The Centre for Advanced Diagnostics Development and Application (CADDA) has awarded over £269,000 to six innovative projects, with a total value exceeding £515,000 in total (including matched funding). These projects aim to drive the development of diagnostics for human and animal health.
Each project aims to address a specific challenge or unmet need in human or animal diagnostics, with aims to improve the diagnosis of diseases such as HIV, malaria and dementia.
The projects will be led by researchers from the University of Kent, The University of Manchester or UCL in partnership with industry partners. By enabling these short-term, high-impact collaborations, the funding is accelerating the translation of cutting-edge research into real-world applications.
This is the first round of projects to be awarded through the CADDA Knowledge Transfer Vouchers funding scheme since the Centre was established in January 2025. Vouchers worth up to £50,000 were awarded on a competitive basis, to provide each business with access to the technical expertise, research and facilities in Kent, London and Manchester.
The funding scheme is part of CADDA’s broader programme of support which aims to drive innovation in human and animal diagnostics. Led by the University of Kent in partnership with UCL and The University of Manchester, the Centre has established a community of practice of over 250 researchers, clinicians, businesses, regulators and end-users and has hosted a series of events since its launch to drive knowledge exchange and collaboration between them.
The winning projects
Solving the non-specific binding challenge for glycan binding reagents to accelerate next generation lateral flow diagnostics (The University of Manchester and Global Access Diagnostics)
The Development of Cellulose-Binding Protein (CBP) Fusions for Use in Rapid Diagnostics (University of Kent and Austin Davis)
Salt-driven Power-free Electrokinetic Enhancement of Lateral Flow Assay Sensitivity for Malaria and HIV Diagnostics (UCL and Global Access Diagnostics)
Engineered CYP2C19 Cell Lines for point-of-care test (POCT) quality assessment (The University of Manchester and EMQN)
A risk prediction score for Alzheimer’s disease in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals using a novel array of single nucleotide polymorphisms (The University of Manchester and StrataStem)
Kent and Medway Brain Health Clinic: A pilot study of streamlined dementia assessment using blood biomarkers, low-field MRI and electronic cognitive testing (University of Kent and Hyperfine)
The second round of funding is now open with submissions invited by the deadline of 5:00 pm on 30 April 2026. Application forms, guidance and further details can be found on the CADDA website: https://www.cadda.org/funding/
Projects may request up to £50,000 and should demonstrate clear collaboration between academic and industrial partners, with the aim of progressing diagnostics technologies along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) pathway.