinned by two guiding approaches:

• One Health: an integrated, transdisciplinary approach that addresses the health of people, animals, plants and the environment as closely linked and interdependent
• the 3Rs (replacement, refinement and reduction): minimising the use of animals and enhancing animal welfare

BBSRC’s portfolio uniquely bridges:

• healthy human systems
• the food systems which influence nutritional outcomes
• animal health and welfare research
• infectious disease emergence and spread

While research focused on human diseases falls outside of BBSRC’s scientific remit, we work in partnership with other funders, organisations and stakeholders to maximise the value of shared research objectives and knowledge between studies of human health and animal health, welfare and disease.

We aim to achieve this through comparative ‘one biology’ approaches, and a ‘One Health’ approach to zoonosis research.

Why we're doing it

The world is experiencing an unprecedented rate of change which has an impact on health and wellbeing of animals, humans and their environment, such as:

• an increasing ageing population
• health inequalities
• rising levels of hunger
• obesity
• malnutrition
• antibiotic resistance
• (re)emerging infectious diseases
• biodiversity loss
• climate change
• technological advances

Research and innovation funded by BIUH provides fundamental understanding of biology and bio-based solutions to maintain health and wellbeing. This is essential to deliver improved health and wellbeing under changing societal, economical and environmental pressures.

We will ensure that BBSRC-funded research is translated into tangible benefits by fostering collaboration across UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), academia, government departments, industry, charities and other stakeholders.

Benefits include developing a generation of new knowledge and products, and a robust evidence base to inform policies and effective interventions. Innovations such as these can improve the lives of animals and people in the UK and around the world.

Opportunities, support and resources available

BIUH research and innovation is delivered through:

• our responsive mode mechanism
• strategic initiatives
• cross-research council programmes (such as the Tackling infections strategic theme)
• fellowship and studentship programmes
• industrial and international collaborations

Responsive mode is our standard grant scheme which supports a wide range of research and approaches cross the whole of BBSRC’s remit. You can apply at any time under this scheme.

Find out more about how to apply for funding.

Past projects, outcomes and impact

Supporting world-class research in our strategically supported institutes

We support BIUH-related research and innovation in BBSRC’s strategically supported institutes.

BBSRC supports eight strategic institutes, five of which strongly align with the aims and themes outlined in the BIUH Strategic Research and Innovation Framework:

• the Babraham Institute is dedicated to making the fundamental discoveries needed to maintain health and improve wellbeing throughout life
• the Earlham Institute is building a future where the biology of any organism can be understood by analysing its genome
• the Pirbright Institute is a world-leading centre of excellence in research and surveillance of viral diseases of livestock and viruses that spread from animals to humans
• the Quadram Institute delivers healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food
• the Roslin Institute offers unique expertise and infrastructure to conduct pioneering animal biosciences

Fostering collaboration within our bioscience communities

We foster collaboration and promote interdisciplinary working in our bioscience communities and stakeholders by funding research networks, including:

• the 11 UK Ageing Networks with MRC
• Animal Welfare Research Network with Defra
• International Veterinary Vaccinology Network
• Food Safety Research Network with the Food Standards Agency
• eight UKRI Antimicrobial Resistance Networks
• Gut-Immunology-Brain Axis Network

Forging strong partnerships

We work closely with industry to facilitate translational research. For example, the Diet and Health Open Innovation Research Club brings together academic and industrial stakeholders to find innovative, real-life solutions to tackle some of the major diet and health-related challenges we face.

BBSRC promotes international collaboration as part of BIUH. The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases programme led by the US National Science Foundation brings together the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) to establish a partnership with researchers from three continents (Americas, Asia and Europe). The partnership aims to understand complex drivers of infectious disease transmission.

We work with government departments to ensure our funded research provides evidence for government policies. The joint BBSRC-Defra One Health Approach to Vector Borne diseases programme aims to improve the UK’s research capacity and capability to forecast, understand, mitigate and avoid animal and human vector-borne disease threats.

BBSRC strongly advocates for the role of fundamental bioscience in understanding human and animal health by participating in several national and international groups, for example:

• UK Ageing Research Funders Forum
• STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium on Animal Health
• Healthy Diet Healthy Life
• Standing Committee of Agricultural Research Collaborative Working Group on Animal Health and Welfare

Who to contact

Email: bfh@bbsrc.ukri.org

Governance, management and panels

The Bioscience for an Integrated Understanding of Health Strategy Advisory Panel focuses on the fundamental bioscience research and innovation needed to improve human and animal health and wellbeing throughout the life-course.

Last updated: 16 December 2024