Current studies

Study Title – 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 Kate Murray

Website – PQIP

ORION 4
is a clinical trial testing whether a new medicine called inclisiran prevents heart attacks and strokes.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Andrew Marshall

SIGNET will be the largest randomised controlled trial in organ donation. The trial will evaluate the benefits of Simvastatin given to organ donors on outcomes in organ recipients.

Summary – Statins in Organ Donor Management An evaluation of the benefits of a single dose of Simvastatin given to potential organ donors declared dead by neurological criteria on outcomes in organ recipients

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Sinan Bahlool

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.

Join Dementia Research

MyMelanoma

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.

MyMelanoma

Address 2 this research project is learning about the characteristics of people newly diagnosed with type 1 with diabetes in the UK, and at the same time supporting other research into type 1 diabetes.

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

Study Title – The ADDapt diet in reducing Crohn’s disease inflammation

Summary – Eligible participants will have Crohn’s disease that is currently mildly-active, which will be confirmed by a stool test or a recent endoscopy result (such as a colonoscopy) or a recent radiological investigation (such as an ultrasound or MRI) within the last 8 weeks, a blood test, a doctor assessment and gut symptoms. People with recent changes to certain Crohn’s disease medications may be excluded. Also, people who have had extensive gut surgery or who have other chronic or psychiatric conditions may not be eligible. Pregnant and breastfeeding women will also be excluded. Potential participants must own a smartphone with Android or IOS (Apple) software so they can download a mobile application (which will be provided free of charge to participants) that is essential for following the ADDapt diet.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Steven Fong

Myeloma XIV (FiTNEss)

Summary – Frailty-adjusted therapy in Transplant Non-Eligible patients with newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma: A phase III trial to compare standard and frailty-adjusted induction therapy with ixazomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (IRD) and maintenance lenalidomide (R) to lenalidomide plus ixazomib (R+I).

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Nigel Sargant

Study Title – Genetic and cellular analysis of malignant haematological samples

Summary – Determining how genetic and immunological change may lead to treatment resistance and relapse in haematological malignancies.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr John Jones

UK MS Register – The MS Register is a ground-breaking study designed to increase our understanding of living with MS in the UK.

ADD-ASPIRIN is a large randomised clinical trial, which is taking place in the UK, Republic of Ireland and India. It will recruit 11,000 participants to help find out whether regular aspirin use after treatment for an early stage cancer can prevent the cancer from coming back and preventing deaths.

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

WHiTE 11- FRUITI

Summary – World Hip Trauma Evaluation – FRUITI: Fix or Replace Undisplaced Intracapsular fractures Trial of Interventions

FRUITI

Local Principal Investigator – Mr Oliver Keast-Butler

DUALITY

Summary – Dual mobility versus standard articulation total hip replacement in the treatment of older adults with a hip fracture.

Local Principal Investigator – Mr Christopher Buckle

Study Title – AFTER – Ankle Fracture Treatment: Enhancing Rehabilitation

Summary – This small study will help us plan a larger study that will aim to compare two different ways of treating people with a broken ankle.  Both are routinely used across the NHS but we don’t know which is better than the other.

Local Principal Investigator –

Website – after-home | AFTER

Study Title – Mindfulness intervention in paediatric CF

Summary – A mixed–methods pilot study of an online Paws b mindfulness course for children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and their siblings.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Geeta Gopal

Website – Mindfulness intervention in paediatric CF

Study Title – FEED1 Trial

Summary – Babies who are born early are currently fed small amounts of milk through a tube into their stomach, with additional nutrition through a drip into their veins. We call this “gradual milk feeds” in this study. We want to know whether starting babies on “full milk feeds” rather than “gradual milk feeds” will lead to babies going home from hospital earlier and will affect their later development.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr Mani Kandasamy

Website – The FEED1 trial

Study Title – 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.

Website – SPIROMAC

Study Title – 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

MIDI

To develop a decision-making tool using a convolutional neural network that identifies abnormalities on brain MRI scans:

Local Principal Investigator – Dr David Sallomi

Study Title – IMID (Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases) BioResource, part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research BioResource

Summary – The NIHR BioResource is a panel of over 150,000 volunteers across England, with or without health conditions, who have agreed to be contacted for research studies.  Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (IMIDs) are a wide group of common health conditions which cause inflammation in the body. IMIDs can affect different parts of the body, but all work by triggering the body’s immune

system to fight itself, causing inflammation.

Local Principal Investigator – Dr S. Panthakalam

Website – IMID (Immune Mediated Inflammatory Diseases) BioResource

Study Title – The EXTEND trial

Summary – EXTENDed antibiotics to improve outcomes in patients with complicated intra-abdominal infection.

Local Principal Investigator –

Website – The EXTEND trial