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Author: Louise Stanley

Exterior photo of Aston University campus

Aston University joins Birmingham Health Partners

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

Birmingham Health Partners, the second city’s University-NHS partnership, has further expanded its membership by welcoming Aston University on board as its seventh member. Aston is the second University to join the partnership which now includes four NHS members (University Hospitals Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals and most recently the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust), with the University of Birmingham (UoB) and West Midlands Academic Health Sciences Network (WMAHSN) completing the alliance.

Based in the centre of Birmingham, Aston was granted University status after receiving a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth II in 1966. The institution provides education to more than 18,000 students from over 120 countries across its three Colleges including the College of Health and Life Sciences which is home to Aston Medical School.

Aston hosts a range of research institutes and its mission aligns directly with BHP’s – to deliver research that changes lives for the better. For over 70 years, the University has pushed boundaries at the heart of the second city and empowered researchers with access to cutting-edge facilities and investment opportunities.  Like BHP, it aims to magnify the impact of its research beyond academia, to the benefit of all.

Prior to formally becoming part of BHP, Aston has collaborated with other member organisations on research in areas as diverse as concussion and spinal cord injury; rare and complex paediatric syndromes; advanced therapies; atrial fibrillation; and cystic fibrosis.

Aston University will be represented at board level by Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University, while Professor Anthony Hilton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor & Executive Dean of the College of Health and Life Sciences will join the executive group of BHP.

Professor Hilton said: “We are excited to join BHP because it gives Aston University the chance to develop cross-institutional collaborations under one umbrella. It provides an important forum for engagement with our regional NHS trusts and beneficiaries for both research, education and knowledge exchange.

“We are keen to see how the alliance will support the funding of future research, enabling us to share innovation at the boundaries of each institutional expertise. By having a unified West Midlands approach, we can harness key skills, expertise and our resources to have an impact on health in the region.”

Managing Director at BHP, John Williams said: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Aston University to be part of Birmingham Health Partners.

“Alongside our NHS partners we will make use of our shared capabilities as employers, educators and researchers to positively impact the health and economic growth of our region.”

BHP is committed to achieving health and economic impact through harnessing the combined strength and expertise of its members.

The BHP Starter Fellowship – Amy’s story

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

Dr Amy Coulden is a Specialist Registrar in Endocrinology and Diabetes, currently at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and a Clinical Research Fellow within the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research. She’s a recent alumna of the BHP Starter Fellowship, having completed it between 2021 and 2022, and is now taking time out of clinical training to undertake a Metchley Park Clinical research fellowship investigating the role of ganglioside GM3 in acromegaly – a rare endocrinological disorder characterised by a growth hormone secreting tumour in the pituitary.

What attracted you to apply for the fellowship?

I have also been interested in research, ever since I did an intercalated BSc during my medical degree which involved four months of experience in the laboratory that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have also enjoyed clinical research and being involved in projects that can help instigate change, such as audits I did in my early training after qualifying. I was not aware of the fellowship before it was alerted to me by one of my consultants who thought I would be a good fit.

I knew that I was interested in doing a PhD or MD at some point during my registrar training (in Diabetes and Endocrinology), but I was unsure what I would want to study or whether or not it would be a large undertaking given that my research background was pretty limited. I thought a one-year fellowship would be a perfect way to experience research life for a year, while not taking a large amount of time out of clinical training.

The project that I have is excellent with a fantastic opportunity to work with some world renowned researchers, which definitely attracted me to doing the fellowship.

What were the benefits of fellowship?

It’s allowed me a ‘taster’ what both clinical and basic science research is, as well as giving me a qualification of an MSc at the end. It has reassured me that the research world and career is definitely for me and I am currently applying for funding to convert my MSc into a PhD!

I have learnt so much! Firstly, skills in the lab, from tissue culture, to using ELISA and qPCR. I have learnt skills in writing- both for publication but also for grants/ fellowship application and interview skills- all of which have been invaluable.

I have learnt how to organise my time, especially as research often does not go to plan. Balancing different projects and learning how to use the downtime when there is not much going on in the lab has been a challenge but has improved my organisational skills.

Were there any challenges during the fellowship?

My challenges are probably very common! Firstly, research takes time – often much longer than you expect and this should be factored in when planning. There are often delays, for example many of my reagents that I need for experiments have taken far longer to arrive than anticipated which delays the project. Sometimes the results you get aren’t what you are expecting, and this often means changes to your protocols and additional repeats. And sometimes things go wrong!

While these have been frustrating, they have taught me so much about planning and execution of research as well as troubleshooting.

How much clinical work did you do while undertaking your fellowship?

I have not done too much clinical work, mostly because the focus of this year was to be a pure research year. I have attended a couple of clinics a month but also regular MDTs and endocrinology meetings as well as the regular teaching training days. I have opted to do ad hoc locum shifts in General Internal Medicine every few months to ensure I don’t deskill.

Did the fellowship help with your clinical practice?

I have done many additional projects this year outside my main fellowship project such as case reports, poster presentations and reviews. This has allowed me to research and review certain clinical conditions and as a result I’ve improved my knowledge around these. The clinical work that I have done during the fellowship (such as fortnightly pituitary MDTs and clinics) have helped me in clinical practice.

Do you feel that the fellowship has helped you with your career development and aspirations?

Absolutely! I knew that I wanted to explore research but I was nervous about taking a large amount of time out of training of do a PhD or MD if it wasn’t suited to me. This fellowship has confirmed my love of research and how I want my future career to look. I am now starting an academic clinical lecturer post in August and applying for PhD fellowship this Autumn- neither of which would have been possible without this fellowship.

What would your advice be to anyone thinking of applying for a BHP fellowship?

If you are interested in research, but don’t have much experience or you are unsure if you want to embark on a longer degree but would like a ‘taster’ of research, this is for you!

The BHP Starter Fellowship

Applications for the 2022-23 Fellowship are now open – visit our Fellowship page for application details and forms.

Meet the alumni

Fourth NHS member for Birmingham Health Partners extends specialist expertise

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

Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), the second city’s University-NHS partnership, has further expanded its membership by welcoming the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (ROH) on board – its fourth NHS member. The ROH joins fellow Trusts University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals as BHP’s NHS members, with the University of Birmingham (UoB) and West Midlands Academic Health Sciences Network (WMAHSN) completing the alliance.

The ROH is one of Europe’s largest specialist orthopaedic units, offering a comprehensive range of treatments including joint replacement, orthopaedic oncology, spinal surgery, as well as physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, pain management and a range of musculoskeletal services. Its dynamic portfolio of clinical trials and research programmes includes exploration of advanced therapies to regenerate diseased bone tissue; new prosthetics to restore normal joint function; and new pharmaceutical treatments which reduce the need for invasive surgery and speed up recovery.

It is also a renowned teaching and training trust, hosting students from Birmingham Medical School on placements since 1891, and was already an established collaborative partner of BHP organisations prior to formally joining the alliance. Most recently, a team from the ROH, UoB and the University of Bath identified a new and specific cell population that influences how arthritis affects the body and the levels of pain individual patients experience, paving the way for more precise pain-relieving therapeutics.

BHP Director Professor David Adams, who is Head of UoB’s College of Medical and Dental Sciences, explained: “Birmingham is home to a concentration of leading centres of excellence, and a particular area of expertise – both in patient care and research – is orthopaedics and trauma. UHB hosts the renowned Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and also, in partnership with UoB, the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction Microbiology Research Centre which improves trauma and orthopaedic care and outcomes for patients through translational research built on military, NHS and scientific partnership. Extending the partnership of BHP to the ROH – the longest-established hospital of its kind in the UK – is therefore a natural progression, and all partners are committed to collaborating on research that matters to patients: specifically in areas such as inflammation, arthritis, bone and soft tissue cancer, and trauma.”

Jo Williams, Chief Executive of the ROH, commented: “We’re excited to join BHP because it provides us with an opportunity to collaborate and innovate. As a specialist Trust, ROH is a knowledge leader in orthopaedics, and we look forward to being part of such a distinguished network of peers and the impact this will have in the future.”

BHP is committed to achieving health and economic impact through harnessing the combined strength and expertise of its members.

Addressing care disparities through research – Professor Shakila Thangaratinam takes the lead

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Health inequalities, Maternal health.

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BWC) – a founding member of BHP – has announced the appointment of Professor Shakila Thangaratinam to the new post of Research and Development Lead for its Women’s Hospital, and Deputy Director of Research and Development for the Trust. Shakila is BHP’s Academic Lead for Maternal Health and is a Consultant Obstetrician as well as Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health at the University of Birmingham, where she leads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health. Here, she explains what her new position will entail and her future ambitions towards improving outcomes for women in Birmingham, the region, and globally.

In my new role, I am keen to facilitate a seamless integration of academia and clinical practice, and nurture the research ambitions of our trainees, midwives, nurses and allied health professionals and Consultant colleagues across various disciplines. Women’s voices will be central to our research development and delivery, and I am particularly keen to minimise the health disparities based on gender, race and ethnicity and socio-economic status. We have a unique strength in caring for women across their life course in our Trust from their birth and childhood, to adolescence, reproductive and post-menopausal age; our research will aim to improve their health throughout this journey.

The new Research and Development Lead role has three clear objectives:

    • To undertake high quality research through improved engagement with women, their families and clinicians, and a clear, achievable, and relevant research strategy
    • To promote capacity-building in research with the tools, skills and career development which are critical to expand and sustain research activities
    • To work closely with patient and public involvement groups such as The Hildas, so that research work addresses the needs of women and families.

“By working closely with the recently established Dame Hilda Network, we hope to bring together clinicians, academics, women and policy makers working towards improving the health of women and their babies in the region, directly addressing the priorities set out by the Women’s Health Strategy nationally.

“In a digital age, we’re well placed to maximise the power of the data in clinical and academic work. We want all women who visit with us to be given the opportunity to be included in our clinical research. Participation in research itself has been shown to improve their outcomes.”

Learn more about BHP’s Maternal Health research

Drugs to delay preterm birth are safe for global reduction in neonatal death

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Health inequalities, Maternal health.

Women around the world should be able to access the best drug treatments that help to delay preterm births and improve outcomes for newborns, suggests new research.

Researchers from BHP founder-member the University of Birmingham worked with colleagues from the World Health Organization to review 122 randomised trials – published between 1966 and 2021, involving 13,697 women and conducted in 39 countries including high, middle and low-income states. The study, published in Cochrane Reviews, has allowed researchers to create a league table of drugs that delay birth, called tocolytics, based on their effectiveness and side effects.

Women benefitted from all preterm delay treatments included in the meta-analysis of studies, although the research team noted that the effectiveness of different drugs was less clear in some of the studies. The team also looked at the side effects of different drugs and combinations, including the likelihood of having to stop treatment.

The team have bought together the evidence on the benefits as well as the harms of these treatments (compared to no treatment or placebo), to arm clinicians and policy makers around with world with the information to decide upon the best treatment for the women in their care in their specific setting.

Dr Amie Wilson, Research Fellow Global Maternal Health at the University of Birmingham said: “The findings show that the benefits of these drugs outweigh any risks associated with unwanted side effects. These treatments are leading to a significant reduction in the number of deadly preterm births, and we now need to further understand the effectiveness of tocolytics for specific groups depending on pregnancy length.

“Our previous research has led to the improvement of guidelines for use of tocolysis drug use to delay preterm birth in the UK. Knowing that this paper helped to inform the forthcoming recommendations of the World Health Organization on the use of tocolytics, we hope that many more women around the globe will have access to these drugs, and have healthier births.”

Dr Victoria Hodgetts Morton, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics at the University of Birmingham and co-author of the paper said: “Preterm birth is the most common reason why a newborn baby may die, and the leading cause of death in children under five years of age.

“Tocolytics aim to delay preterm birth and allow time for the women to receive medicines that can help with baby’s breathing and feeding if born preterm, and medicines that lower the chance of cerebral palsy of the infant. Crucially, a short delay in preterm birth can enable women to reach specialist care.”

    Professor Peter Brocklehurst responds to the Women’s Health Strategy

    Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Birmingham Health Partners, Maternal health.

    The Chair of the Birmingham Health Partners Commission which led the Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future report has welcomed the first ever Women’s Health Strategy for England to tackle the gender health gap.

    The commission set out a raft of recommendations for the UK to lead the development of safe, effective and accessible medicines for use in pregnancy. The key ambitions in the Women’s Health Strategy which are aligned to the recommendations from the Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future report include:

        • Boosting participation of pregnant women in clinical research, particularly clinical trials, key components to improving maternal health outcomes for women and their babies
        • A greater use of routine health data to improve outcomes for pregnant women
        • Improving the safety of medicines in pregnancy to ensure women have access to high quality and updated information about medicines that they may need to take during pregnancy

    Commenting on the Women’s Health Strategy, Professor Peter Brocklehurst, Professor of Women’s Health and Director of Research and Development for the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit (BCTU), said:

    “I am really pleased to see that women’s health is being given the prominence it needs and I find the plans outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy encouraging. It is vital that women are treated as equal partners in the delivery of their care and that they have the option to be included in research and clinical trials that affect them. Over 50% of respondents to the initial call for evidence felt that pregnancy should be included in the strategy, providing a clear message that healthy pregnancies are a health priority for women, their families and society.

    “The focus on the importance of research to continue to improve health is also very encouraging, however, there is little mention of the research needed to ensure that new therapies, particularly safe and effective medicines, are developed for many of the women’s health problems highlighted in the report. Investment in discovery science and the need for close collaboration with other groups, particularly the pharmaceutical industry, is essential if we are to continue to improve health outcomes for women.  I look forward to building on these plans with colleagues in Government and across sectors to reduce the gender health gap, place women’s voices at the heart of research, increase participation in research and ultimately improve maternal health outcomes for women and future generations.”

    Baroness Thornton – the Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, recently spoke about the Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future report during her statement to the House of Lords on the Women’s Health Strategy. The full debate can be watched here. (Baroness Thornton’s speech starts at 16:07:05 and is answered by Baroness Penn at 16:23:45, she ends her point on the report at 16:25:15).