News Content: A drug used to treat patients with diabetes could offer fresh hope to those affected by the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to NIHR UCL Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre supported research at the UCL Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN). PD patients on the trial were divided into two groups: 20 patients received Exenatide injections (approved for diabetes care) for 12 months, while the other group of 24 patients served as controls. After one year of treatment patients receiving Exenatide displayed improved cognitive ability and motor skills, while control patients declined.

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News Date: 24/05/2013

Expires: 24/06/2013

News Content: The individualisation of drug treatments to support patients to self-manage their conditions is a concept that sits at the heart of policy, but a recent study published in BMJ Open shows that there is no concrete definition of the term and consequently no cohesive understanding of what it means in practice among prescribing doctors. The surveyed doctors frequently discussed individualisation in terms of drug treatment decisions, that is, to meet medical needs by reducing the effect of side-effects and other issues. Few of the doctors spoke of making such decisions in relation to a patient’s personal preference, or in terms of supporting those patients to individualise their own treatments after the consultation. The authors of the study, from the University of Exeter Medical School supported by the NIHR CLAHRC for the South West Peninsula, believe that doctors need a defined interpretation of individualisation so they can support patients to achieve any modification safely and with the minimum of adverse effect.

News Link: http://clahrc-peninsula.nihr.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news.php

News Date: 24/05/2013

Expires: 24/06/2013

News Content: An international team, including NIHR UCL Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre researchers, have identified a set of tests that could help identify whether - and how - Huntington’s disease (HD) is progressing in gene positive individuals. The TRACK-HD study monitored carriers of the HD mutation for three years using various methods including brain scans, motor measurements and examinations by physicians. The findings, published in The Lancet Neurology, provide information that will help design trials of new therapies in HD as well as understand how the disease progresses.

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News Date: 23/05/2013

Expires: 22/06/2013

News Content: A study has found that the processes to allow people to self-manage their own illness are not being used appropriately by health professionals to the benefit of their patients. The research assessed a whole system intervention, which attempted to implement self-management support, led by the health service, for patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Feedback and assessments showed that practices did not use the approach to improve shared decision-making with patients or encourage the take-up of self-management support. The study published in the BMJ, was funded by the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research and the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre.

News Link: University of Southampton media release

News Date: 23/05/2013

Expires: 23/06/2013

News Content: International Clinical Trials Day is celebrated around the world on or near 20 May each year, to commemorate the anniversary of the very first clinical trial by James Lind. As the main public funder of trials in the UK, the NIHR is undertaking a range of activities to support its trials portfolio and the researchers, clinicians and patients involved.

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News Date: 20/05/2013

Expires: 21/06/2013

News Content: The NIHR Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is supporting ‘National Walking Month’ (Walk to Work Week -13-17 May and Walk to School Week - 20-24 May). The NIHR PHR Programme, evaluates public health interventions to improve the health of public and has a number of projects currently in progress evaluating such interventions and schemes. The Programme is currently interested in receiving outline applications to the researcher-led work stream to meet recommendations in research identified in the recent NICE guidance on Walking and Cycling; the evaluation of health-related outcomes resulting from changes to local transport, including initiatives funded through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and interventions to encourage walking or cycling in both rural and/or urban settings; and the effect on different population groups and impact on health inequalities is of particular interest.

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News Date: 21/05/2013

Expires: 21/06/2013

News Content: A new clinical trial is testing an ‘artificial pancreas’, with patients under the age of five, who are too young to recognise the warning signs of a drop in their blood. Using an off-the-shelf insulin pump and continuous glucose sensor, a computer algorithm controls their function in a closed-loop fashion, delivering the correct amount of insulin according to blood sugar levels. This has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of patients with Type 1 diabetes and significantly improve their quality of life. The glucose-responsive insulin delivery system has been trialled in adolescents, adults and pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes at the NIHR/ Wellcome Trust Cambridge Clinical Research Facility (CRF), and follow-on studies are on-going with these groups at home.

News Link: Cambridge University media release

News Date: 21/05/2013

Expires: 21/06/2013

News Content: A paper authored by Dr Claire Packer, Beth Boddice and Dr Sue Simpson, of the NIHR Horizon Scanning Centre, titled ‘Regenerative medicine techniques in cardiovascular disease: where is the horizon?’ has been published in the journal Regenerative Medicine. The paper identifies emerging applications of regenerative techniques that have the potential to benefit patients with cardiovascular disease.

News Link: http://www.hsc.nihr.ac.uk/news/regenerative-medicine-techniques-in-cardiovascular/

News Date: 17/05/2013

Expires: 17/06/2013

News Content: Researchers have found that after the age of 50 increasing body fat is associated with stiffer arteries in both men and women. In young people, blood vessels appear to be able to compensate for the effects of obesity. But after middle age, this adaptability is lost, and arteries become progressively stiffer as body fat rises – potentially increasing the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. The research was funded by the MRC, the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, and the British Heart Foundation, and published in the journal Hypertension.

News Link: Imperial College London

News Date: 17/05/2013

Expires: 17/06/2013

News Content: The NIHR Clinical Research Network, has launched a new service package to industry. The NIHR Clinical Research Network provides a number of services to help researchers from the commercial life-sciences industry to complete their studies successfully in the NHS in England. This includes help on site selection and feasibility, as well as patient recruitment through the Network’s large workforce of trained research nurses and clinical delivery staff based in hospitals and surgeries throughout the country. The new service has been designed to be quicker and easier to use, and has already been well received by companies that have tested it.

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News Date: 17/05/2013

Expires: 21/06/2013

News Content: Working with children and young people with longstanding illness to establish consistent routines for medicine-taking, may help to overcome the barriers preventing adherence. The research, funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research Programme, aimed to create a clearer picture of the reasons for non-adherence, by examining the interactions between patients, parents and practitioners. They found that a new consultation tool, the Talking About Medicines (TABS) intervention encourage children and young people to get more involved in the dialogue concerning their treatment leading them to feel more in control of their own health.

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News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 15/06/2013

News Content: The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) has published ‘Our vision for research in the NHS’ alongside the findings of a survey of healthcare professionals' experiences of research in the NHS.

News Link: AMRC news item

News Date: 16/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: Research from King’s College London reveals the detailed mechanism behind how stress hormones reduce the number of new brain cells - a process considered to be linked to depression. The researchers identified a key protein responsible for the long-term detrimental effect of stress on cells, and importantly, successfully used a drug compound to block this effect, offering a potential new avenue for drug discovery. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was co-funded by the NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. This novel mechanism may lead to new pharmacological treatments aimed at reducing the levels of SGK1 in depressed patients.

News Link: Kings College London news release

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: The NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, at Moorfields Eye Hospital, is open its doors to give people the opportunity to learn about the science and research behind eye-related treatments on Monday 20 May, between 9.30-12.30 pm to mark international clinical trials day.

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News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 20/05/2013

News Content: The Health Research Authority (HRA) has outlined plans for how it will play a leading role in ensuring clinical and other health research findings are published.

News Link: Health Research Authority

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: A study has found that the presence of cancer cells circulating in the blood could predict the outcome or prognosis of neuroendocrine cancer. The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and supported by the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, found that 49% of patients had at least one CTC (cells that have shed into the blood vessels from a primary tumour and circulate in the bloodstream), 42% had two or more CTCs, and 30% had five or more CTCs in 7.5 mL blood. CTC measurements are now being incorporated into trials of new therapies for neuroendocrine cancer. Additional studies are under way to characterise CTCs in terms of their mutational and gene expression profile and this may help to select the best treatment for individual patients in the future.

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News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: Teams at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have been awarded a BMJ award which recognises teams making measurable improvements in patient safety. The prestigious award was given for the Improving Medication Reconciliation at Discharge - closing the Loop (M@D) project. M@D is jointly supported by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR North West London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 16/06/2013

News Content: The Connecting People Intervention model study funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR), has received further funding from the Wellcome Trust and the University of York to explore the feasibility of adapting the Connecting People Intervention model for use in Sierra Leone. The new grant will fund a researcher on the NIHR SSCR-funded study to visit Sierra Leone in July 2013 to explore how social interventions can help to meet the needs of people with mental health problems. The study will use ethnographic methods to evaluate the feasibility of adapting the Connecting People Intervention model and developing a sustainable training programme.

News Link: Connecting people study

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: Early-warning sensor systems that can test and track serious infectious diseases – such as major flu epidemics, MRSA and HIV – using mobile phones and the internet are being developed by a major new Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) led by UCL and involving NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the NIHR Newcastle BRC. The new £11 million IRC, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, will develop low cost, easy to use mobile phone-connected diagnostic tests based on advances in nanotechnology for use in GP surgeries, pharmacies, elderly care homes, developing countries and at home. The mobile tests aim to identify diseases with high sensitivity and specificity and give results within minutes from just a pin-prick of blood or a simple swab. Rapidly transmitting results into secure healthcare systems will alert doctors to potentially serious outbreaks with geographically linked information.

News Link: Read more

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: Research from King’s College London reveals the detailed mechanism behind how stress hormones reduce the number of new brain cells - a process considered to be linked to depression. The researchers identified a key protein responsible for the long-term detrimental effect of stress on cells, and importantly, successfully used a drug compound to block this effect, offering a potential new avenue for drug discovery. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was co-funded by the NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. This discovery may lead to new pharmacological treatments aimed at reducing the levels of SGK1 in depressed patients.

News Link: Kings College London news release

News Date: 15/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: Cambridge researchers have found that analysing the DNA that cancer tumours release into the bloodstream can enable the progress of cancer to be easily monitored. The DNA fingerprints can provide a quick, simple ‘liquid biopsy’ to track the progress of cancer tumours as well as the tumour’s resistance to cancer drugs. The research, which was supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, opens the door to using DNA – rather than proteins – as a much more reliable biomarker for a cancer’s growth, and could lead to better treatments.

News Link: Cancer Research UK news item

News Date: 13/05/2013

Expires: 14/06/2013

News Content: invoDIRECT is a new online map on the INVOLVE website. The map displays information on groups and organisations that support public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research. Visit invoDIRECT to: • add details of your group or organisation so others can find out more about how you are supporting public involvement in research • search for local and national UK groups and organisations • find out about international groups and organisations supporting public involvement in research

News Link: http://www.invo.org.uk/find-out-more/invodirect/

News Date: 08/05/2013

Expires: 08/07/2013

News Content: A team of paediatricians, nurses and other staff based at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, have been shortlisted for a prestigious award in the Child Health Team of the Year category of this year’s British Medical Journal Improving Health Awards. The Award recognises important contributions to improve children’s health. The team from Imperial College Healthcare was shortlisted for their work in leading the Itchy, Sneezy, Wheezy Project which was funded by the CLAHRC for North West London.

News Link: Read the press release

News Date: 08/05/2013

Expires: 08/07/2013