Current studies – East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

Anaesthesia, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management

Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP)

Summary – The Perioperative Quality Improvement Programme (PQIP) is an exciting and novel project being piloted in the NHS. Our aim is to improve the care and treatment of patients undergoing major surgery in the United Kingdom.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Sinan Bahlool

Website – PQIP

SINFONIA trial

Summary – To determine whether sugammadex is superior to neostigmine after elective or emergency major abdominal or non-cardiac thoracic surgery in terms of days alive and out of hospital at 30 days

Principal Investigator – Dr Judith Highgate

Website – Trial overview

Cardiology

ORION 4

Summary – a clinical trial testing whether a new medicine called inclisiran prevents heart attacks and strokes.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Katarzyna Dickinson

Website – ORION 4

UK HFpEF

Summary – The study aims to improve the quality of life and outcome of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in the future. The study involves you giving a blood sample (which will be used for a range of tests including genetics), completing a questionnaire, and agreeing that your past and future medical, health, and social care information can be collected and used for research. You may also be asked to do a walk test and have an additional 5 minutes of scanning if you are already having a MRI scan. By taking part in this study, you may also be offered the opportunity to take part in other studies related to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Principal Investigator – Ben Sinclair

Website – UK HFpEF

Critical Care

RELEASE

Summary – The RELEASE trial is looking to see if Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV) which is a way of using the breathing machine helps patients with diseased lungs to heal faster and spend less time on a ventilator compared to the usual way breathing support is given in critical care.

Principal Investigator – Dr Judith Highgate

Website – RELEASE Trial Overview

Understanding patients’ relatives’ role in ICU decision-making: how the mental capacity act can lead to better outcomes for patients, their families, and health care professionals

Summary – This project will adopt a phenomenological, mixed methods approach to gain insight into individual experiences of patients’ relatives in the decision-making process. Respondents will be invited to complete paper questionnaires and opt-in to semi-structured follow-up interviews. It will investigate how the preferences and wishes of the patient are elicited and evaluated through the involvement and influence of others in the decision-making process. It will also propose a normative framework to ensure consistent clinical practice and experiences for patients’ relatives when it comes to treatment decisions, in order to reduce the risk of conflict due to inadequate communication or incompatible expectations.

Principal Investigator – Dr Judith Highgate

Website – Understanding the role patients’ relatives play in ICU decision-making

Dementia

A UK-wide service that makes it easy for anyone to take part in vital dementia research. Anyone over 18 can sign up, whether you have dementia or not.

Simply register your details and a researcher will be in touch when an appropriate study becomes available. You can decide whether to take part in individual studies, with no obligation.

Website – Join Dementia Research

Sleep Attitudes Research Survey

Summary – We’d like to invite over 18 years old to take part in a short survey exploring attitudes toward sleep and memory. This survey aims to deepen our understanding of how sleep habits and memory concerns affect physical and mental health. It includes questions about demographics, general health, and perceptions of sleep and memory. Participation takes approximately 5–10 minutes.

When prompted, please select “East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.”

Principal Investigator – Tan Tsawayo

Website – Minder Health Management – Sleep Attitudes Survey

Dermatology

BADBIR study

Summary – The purpose of the research study is to assess whether new biologic or immunomodulator treatments (such as Benepali, Cosentyx, Taltz, Humira, Stelara) used in the treatment of psoriasis have a greater risk of serious side effects or long term health problems than established treatments such as ciclosporin, methotrexate and PUVA.

Principal Investigator – Dr Noor Alwash

Website – BADBIR

MyMelanoma

Summary – MyMelanoma is recruiting 20,000 melanoma patients to join the largest study of melanoma ever performed. A study designed to answer the most important current questions about melanoma and its treatment.

Website – MyMelanoma

Emergency medicine

The DRAFT3-CASP Study

Summary – This study aims to compare two treatment methods that are currently standard care for treating wrist fractures

Principal Investigator – Dr Kavitha Anoop

Website – The DRAFT3-CASP Study

Gastroenterology

Targeting Immune Pathways

Summary – The immune system is a network of cells, tissues and organs that work together to defend the body against infection. Over 70% of the immune system is based in the gastrointestinal tract where it plays a major role in a complex interaction with trillions of microbes to maintain health. The breakdown of this interaction leads to diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and contributes to many others including colorectal cancer.

We work on the nature of intestinal immune responses in health including diseases such as IBD and in the inflammation associated with some gastrointestinal cancers. We have used modern single cell technologies to redefine the cells of the human intestine (3). These technologies allow us to build a map of rare intestinal tissue cells in health and disease. Using this approach, we have discovered novel non-uniformity between various cell types and have then compared how these new cell types change to drive disease. We’ve also defined transcription factors and surface markers that enable these cells to be knocked out for studies in model systems and defined key cellular changes demonstrating new avenues for therapeutic targeting in this disease.

Around 40% of patients fail to respond or adequately respond to available immunotherapies. In this work, we will build on our previous findings to explore how the immune system is imbalanced in chronic inflammation associated colorectal cancer. This study will create an atlas of rare human intestinal cells and will highlight pathways that drive inflammation in early disease compared to chronic unresponsive disease. Based on this information we will generate disease identifiers capable of indicating inflammation or responsiveness to particular therapies. In addition, we will generate novel drug targets for those with unresponsive IBD and colorectal cancer.

Local Principal Investigator – Judith Tidbury

Maternity

OBS UK Study

Summary – Heavy bleeding during and after birth is the most common problem when giving birth to a baby. We have created a new way of managing heavy bleeding during and after childbirth (called the OBS UK care bundle). This care bundle helps to recognise bleeding early and to standardise the treatment of heavy bleeding during childbirth. When this package of care was introduced in Wales, we found that the number of women and birthing people who needed a blood transfusion was reduced and that fewer had very large bleeds. We now need to run this larger study to see whether the improvements seen in Wales can be seen across the wider NHS. If the OBS UK care bundle is shown to make a big improvement to outcomes, then it may advise the new UK standard guidance for dealing with heavy bleeding during and after childbirth.

Principal Investigator – Dr Seema Pai

Website – OBSUK Study

EpiSafe Study

Summary – This research aims to understand and support pregnant women and mothers with Epilepsy. Epilepsy is the second leading cause of maternal death during pregnancy and after childbirth in the UK. It can significantly affect mothers and their children, impacting independence, mental health, and family care. To address this, our research programme aims to deepen understanding, improve clinical care, and protect the health and well-being of pregnant women with epilepsy and their babies.

Principal Investigator – Dr Helena Watson

Website –EpiSafe | Research

Above Trial

Summary – The ABOVE trial is a study to find out if a cerclage (stitch) placed vaginally or abdominally is better in those who have had a preterm birth (delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or mid-trimester loss (a loss between 14 and 24 weeks of pregnancy) after a previous caesarean section in labour.

Principal Investigator – Dr Helena Watson

Website – Welcome | ABOVE – Cerclage after Caesarean Trial

Neurology

MND Register for England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Summary – Every single person with motor neurone disease (MND) can help the global effort to find causes, treatments and ultimately a cure for MND. By allowing us to collect your data your details will become part of the big picture, helping researchers focus their knowledge and expertise in the right areas.

Principal Investigator – Simon Wilson

Website – MND Register | MND Association

MS Register

Summary – How many people in the UK are living with MS? How do the different types of MS affect different people? Are there regional differences in how people with MS receive treatment?

Currently, the answers to these fundamental questions are largely unknown. With an estimated 100,000 people living with MS in the UK, more data needs to be gathered about the physical, environmental and social effects for people and carers affected by the condition.

Principal Investigator – Janet Sinclair

Website – MS Register

Oncology

NHS Cancer Vaccine Launchpad (NHS CVLP)

Summary – The NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that will speed up access to messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. It will also accelerate the development of cancer vaccines as a form of cancer treatment.

Principal Investigator – Dr Aspasia Soultati

Website – NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad

Study Title – The impact of psychological stress on cancer burden and recurrence in ovarian cancer

Summary – The treatment of advanced ovarian cancer uses therapies to extend the amount of time before requiring more treatment. In the first instance, this is through a combination of chemotherapy and surgery. There is evidence to suggest that stress may have a part to play in weakening the immune system and changing the behaviour of the disease. We would like to explore this further by following the stress levels of women during treatment and follow up for ovarian cancer.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Kate Lankester

Website – University of Brighton

UK Adult ITP Registry

Summary – Aim is to collect clinical information (age at onset, bleeding symptoms, treatments given and responses), standard lab tests, and investigational assays. All this information will be analysed looking for associations between the presence of genetic variations and (i) development of ITP, (ii) responses to treatment, (iii) severity of ITP and several other parameters.

Principal Investigator – Dr Anna Cowley

Website – UK Adult ITP Registry

REFINE-LUNG Trial

Summary – To determine the optimal continuing dose frequency of pembrolizumab amongst patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have benefited from and completed 6 months of standard therapy.

Principal Investigator – Dr Victoria Donovan

Website – REFINE-Lung Trial | Faculty of Medicine | Imperial College London

OSCAR Study

Summary – This research project is a collaboration between Aberystwyth University (AU) and health boards across the UK . The aim is to use a “big biology” ‘omic approach, to screen for novel metabolic changes in PCa patients, which can aid in both the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.

Principal Investigator – Rebecca Rushton

Website – Prostate cancer | Clinical Hub Aberystwyth

HIT-Meso

Summary – Phase III randomised controlled trial for patients with unilateral malignant pleural mesothelioma

Principal Investigator – Dr Victoria Donovan

Website – ctc.ucl.ac.uk/TrialDetails

SWITCH

Summary – The study will investigate women’s experiences of taking hormone treatment for breast cancer.

Principal Investigator – Tan Tsawayo

Orthopaedics

Paediatrics

Study Title – BASE trial

Summary – looking at the use of sodium bicarbonate for metabolic acidosis in very preterm babies

Principal Investigator – Dr Mani Kandasamy

Website – BASE | NPEU

SPIROmetry to Manage Asthma in Children

Summary – The SPIROMAC study will see if a breathing test called spirometry every three months can help prevent asthma attacks.

Principal Investigator – Dr Oana Anton

Website – SPIROMAC

Care UK Study

Summary – This study is investigating whether a new type of asthma reliever inhaler reduces asthma attacks in children aged 6 to 11 years.

Principal Investigator – Dr Oana Anton

Website – CARE-UK study | Faculty of Medicine | Imperial College London

Pharmacy

UK Antimicrobial Registry Study

Summary – The UK Antimicrobial Registry (UKAR) has been developed by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen (UoA) Epidemiology Team to provide prescribers and organisations the opportunity to capture real world usage of antimicrobial agents and identify where the real clinical unmet need lies. This will provide an invaluable resource for future research studies and also enable the sharing of best practice.

Principal Investigator – Agne Sadauskaite

Website – Home – UK Antimicrobial Registry

Public Health

Genetics of susceptibility and mortality in critical care (GenOMICC)

Summary – Infectious diseases and severe injuries affect millions of people around the world every year. Most cases are mild, but some people become very unwell. Our genes (or DNA) determine how vulnerable we are to critical illness. If we could find the genes that cause some people to be more vulnerable, we may be able to develop better treatments for patients in the future.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Judith Highgate

Website – GenOMICC