Minutes of the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) funding committee meeting to discuss stage 1 applications to Competition 43
Date and Location
10 January 2024 via online video meeting
In attendance
Professor George Peat (Chair)
Professor Richard G Watt (Supporting Chair)
Dr Nathan Davies
Professor Simon Heller
Professor Carmel Hughes
Professor Rebecca Kearney
Professor Belinda Lennox
Professor Gregory Lip
Professor Richard Martin
Professor Gavin Murphy
Mx Anica Alvarez Nishio
Professor Kate O’Donnell
Professor Mari Carmen Portillo
Mrs Angela Ruddock
Ms Julie Stone
Programme Director
Professor Marian Knight
Secretariat
Mr Raj Flora (NIHR)
Ms Saima Siddiqui (NIHR)
Mr Chris Lambert (NIHR)
Mr Rahul Malde (NIHR)
Ms Erinn Beattie (NIHR)
Stroke Association
Mr David Burgess
Dr Eirini Kontou
Observers
Professor Alan Smyth
Dr Richard Francis (Stroke Association)
Mr Daniel Taylor (Stroke Association)
Mrs Emily Griffin (Stroke Association)
Apologies
Ms Madeleine Ell
Applications considered
NIHR207292: Engaging people with stroke in physical activity to improve long-term health: developing an evidence-based implementation toolkit to improve the UK Physical Activity Referral Schemes pathway for stroke survivors Short title: Stroke Physical Activity Referral ToolKit (SPARK)
Lead Applicant: Professor Frederike van Wijck
Conflicts: None
Outcome: Reject
Mr David Burgess, Dr Eirini Kontou, Mrs Emily Griffin, Dr Richard Francis, Mr Daniel Taylor and Mrs Emily Griffin
NIHR207281: FOCUS Project: Fetoscopic and Open Surgery for Prenatal ClosUre of Spina Bifida
Lead Applicant: Dr Stavros Loukogeorgakis
Conflicts: Professor Marian Knight, Dr Nathan Davies and Professor Richard G Watt
Outcome: Reject
NIHR207286: IMPRESS2: Improving outcomes for patients with ovarian cancer
Lead Applicant: Professor Richard Edmondson
Conflicts: None
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207290: PREventing PretErM Birth in nulliParous women Through cervical length screening (PRE-EMPT)
Lead Applicant: Dr Caroline Fox
Conflicts: Professor Rebecca Kearney and Professor Marian Knight
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
Professor Richard Watt assumed the Chair
NIHR207266: Addressing indoor air quality to improve health of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Lead Applicant: Professor Alice Turner
Conflicts: None
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207269: COVID-19, Homelessness, Influenza, Long Term Conditions and Long COVID- Interventions for Compound Pressures (CHILLI)
Lead Applicant: Professor Amitava Banerjee
Conflicts: Professor Gregory Lip, Professor Gavin Murphy, Dr Nathan Davies, Mx Anica Alvarez Nishio and Professor Simon Heller
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207273: Evaluating the impact of the UK’s first saNctioned sAfer drug Consumption faciliTy (ENACT): A mixed-methods natural experiment study
Lead Applicant: Professor Sharon Hutchinson
Conflicts: Professor Rebecca Kearney, Professor Richard Martin and Professor Kate O’Donnell
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207276: Recurrent Episodic Vertigo Study (REVS)
Lead Applicant: Mr John Phillips
Conflicts: Professor Carmel Hughes
Outcome: Reject
Professor George Peat assumed the Chair
NIHR207277: Improving Care for Patients with Smell & Taste Disorders: The ICAST Programme
Lead Applicant: Professor Carl Philpott
Conflicts: Professor Carmel Hughes and Professor Richard G Watt
Outcome: Reject
Professor Richard Watt assumed the Chair
NIHR207278: Advancing evaluation of respiratory virus vaccine effectiveness in real time data
Lead Applicant: Professor Jonathan Sterne
Conflicts: Professor Richard Martin and Professor Rebecca Kearney
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207280: A community-based eating behaviour and physical activity intervention to maintain cognition and reduce dementia risk
Lead Applicant: Professor Anne Marie Minihane
Conflicts: Professor Carmel Hughes
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
Professor George Peat resumed the Chair
NIHR207283: REstricting Carbohydrates to End DiabetEs (RECEDE)
Lead Applicant: Dr Nicola Guess
Conflicts: Professor Belinda Lennox, Dr Nathan Davies, Professor Simon Heller and Professor Richard G Watt, Professor Gavin Murphy
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
NIHR207289: FINGER-DS: a multi-domain lifestyle intervention to delay cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome
Lead Applicant: Professor Andre Strydom
Conflicts: Professor Richard Martin, Professor Rebecca Kearney and Professor Richard G Watt
Outcome: Shortlisted to Stage 2
Outcomes Table
Funding Committees score applications on a range of 1-10. This table displays the number of applications awarded by mean score. The PGfAR fundable range is 8-10. Applications with a mean score of 6.0-7.9 have the potential to be funded, at the discretion of the Department of Health and Social Care based on recommendations by the Stage 2 and Main Selection Committees.
| Mean Score | Range | Number of applications |
|---|---|---|
| 5.0 - 6.0 | Invited to Stage 2 | 1 |
| 4.0 - 4.9 | Invited to Stage 2 | 6 |
| 3.0 - 3.9 | Invited to Stage 2 | 2 |
| 2.0 - 2.9 | Rejected | 4 |
| 1.0 - 1.9 | Rejected | 0 |