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Month: March 2026

NIHR funds life-saving treatments and faster diagnosis at BWC

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Clinical trials, Early diagnosis and detection, Experimental medicine.

Funding of £1.5m has been awarded to BHP founder-member Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – enabling quicker access to life-saving treatments and faster diagnosis of rare and infectious diseases. 

This National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding boost will be used for two crucial initiatives: building a specialised Aseptic Pharmacy Unit for clinical trials, which has been designed to prepare medicines which must be used quickly; and to purchase a Nanopore genetics sequencer. This equipment can read much longer stretches of genetic code than before, which speeds up and improves diagnosis and testing of new treatments.

Professor Jeremy Kirk, Director of Research and Development at the Trust, said: “This is a true game changer in the world of research and will give our patients access to more clinical trials. 

“The Trust is nationally recognised for its contribution to genetics, and collaborative research working with partners across the region and beyond. 

“This funding will allow our teams to enhance current genetic testing (whole genome sequencing) by reading longer sections of the DNA that makes up the genome, moving from so-called short to long-read technologies. This shift will allow detection of genetic variants that would otherwise remain undetected, leading to faster diagnoses and earlier access to targeted treatments for our patients.” 

The equipment will also increase the number of trials delivered in the area in partnership with commercial sponsors such as pharmaceutical companies. 

The Trust is host to the Central and North West Midlands Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC). This consists of a network of hospitals, community and GP sites which are paired with commercial partners to host clinical trials leading to faster set up.  

Jeremy added: “Expanding the number of patients eligible for clinical trials through rapid analysis of their entire genetic code, and improved pharmacy services will also increase our opportunities to collaborate with commercial partners. This includes the development of innovative treatments such as cell and gene therapies including editing for rare diseases and cancers, and the delivery of new, pioneering treatments to those who need them most.” 

Birmingham-led team to tackle national health inequalities in heart disease

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Health inequalities.

BHP founder-member the University of Birmingham is leading one of nine consortia that have been selected to take part in the NIHR Cardiovascular Inequalities Challenge. Developed in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, this £50 million project aims to tackle the huge inequalities that persist across under-served communities in the UK.

The research programme will focus on strengthening the detection and management of high blood pressure and cholesterol – two driving factors for diseases of the heart and circulation – and will be co-created with communities at-risk.

Heart attacks, strokes and other conditions such as vascular dementia are preventable with blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering treatment, yet most people are not diagnosed or treated effectively and continue to suffer these catastrophic events.

Leveraging both existing infrastructure and new technologies, the Challenge aims to address one of the UK’s biggest killers for all people, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, social status, disability or culture.

Professor Dipak Kotecha, lead for the team, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Birmingham and researcher at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, said: “Our part of this national collaboration includes a dynamic team of community representatives, public health and primary care clinicians, cardiovascular researchers, local and national government agencies, as well as industry partners and technology companies working together to effect sustainable change and pivot the NHS towards better prevention.”

The University of Birmingham-led consortium includes core partners such as fellow BHP members Aston University, as well as Citizens UK (the UK’s biggest and most diverse people-powered alliances), the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Birmingham City Council. As part of the project, this team will work with the eight other consortia across the UK to bring together a wealth of experience to address health inequality.

Professor Shivani Sharma, Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise at Aston University, said: “At Aston, we’re deeply committed to inclusive and participatory research, creating spaces where people can shape both the questions and solutions.

“Through this consortium, we’re proud to bring tried-and-tested approaches that open the door for more people – especially those often ignored in research – to influence how we tackle cardiovascular health gaps. This isn’t about ticking a box. It’s about building engagement that feels accessible, relevant, and genuinely meaningful to communities.”

Dr Saidul Haque Saeed, Lead Organiser, West Midlands at Citizens UK, said: “Our mission at Citizens UK is to bring together everyday people and local organisations to build a better, fairer society. Together, we’re making change on the issues that matter, and we are excited to be a part of this vital project to address inequalities in cardiovascular health and help everyone have access to NHS care.”

Professor Elias Mossialos, Cheng Yu Tung Chair in Global Health and Director of LSE Health at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: ‘We are delighted to contribute to this important consortium. Addressing inequalities in population health requires deep understanding of the social and economic conditions that shape how innovations work in practice.

“Our role will be to provide economic and policy analysis to evaluate the health, social, and economic impact of initiatives and generate evidence that supports sustainable and equitable health systems. This is an important opportunity to bring interdisciplinary expertise together in the service of fairer health outcomes.”

Becky Pollard, Assistant Director of Public Health at Birmingham City Council, said: “Tackling cardiovascular disease is a key priority for us and requires an approach across the city and nation that brings together councils, the NHS, community and voluntary sectors and wider society.”

“In addition to national and collaborative research projects, the NIHR Cardiovascular Inequalities Challenge will support and develop capacity across all stakeholders.

Professor Clare Taylor, Professor of General Practice at the University of Birmingham, said: “Capacity building is essential to realise our ambition to effect disruptive and sustainable change in cardiovascular inequality.”

Working together, the consortium aims to make a distinct difference in the lives of people across the UK who have less access to either existing or new and often life-saving treatments for heart disease. The consortium’s research projects aim to start later this year. The work will synergise with a range of other programmes led by the University of Birmingham and our partners that are already opening up the benefit of clinical research to broader populations. This includes the DaRe2THINK national primary care trial platform, the Cities@Heart Innovative Health Initiative, the West Midlands Secure Data Environment and the Living Lab for HealthTech.

Learn more about BHP’s health inequalities research theme

New Birmingham Implant Retrievals Centre set to advance patient safety through understanding of implant failure

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Birmingham Health Partners.

A new research partnership led by Birmingham Health Partners members the University of Birmingham and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (ROH) will formally launch on Monday 23 March, bringing together clinicians, engineers, regulators and industry to improve understanding of joint implant performance and failure.

Concerns around implant performance – particularly metal-on-metal joint replacements – have highlighted the need for robust evidence on implant behaviour. The Birmingham Implant Retrievals Centre will focus on analysing retrieved orthopaedic implants and associated tissue samples to identify why devices fail, how implants behave inside the body, and how patient safety can be improved through earlier identification of risk.

The University of Birmingham leads the centre in collaboration with Birmingham Health Partners, with ROH as the primary clinical partner. Additional stakeholders include the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ODEP, Beyond Compliance, and industry.

University of Birmingham researchers are applying advanced engineering expertise to the study of retrieved implants, working closely with surgeons at ROH to understand how devices perform over time in patients. ROH is one of the UK’s largest centres for revision surgery and a global leader in orthopaedic oncology, providing access to a significant volume of patient data associated with revision procedures.

By coordinating retrieval, consent, and transfer processes between ROH and the University, implants and tissue samples can be analysed quickly using a comprehensive engineering pipeline including photography, microscopy, metrology and materials characterisation. This enables detailed insight into wear, corrosion, material degradation and failure mechanisms. The linkages with clinical data and close working relationships with clinicians, regulators and industry ensure actionable insight, closing the loop on implant life-cycle and future development.

The centre aims to answer critical questions including:

  • What trends exist in implant failure including surgeries that would be otherwise low-volume numbers at other UK hospitals – for example limb salvage)?
  • Why do failures occur?
  • What does a mechanically well-functioning joint look like
  • How can earlier identification of risk improve patient safety?

A key feature of the centre is its embedded infrastructure within ROH, which enables the routine collection of explanted devices and associated clinical data without requiring clinicians to do anything beyond their usual standard of care.

Expected outcomes include enhanced patient safety through earlier detection of failure risk, improved understanding of revision arthroplasty drivers, and evidence to support better screening and testing of both new and existing implant devices. Findings will feed into early warning systems and support compliance with guidance from organisations including NICE, MHRA, FDA, and ODEP.

Professor Michael Bryant, Professor of Tribology and Corrosion Engineering at the University of Birmingham, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital on this important initiative. Routine explant analysis, robustly linked to clinical records and National Joint Registry data, is a vital component of evidence-based life-cycle evaluation for both established and emerging orthopaedic devices. Explant analysis has long been, and continues to be, a key tool for detecting potential device-related safety signals and root cause failure mechanisms, strengthening post-market surveillance, and ultimately enhancing patient safety.”

Professor Adrian Gardner, Research and Development Director and Consultant Spinal Surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, said: “While joint replacement implants – and therefore patient outcomes – have improved significantly, understanding why these implants fail is critical. We’re thrilled to be partnering with the University of Birmingham to bring this research to the Midlands, supporting local researchers with this essential work that will ultimately improve patient safety through the enhanced performance of joint replacement devices.”

Dr Andrew Robert Beadling, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Birmingham said: “Preclinical assessment for joint replacements and MSK implants relies on simplified, idealised conditions to determine artificial ‘benchmarks’ of performance. Because this testing doesn’t represent real-world conditions, it provides limited actionable information and is often unrelatable to clinical outcomes. The Birmingham Implant Retrieval Centre enables the study of retrieved implants so we can better design preclinical testing according to how devices fail in the field, improving patient safety.”

This work follows longstanding recommendations to improve monitoring of implant safety and outcomes. The partnership also represents a further formalisation of research collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, strengthening translational research links between engineering and clinical practice.

The Birmingham Implant Retrievals Centre partnership will be officially launched with a kick-off meeting at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital on Monday 23 March.