News

Novel form of MRI shows that premature birth interrupts brain development

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:14:02 +0000

News Title: Novel form of MRI shows that premature birth interrupts brain development

News Content: Researchers from King’s College London have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), used diffusion MRI – a type of imaging which looks at the natural diffusion of water – to observe the maturation of the cerebral cortex where much of the brain’s computing power resides. By analysing the diffusion of water in the cerebral cortex of 55 premature infants and 10 babies born at full term they mapped the growing complexity and density of nerve cells across the whole of the cortex in the months before the normal time of birth. The new techniques developed will enable researchers to explore how the disruption of key processes can also cause conditions such as autism, and will be used in future studies to test possible treatments to prevent brain damage. The study was supported by the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas's Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.

News Link: Kings College London media release

News Date: 12/06/2013

Expires: 14/07/2013

NIHR BRC supported Department of Twin Research at King’s College London celebrate 21 years of research

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:11:10 +0000

News Title: NIHR BRC supported Department of Twin Research at King’s College London celebrate 21 years of research

News Content: The Department of Twin Research at King’s College London, which is supported by the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas's Biomedical Research Centre, is celebrating 21 years of genetic research, highlighting key achievements and looking to the future of genetic research. The Department at King’s is home to TwinsUK – the biggest UK adult twin registry of 12,000 twins. Set up in 1992, the TwinsUK cohort has had a major impact on genetic discoveries, allowing researchers to study the genetic and environmental causes of common age-related traits and diseases such as short-sightedness, osteoporosis, cancer, pain, diabetes and obesity.

News Link: Kings College London media release

News Date: 12/06/2013

Expires: 14/07/2013

Unfit patients more at risk from operations than older people

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:28:38 +0000

News Title: Unfit patients more at risk from operations than older people

News Content: A study led by Professor Mike Trenell, an NIHR Senior Fellow at Newcastle University found that being physically fit is a more important factor than age when it comes to the outcomes of surgery and the length of hospital stays. Fit older people had a lower risk of dying, recovered better after surgery and had a shorter say in hospital than unfit younger people. The study, published in the Annals of Surgery, also revealed that on average an unfit person cost the NHS an extra £6,000 every time they have an operation, due to longer recovery times in hospital.

News Link: Newcastle University press release

News Date: 14/06/2013

Expires: 14/07/2013

New device could improve how blood pressure is measured

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:58:52 +0000

News Title: New device could improve how blood pressure is measured

News Content: Researchers at the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre have developed a sensor worn on the wrist that measures the pressure of blood leaving the heart throughout the day. The new device reveals that blood pressure measured close to the heart is much higher during sleep than previously realized. Night time blood pressure is a strong predictor of both heart disease and stroke. The new data indicate that the night-time decline in blood pressure may be less extensive than previously thought. The research, published in the June edition of the journal Hypertension, could have significant implications for the evaluation of future therapies as drugs used to treat high blood pressure can have markedly different effects on pressure close to the heart, compared to that traditionally measured in the arm.

News Link: UCL press release

News Date: 14/06/2013

Expires: 12/07/2013

New Disclosure and Barring Service

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:18:55 +0000

News Title: New Disclosure and Barring Service

News Content: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has announced that its update service will go live on 17 June 2013. Anyone who is eligible for a DBS check can also subscribe to the new update service for an annual subscription of £13 per year. The new system has benefits for employers and applicants. For the employer: • Instant online checks of DBS Certificates. • No more DBS application forms to fill in. • You may never need to apply for another DBS check for an employee again. • Less bureaucracy. • Saves you time and money. • Enhances your safeguarding processes and may help to reduce your risks. • Easy to incorporate into your existing suitability decision-making processes. For the applicant: • Saves you time and money. • One DBS Certificate is all you may ever need. • Take your DBS Certificate from role to role within the same workforce. • You are in control of your DBS Certificate. • Get ahead of the rest and apply for jobs with DBS pre-checked.

News Link: Disclosure and Barring Service

News Date: 13/06/2013

Expires: 20/07/2013

NIHR media competition winners announced

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:10:16 +0000

News Title: NIHR media competition winners announced

News Content: The new NIHR’s YouTube Media Competition was open to NIHR researchers to produce a short video about their research that communicated the value of research and enthused the public. The standard of entries for the first round of the competition was very high. Congratulations to the following winners: First prize: Improving Prescribing with Information Technology, Jamie Coleman. Joint runner up prizes: Upstream:The adventures of D-man, Murtaza Siddiqui; Seeing the Unseen: Understanding Adolescent Eating Disorders, Nadia Micali; Tranman: A clot stabiliser can save the lives of trauma victims, LSHTM, Clinical Trials Unit. The next round of the competition is expected to launch in the next few weeks.

News Link: NIHR YouTube New Media Competition entries

News Date: 13/06/2013

Expires: 12/07/2013

NIHR BRCs collaborate in successful bid to work with industry

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:50:21 +0000

News Title: NIHR BRCs collaborate in successful bid to work with industry

News Content: UCL and the University of Cambridge along with the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres at each site have supported a successful bid to work in partnership with industry to develop biomedical discoveries into new products and therapies. The award, part of the £50m Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) Catalyst Fund, will allow UCL and Cambridge University to develop a collaborative research base through their respective BRCs, bringing together the skills, expertise and facilities of the commercial sector with the scientific and research capabilities of the two universities. The two partners will work together within the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst to fast track home grown drug development.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 30/05/2013

Expires: 28/06/2013

NIHR BRCs collaborate to answer questions about best treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:36:08 +0000

News Title: NIHR BRCs collaborate to answer questions about best treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

News Content: A large multicentre trial designed by researchers at the NIHR Royal Marsden Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the NIHR University College London Hospitals BRC, has provided answers to a hotly debated issue concerning the treatment of aggressive diffuse large B Cell Lymphomas (DLBCL). The large randomised study compared CHOP-14 (given every 14 days) with CHOP-21 (given every 21 days) in patients receiving rituximab for 6-8 cycles. In this phase 3 trial, over a three-year period 1,080 patients over 18 years old were randomly assigned the two different treatment regimens and the primary outcome measure was overall survival. Results showed that those who received more frequent cycles of R-CHOP (every two weeks) did not benefit any more than those receiving a cycle every three weeks.

News Link: NIHR UCL Hospitals BRC

News Date: 28/05/2013

Expires: 05/07/2013

Global Alliance for Genomic Health

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:39:26 +0000

News Title: Global Alliance for Genomic Health

News Content: A consortium of 69 leading healthcare, research and disease advocacy organisations from across the world, including the National Institute for Health Research are joining together to form an international alliance dedicated to enabling secure sharing of genomic and clinical data. On 5 June, the consortium, which is calling itself the ‘global alliance’, announced that the organization will develop standards and policies to encourage data-sharing of a person’s DNA sequence combined with clinical information. The alliance also hopes to tackle privacy and informed-consent issues that prevent researchers from sharing data, and plans to create a network of cloud-computing platforms and analysis tools in an effort to provide access to the shared data.

News Link: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute press notice

News Date: 06/06/2013

Expires: 05/07/2013

Attachments: http://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/Lists/News/Attachments/1576/GlobalAllianceFactSheet.pdf

DNA bank to help our understanding of disease

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:32:40 +0000

News Title: DNA bank to help our understanding of disease

News Content: A major new initiative is underway to gather 10,000 DNA samples from volunteers and patients at UCLH and other UCL partner hospitals to help researchers find out how genes influence disease. People willing to participate in research into the link between genes, the environment, health and disease will be asked to donate their DNA via a blood or saliva sample. The sample will be processed and stored for future analysis. Volunteers and patients will also be asked to agree to be contacted at a later date if they are suitable for a particular study. The launch of the UCL BioResource initiative marks a huge step in the fight against chronic diseases such as dementia, diabetes and heart disease. UCL BioResource is one of seven centres in the nationwide NIHR BioResource project, providing researchers with access to suitable candidates for research studies on an unprecedented scale. The BioResource project currently has a core base of 20,000 volunteers, with plans to increase to over 100,000 by 2017.

News Link: UCLH media release

News Date: 04/06/2013

Expires: 05/07/2013

E-learning course launched to boost diagnosis of ME

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:29:16 +0000

News Title: E-learning course launched to boost diagnosis of ME

News Content: A groundbreaking e-learning course, designed by researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Keele, is being rolled out across the UK to improve diagnosis of ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The METRIC (ME Education, Training and Resources in Primary Care) course was designed as part of an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme funded study, and is now being offered by the Royal College of General Practitioners as part of their online learning after a pilot with GPs in the North West. The course provides clinical scenarios and short films featuring patients, as well as information and resources to help improve knowledge and skills for diagnosing, assessing and managing adults with ME.

News Link: Manchester University media release

News Date: 04/06/2013

Expires: 05/07/2013

NIHR launches its own peer-reviewed collection of open access journals

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:27:29 +0000

News Title: NIHR launches its own peer-reviewed collection of open access journals

News Content: The NIHR has launched a new Journals Library, providing full publication and open access to an extensive body of health research. It comprises a suite of five programme-specific journal series, published online, which are fully searchable and provide a comprehensive record of work funded by these NIHR programmes. Building on the success of the existing Health Technology Assessment journal, the library will give accessible full publication of findings of the research commissioned by these programmes and will provide an important permanent and comprehensive record of the work which has been funded

News Link: Read more

News Date: 03/06/2013

Expires: 05/07/2013

New Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives to improve diagnosis of diseases

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:01:13 +0000

News Title: New Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives to improve diagnosis of diseases

News Content: The NIHR is investing £4 million pounds to fund four Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives to improve the way diseases are diagnosed. This will help patients access the most appropriate treatments more quickly and help the NHS make the best use of its resources.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 29/05/2013

Expires: 29/06/2013

New study to adapt family-based intervention to support young substance misusers

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:52:35 +0000

News Title: New study to adapt family-based intervention to support young substance misusers

News Content: Young people with drug and alcohol problems will trial an approach that has been successful in managing alcohol misuse among adults in the UK. The family-based intervention will be adapted to support young people aged 14-18. The study, funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme, will adapt and further develop the Social Behaviour and Network Therapy (SBNT) approach.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 29/05/2013

Expires: 28/06/2013

Children of long-lived parents less likely to get cancer

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:51:03 +0000

News Title: Children of long-lived parents less likely to get cancer

News Content: The offspring of parents who live to a ripe old age are more likely to live longer themselves, and less prone to cancer and other common diseases associated with ageing. An international collaboration including researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School, supported by the South West Peninsula CLAHRC, discovered that people who had a long-lived mother or father were 24% less likely to get cancer. The study published in the Journals of Gerontology compared the children of long-lived parents (classified as mothers who lived past 91 years old, and fathers past 87 years old to children whose parents survived to average ages for their generation) compared with the average of 65 to 87 years. The scientists studied 938 new cases of cancer that developed during the 18 year follow-up period and found that overall mortality rates dropped by up to 19 per cent for each decade that at least one of the parents lived past the age of 65. For those whose mothers lived beyond 85, mortality rates were 40 per cent lower. The figure was a little lower (14 per cent) for fathers.

News Link: Exeter University news release

News Date: 29/05/2013

Expires: 29/06/2013

Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:48:24 +0000

News Title: Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

News Content: A new study, funded by the NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme, will examine whether improving the energy-efficiency of houses in low-income neighbourhoods can improve the physical and mental health of their occupants. The study will review the benefits of the Arbed programme, which was set up by the Welsh Government to improve the energy efficiency of homes in low-income neighbourhoods in Wales.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 29/05/2013

Expires: 28/06/2013

Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:47:55 +0000

News Title: Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

News Link: Read more

News Date: 29/05/2013

NIHR Senior Investigators - annual competition

Leonilde Yahyaoui — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:19:53 +0000

News Title: NIHR Senior Investigators - annual competition

News Content: The NIHR seventh annual competition for Senior Investigators has opened. Senior Investigators are fundamental to the NIHR Faculty and include some of the country’s foremost researchers, making the most outstanding contribution to clinical and applied health and social care research. Leading researchers funded by the NIHR or the Department of Health’s Policy Research Programme (and who are employed by an NHS Trust, university or charity based in England) are encouraged to apply. The deadline for applications is 30 July 2013.

News Link: NIHR Senior Investigators competition

News Date: 29/05/2013

Expires: 30/07/2013

PRESTIGIOUS OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN NIHR

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Call for Chairs and Members of Programme Grants for Applied Research Sub-Panels. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is seeking to appoint new members, including Chairs, to serve on Programme Grants for Applied Research sub-panels that consider researcher-led proposals to the programme. We would welcome applications from clinicians and methodologists with a strong track record in applied health research and from members of the public who wish to contribute to the assessment of research proposals from a service user perspective . The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on 5 November 2012.

NIHR RDS NW Newsletter - Issue 2, August 2011

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Issue 2 of the NIHR RDS NW newsletter is now available. In this issue: A successful NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship applicant, Patient and Public Involvement update, North West People in Research Forum website launch and Adviser spotlight: qualitative methods. Also includes events, funding deadlines and details of projects that successfully obtained funding following NIHR RDS NW advice.

Proposal to establish a North West People in Research Forum response to consultation published

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 +0000

This document outlines plans to create a North West People in Research Forum, to build support for patient and public involvement (PPI) and public engagement (PE) in health research across the North West.

The NIHR RDS NW Public and Patient Involvement Strategy Published

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:00:00 +0000

The NIHR Research Design Service for the North West publishes its Patient and Public Involvement Strategy.

Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS - NHS White Paper

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 +0000

The Government has set out its vision for the NHS in the White Paper,"Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS." The White Paper makes extensive reference to the importance of the conduct of research, and the use of research evidence, as key elements of the NHS.

Use of magnesium sulphate for managing severe asthma:

Surgery provides better relief from chronic reflux than drugs

High publication rate for projects funded by the NIHR HTA Programme

NIHR launches its own peer-reviewed collection of open access journals

News

Novel form of MRI shows that premature birth interrupts brain development

NIHR BRC supported Department of Twin Research at King’s College London celebrate 21 years of research

Unfit patients more at risk from operations than older people

New device could improve how blood pressure is measured

New Disclosure and Barring Service

NIHR media competition winners announced

NIHR BRCs collaborate in successful bid to work with industry

NIHR BRCs collaborate to answer questions about best treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Global Alliance for Genomic Health

DNA bank to help our understanding of disease

E-learning course launched to boost diagnosis of ME

NIHR launches its own peer-reviewed collection of open access journals

New Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives to improve diagnosis of diseases

New study to adapt family-based intervention to support young substance misusers

Children of long-lived parents less likely to get cancer

Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

Study to examine the impact of energy-efficient homes on physical and mental health

NIHR Senior Investigators - annual competition

PRESTIGIOUS OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN NIHR

NIHR RDS NW Newsletter - Issue 2, August 2011

Proposal to establish a North West People in Research Forum  response to consultation published

The NIHR RDS NW Public and Patient Involvement Strategy Published

Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS - NHS White Paper

Use of magnesium sulphate for managing severe asthma:

Surgery provides better relief from chronic reflux than drugs

High publication rate for projects funded by the NIHR HTA Programme

NIHR launches its own peer-reviewed collection of open access journals

Proposal to establish a North West People in Research Forum response to consultation published