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Case Study

Haleon + Glasgow Caledonian university

To synthesise deep scientific understanding of the oral microbiome and embed knowledge of the microbiome's impact on oral health.

Electron Microscope Image of microbiome sample

Haleon

Haleon is a world-leading consumer healthcare company with a clear purpose: to deliver better everyday health, with humanity. We are the largest consumer healthcare company in the world (24 000 employees worldwide) and have a number of category-leading brands built on science, innovation and human understanding and are trusted by millions of consumers.

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What was the need?

The Challenge

Technology and understanding surrounding the human microbiome have expanded exponentially over the past decade. We understand that the microbiome is a highly complex collective of micro-organisms which occupy a distinct ecological niche and that changes in the microbiome can have far-reaching effects on our state of wellbeing. The complexity of the oral cavity, made up of many different tissues and surface types, and under constant, fluctuating, environmental pressure, presents a unique challenge in the context of observing and understanding the oral microbiome. Indeed, the current approach to many aspects of healthcare and managing micro-organisms is centred around reduction and removal of harmful bacteria with little regard for the collateral damage this may entail for the surrounding micro-environment. Factors such as rising rates of antimicrobial resistance, as well as the continually developing link between oral health and whole-body health, highlight a need for a more nuanced, targeted approach to how we interact with our oral healthcare and our microbiome.

What did we do?

The Solution

Spanning over 2 decades, as the former consumer health division of Glaxo-Smith-Kline, and as Haleon, we have engaged in a wide range of internal and external development of research associated with oral healthcare. We are constantly invested in the betterment of our collective understanding of the oral micro-environment and its response to our products. Partnering with a multitude of academic institutes across the UK, we have funded postgraduate studentships and postdoctoral research across many disciplines associated with oral health. The aim of this KTP project is to develop, understand, and disseminate our collective learnings associated with the microbiome through examining our internal capabilities for research and liaising with our external collaborators. In doing so, this collective knowledge will be able to inform ongoing and future studies and research while also providing key insight into how our existing products affect the balance of the microbiome. In turn, this increased understanding will improve our potential for identifying how current or future technologies can be incorporated into our products to ensure the best possible outcome for oral health while managing our oral microbiome.

What changed?

The Impacts and Benefits

Benefits for the Company

The KTP is a fantastic opportunity to bring together our relationships with academic partners to inform our internal research on the oral microbiome. By developing capabilities for microbiome data collection, integration, interrogation and analysis, we can provide a trusted platform for our academic partners to incorporate their own data, as well as giving us a platform to compare existing or future data. Moreover, as the terminology of microbiome becomes more accessible and visible to the public, it allows us to expand our messaging on what the microbiome is and how we can better understand it to ensure we are providing the same trusted science we are known for, both in the aspect of our research, and in the aspect of our commitment to bettering healthcare with humanity.

 

Benefits for the Academic Team

This exciting project aligns with our continued vision at Glasgow Caledonian University of commitment to the common good. The KTP platform allows us to liaise with academic partners across the UK to expand the collective knowledge of the oral microbiome. Through facilitating this project, we can develop a systematic review of the oral microbiome and how it can be impacted by day-to-day healthcare products. Moreover, understanding the oral microbiome as the gateway for systemic health is an integral point of understanding for impacting systemic health. Working closely with industrial partners affords the opportunity to strengthen bonds for continued research in the field of oral healthcare as well as developing the skills of our KTP associate in a manner beyond those possible in a strictly academic setting.

 

Benefits for the KTP Associate

The KTP Associate benefits from: Aside from the clear and obvious benefit of being involved in meaningful, novel, and exciting research associated with the oral microbiome, this KTP afford the opportunity to really grow and develop as both an academic and an industrial partner. Paramount to this is the ability to skirt the line between the academic and industrial, having been integrated, accepted and appreciated by both aspects of healthcare research is a phenomenal experience and, I believe, may only otherwise be partially achieved through high stress means of career changing and juggling academic and industrial research. These dual aspects of my approach to microbiome research have already provided me with the opportunity to develop through conference and seminar attendance as well as the prospect of specific skill workshops further down the line. Another key component to this is the ongoing support and facilitation of the KTP team, where the potential for personal growth is nurtured and emphasised by endeavours such as the KTP module workshops and routine check-in calls, the support is unmatched.

The People

Meet the Team

Dr Mark Craig Butcher

KTP Associate

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Dr Ricarda Hawkins

Company Supervisor

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Prof. Gordon Ramage

Knowledge Base Supervisor

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