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.
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.”
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.
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.
A cross-BHP team from the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (ROH) and Aston University has won a place on the SPARK The Midlands programme to help further the development of its minimally-invasive, anti-cancer and bone regenerative injectable paste, which uses the cancer-killing properties of gallium.
SPARK The Midlands provides specialist technical and academic support to advance healthcare research discoveries in the region from the bench to bedside.
The team will use the SPARK programme to secure a clear pathway for the cancer-killing paste to be adopted in clinics and hospitals. If proved effective through clinical trials, the paste – a gallium-doped bioglass – could be used to treat patients with primary and metastatic bone cancer.
Dr Lucas Souza, Research Laboratory Manager at the ROH, said: “Where the global success rate for new ideas making it to clinical trials is less than 5%, SPARK has recorded a project success rate of 62%. Thanks to this programme, the ROH will have the support to develop a regional pipeline for the translation of ideas for orthopaedic and bone cancer applications to NHS-approved medical use.”
World class cancer care needs world class cancer research, so support programmes like SPARK are essential in steering NHS-led research through clinical trials and into patient care.
SPARK is a collaboration between Aston University, the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA) and Forging Ahead. The programme originated at Stanford University in California and has proved hugely impactful in improving the success of innovations making their way to clinical trials and then clinical practice.
A UK-first trial led by Birmingham researchers aims to improve treatment of arthritis in people who have developed the condition as a result of cancer immunotherapy.
The REmission induction of Arthritis caused by Cancer ImmunoTherapy (REACT) trial, led by the University of Birmingham and delivered through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), is one of the first global studies of its kind, testing whether powerful arthritis treatment is suitable for patients receiving ongoing cancer treatment.
REACT will recruit 70 patients across the country, and will investigate whether initial treatment with anti-TNF (anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor) therapy in cancer patients receiving a type of immunotherapy called an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), works to better control this type of arthritis – while not negatively impacting their cancer therapy.
Professor Benjamin Fisher, REACT’s Chief Investigator, Professor in Rheumatology at BHP founder member the University of Birmingham, and Lead for the Birmingham BRC’s Inflammatory Arthritis research theme, said: “Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionised cancer treatment, but they come with the risk of severe inflammatory side effects, including arthritis.
“The REACT trial aims to provide critical insights into the most effective initial treatments for patients suffering from this debilitating condition, potentially improving their quality of life significantly without affecting their cancer treatment.”
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that block the immune system’s inbuilt ‘off’ signals to help it fight cancer. While they are highly effective in treating cancer, they can also cause severe inflammatory side effects, including arthritis – which affects at least 5% of treated cancer patients and significantly impacts quality of life. It may persist even after ICI is stopped and may require treatment with drugs to suppress the immune system.
The typical treatment approach for arthritis that has resulted from ICI treatment is to start with steroid tablets, then gradually try other treatments if these fail. Anti-TNF is currently often the last treatment used.
TNF inhibitors have good evidence for other types of arthritis but there is no evidence for patients with ICI-induced arthritis to safely guide initial treatment strategy, so this trial will be the first to test the effects of immune suppressing drugs on cancer outcomes in response to ICI.
🗞️ BBC Midlands Today spoke to Becky Smith, who has received the new treatment as part of the clinical trial.
Becky (pictured above), 53 and from Solihull, was diagnosed with eye cancer in early 2020. Within weeks, she underwent surgery to remove her eye and adapted quickly to life with an artificial eye. For several years, she remained cancer-free – until the disease spread to her liver.
“I started immunotherapy last year, and while it offered hope, the side effects were brutal,” Rebecca explains. “I developed colitis, meningitis, and severe arthritis that attacked 90% of my joints. I couldn’t climb stairs, get dressed, or even get out of bed without help. It was devastating.”
These side effects forced Rebecca to take a year off work. “I love my job, but I simply couldn’t manage. Every cycle of treatment left me in hospital with side effects. It was a vicious circle.”
Standard steroid therapy offered little relief and clashed with her ongoing immunotherapy. That’s when her consultant suggested the REACT trial.
“I jumped at the chance. I thought, if it doesn’t work, at least I’ve tried – and maybe I’ll help others,” she says.
Rebecca was randomly assigned to receive adalimumab injections every two weeks. The impact was life-changing: “It’s been a godsend. My pain has eased, I can walk, I’ve returned to work, I can even wear heels again! My quality of life is back to what it was before.”
She still experiences mild aches before her next dose, but the improvement has been dramatic. “I’ve gone from being housebound to going on holiday and making memories with my family. Trials like this give people hope – and that’s priceless. Cancer and its side effects aren’t the end of the world. If you get the chance to join a trial, take it. It might change your life – it’s certainly changed mine.”
To compare the safety and effectiveness of these treatment strategies, the trial aims to recruit 70 ICI-induced arthritis patients across multiple centres in the UK. Participants will either receive current standard of care (initial steroid treatment in the form of prednisolone) or the anti-TNF drug adalimumab.
Treatments will be gradually reduced once the arthritis is controlled, or further treatment given if needed. The research team will compare the proportion of patients in each treatment group who have no arthritis and no steroid use 6 months after the start of treatment.
Researchers will also compare how fast the arthritis is controlled, and will continue to follow patients until one year to compare arthritis activity, quality of life, ability to function, total amount of immunosuppressive drugs received over time, number of ICI doses missed, new immune-related side effects, cancer outcomes and survival.
Researchers at BHP founder-members University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) and the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with Kings College London (KCL), are leading a new study which aims to better understand the factors that influence how well older people recover from cancer treatment, as well as finding ways to keep the body strong.
While age is a known risk factor for developing cancer, in some people, treatments – including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy – can trigger processes that resemble ageing.
The Resilience Breakthroughs in Older people Undergoing cancer proceDures (REBOUND) study is examining how key ‘hallmarks’ of ageing – the biological processes that naturally occur as we get older – are affected following treatment for bowel cancer in people aged 65 and over.
By understanding how the body responds to cancer treatment, researchers aim to develop new interventions that could prevent or reduce ageing-related changes and improve the number of years patients then spend in good health. The ultimate goal is to help older people with cancer remain active and continue doing the things that matter most to them.
Researchers will be analysing DNA for age-related changes; examining gut bacteria from stool samples; and assessing changes in blood and fat cells, with samples being collected at multiple timepoints before, during, and after surgery. These biological findings will be compared with tests of memory, thinking, strength, and muscle function, alongside information from medical records.
The study aims to recruit 172 participants aged 50 years and older who are scheduled to undergo bowel cancer surgery at UHB, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, or King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
At UHB, recruitment is taking place across two of its hospitals: Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) and Solihull Hospital. Study visits are undertaken flexibly in clinical environments, at the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Birmingham Clinical Research Facility, or within participants’ own homes, depending on works best for each individual.
The study opened to recruitment in Autumn 2024, and to date, 58 patients have been enrolled.
Ken Cox, 82 from Tamworth, who took part in the study last year, said: “I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2025 and had surgery at Solihull Hospital in March. I heard about the study at the time of my diagnosis and wanted to take part as a way of giving something back.
“The team visited me at home to carry out the tests, which made things much easier. Everyone was absolutely wonderful and easy to talk to. I’d like to think this research will help others in the future, and I would encourage people to take up the opportunity if they can.”
Ken Cox, pictured taking part in the REBOUND study during a home visit
Professor Thomas Jackson, Consultant in Geriatric Medicine and General Internal Medicine at UHB and Professor in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Birmingham said: “This is really important work that couldn’t be done without the support of patients agreeing to be in the study. We want to understand how the biology of ageing changes when older people have significant events, such as major surgery, and why some people recover well, and others don’t. With this understanding, we can identify ways of improving recovery in everyone and maximising the benefits of cancer treatment.”
The project is a collaborative effort bringing together clinicians specialising in the care of older people, surgeons, and scientists with expertise in ageing and complex data analysis. It is supported by the Dynamic Resilience programme, funded by Wellcome Leap and the Temasek Trust.
