Searching the body for clues on Long COVID symptoms
A team of researchers from the University of Bristol is investigating the causes behind heart and circulation problems in Long COVID.
Case studies
Climate change and the Amazonian ecosystems - towards a new understanding
Researchers from the University of Bristol are spearheading new efforts to understand the impacts of climate change on the Brazilian Amazon and its Indigenous and traditional communities.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder - the quest for a new UK database
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, is the most common preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disability worldwide, and it’s thought to be particularly prevalent in the UK. It is associated with learning and behaviour problems, issues with physical and mental health, substance misuse and social problems, including over-representation in the criminal justice system.
Mood Music—how streaming services can help mental health studies
Analysing social media use can offer a novel and fascinating insight into a population’s behaviour patterns, but it can come with challenges. Users of social media often consume rather than create content, which can mean that not everyone is represented in the data. It can also be ethically challenging, as social media data often includes personal information, and so needs to be handled in a way that respects that. However, music streaming is both easier to measure than social media consumption and less personal than the information shared, so researchers from the University of Bristol are exploring how these data could yield useful insights into mental health and behaviour.
Autism and Emotion Recognition – a translational approach
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that occurs in childhood affecting 1-3% of the population, with many more presenting with autistic traits. Atypical emotional processing is often experienced by autistic individuals, including difficulties in recognising facial emotional expressions.
Immune cell therapy provides hope for cancer tumour treatment
Researchers at the University of Bristol are offering a glimmer of hope to patients with advanced cancer with a potentially powerful new treatment avenue.
Inclusion, decolonising and dentistry
A new study from the University of Bristol seeks to understand the barriers and facilitators of inclusion for dental students, ensuring that every new student, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or background, has access to the same opportunities and facilities.
Surgical Smoke – how best to persuade patients who face surgery to keep off tobacco
Researchers from the University of Bristol investigate the best way to help surgical patients to stop smoking.
Towards understanding the relationship between age, breast development and breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK: every month, an estimated 4,000 new cases are diagnosed. Throughout a woman’s lifetime, however, the risk of developing the disease varies greatly. Early puberty, for example, is associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer, whereas pregnancy before the age of 20 is associated with a decreased risk - but the biological reasons aren’t clear.
A potential link between intestinal microbes and respiratory infections
Could the vast population of microbes that we all carry around with us hold the key to understanding more about respiratory tract infections?
Building collaborative research relationships through creative activities
Engaging in creative activities can help to shift the power dynamics between public contributors and researchers, according to a paper published in BMC Research Involvement and Engagement. However, collaborative projects need to work for everyone and taking community-led ideas forwards remains challenging.
Raising menopause awareness
The menopause is the time in a woman’s life when menstrual periods stop, and she is no longer able to bear children. It typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Despite the menopause being a natural stage of life with treatable symptoms, rather than a disease or a disorder, it is considered a somewhat taboo subject. Research is helping to improve people's understanding of menopause and open up conversations.
Smart Digital Assistants – a glimpse into the future of the GP surgery?
With the pressures that the National Health Service and primary care in particular are under, the use of new technologies might permit General Practitioners to deliver better care in the short time they are allocated to each patient.
Mistletoe – not just for Christmas
Mistletoe has been a feature of Christmas for hundreds of years. But this semi-parasitic plant has some rather surprising properties: in mainland Europe, it has been used alongside chemotherapy to support cancer patients for more than a century.
Smart technology and mental health – how modern gadgets might help
Mental health problems can have a wide range of causes, such as issues in childhood, a long term health condition, or bereavement among many others. Lifestyle factors, such as diet, work, alcohol use can all play an important part, and unravelling the potential interactions of the manifold causative influences can be hugely challenging.
UNSEEN heatwave mortality
In the UK in summer of 2022, there were around 3,000 deaths beyond the average in the 65+ age group. Assessing possible heatwave events and the resulting mortality in our current climate conditions is critical to preparing our population and the National Health Service (NHS) for health-impacting heat events.
Risks for micronutrient losses due to vector-borne plant viruses affecting nutritious crops in Sub-Saharan Africa
Crop viruses that are spread by insects destroy crops worldwide and cause hunger and malnutrition for vulnerable communities, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The distributions of these viruses are being altered by climate change. Understanding the risks of these viruses for impacting nutritious crops will help target surveillance, diagnostics and plant-health interventions in regions of the greatest need.
Hydro-epidemiological modelling to understand Leptospira transmission risk and interventions
Leptospirosis is caused by an infection from rat urine and is commonly associated with flooding. With flooding events becoming more common due to climate change, the occurrence of leptospirosis is expected to increase. This research will improve our understanding of how the bacteria causing this disease (Leptospira) moves through the environment, to inform interventions to reduce transmission risks.
Towards an understanding the genetic basis of depression in Alzheimer’s Disease
Depression is much more common in individuals with dementia than in other people of the same age. Antidepressant treatments often don’t work, and as a result there are large numbers of people who need treatment who don’t receive it. However, because of the nature of dementia, understanding the differences in people who also have depression is a challenge.
Dr Sophia Hamilton – a better doctor
Dr Sophia Hamilton (previously Muschik) is an anaesthetist at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. She has recently completed a Clinical Primer Scheme from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, looking at the feasibility – and acceptability - of data collection from conversations between patients, their clinicians and their families, about decisions regarding high-risk emergency interventions. We sat down with her to chat, and to find out why she thinks that such vital health research makes her a better doctor.
Post pandemic props – supporting early career researchers
When conducting randomised controlled trials, researchers need to be impartial to be ethical. When relaying information about treatments, they must prevent themselves from communicating any bias to the patient, whether consciously or unconsciously. This balanced informing is known as equipoise. Doctor Lucy Beasant is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol. In her doctoral research, she explored the way in which treatment preference and equipoise can impact recruitment of patients to paediatric Randomised Control Trials.
The Science of Happiness: maintaining student wellbeing in a time of crisis
Student wellbeing is of paramount concern to all academic institutions. Students are vulnerable to mental health problems – because of their age range, as well as the lifestyle changes associated with starting university. Here we share how the positive psychology ‘Science of Happiness’ course helped improve wellbeing for University of Bristol students, and explain the broader potential an online version of the course may have for improving mental wellbeing beyond the student body.
UK Chinese people and COVID – experiences during the pandemic
After the emergence of SARS-COV-19 in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, there were reports of a change in social responses towards Chinese people living in the UK and worldwide. Some of these reports were positive – including community support – but some were not. These include xenophobia, avoidance and other responses which could lead to problems for the individual as well as the community, such as economic hardship, or delays in seeking help for medical symptoms.
Heat stress and women’s health over the reproductive life course
Bringing together researchers from multiple disciplines to find out the effects of rising heat stress on women’s health.
Novel antibiotics may emerge from deep sea sponges
Antibiotic resistance is an enormous and encroaching threat facing medicine, as growing numbers of infections become harder to treat. The World Health Organization estimates that antibiotic resistant strains of presently treatable bacteria will contribute to up to 10 million deaths per year by 2050. The medical and political establishments are considering new ways to tackle the issue.
Empowering youth through creativity - gaining perspective
Adolescence comes with a raft of fundamental changes - both in how young people perceive themselves and society, and how society perceives them. It’s also a time when health-risk choices can start – smoking, alcohol use, risky sexual behaviours and physical inactivity, for example – and it’s easy for these to become habitual. This makes adolescent health and policy an important area of research.
Strep A, infection and pandemic shifts - flexible research
Streptococcus pyogenes (also known as the Group A Streptococcus (GAS) or ‘Strep A’) is a bacterial pathogen which can cause a range of diseases from mild (e.g. impetigo, pharyngitis) to severe invasive (e.g. pneumonia, necrotizing fasciitis, sepsis) and severe post infection immune-related conditions (e.g. rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease). GAS is estimated to cause over 0.5 million deaths annually, and is one of the top 10 infectious causes of death globally.
Arts and Sciences - researching the history of antibiotics in primary care
The prevalence of antibiotic use in modern society is well established. Antibiotics have revolutionised medicine and how society sees - and deals with - disease. Along with concerns regarding the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, thought to be exacerbated by their over-use in many areas, there is a need to understand the history of their adoption and use, especially in primary care. Comprehending the many-tendrilled circumstances and behaviours that led to this point might help to inform future choices, and give some insight into future best practice.
COVID-19 and the impact on prisoners
During the uncertainty of COVID lockdowns initiated in 2020 and 2021, few, perhaps, considered the impact of the pandemic on those who were already deprived of their liberty - a population for whom lockdown would come at a substantial cost.
Involving the public with health research: in conversation with epidemiologists
Find out how seed funding enabled three researchers to develop their projects by including the ideas and experience of patients and the public.
Eating disorder symptoms, self-harming behaviours and COVID-19 - navigating the storms
It seems, perhaps, pretty obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the mental health of many people in the UK population - some of these impacts are likely to be transient, and some will have health implications for some time to come. Of particular concern are young people with a previous history of eating disorder symptoms and self-harm; they are at an increased risk of mental health problems even without the spectre of a global pandemic. Eating disorders and self-harm are linked to early mortality and reduced quality of life; there’s also an increased likelihood of developing depression and anxiety.
Understanding autism support and its impact
The University of Bristol is increasingly interested in supporting autistic and neurodiverse people, and as part of this there is a growing programme of research into the experiences of these members of our community. Bristol researchers, Felicity Sedgewick and Laura Hull, explain the latest studies in this area.
Cognition and anxiety in the pandemic – the impacts on young people
University of Bristol researchers have been working to determine the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people and the relationship between anxiety and cognitive function. Understanding this will help to inform a joined-up approach to develop targeted interventions for vulnerable young people in both clinical and educational settings.
COVID, schooling and mental health
The extraordinary responses to the outbreak of COVID-19 profoundly affected great swathes of society. From the colossal burdens put onto the healthcare system, the damage done to the economy and to the everyday lives of everyone in the country, the impact to every stratum and community has been unprecedented.
Antimicrobial Resistance - averting the next crisis
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the increasing resistance of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites to the antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, typically used to treat them. It has a variety of causes; excessive use of antimicrobials, or over-reliance on a few specific types, has enabled microbes to evolve ways to circumvent their mechanisms of action. It is currently seen as a leading cause of death worldwide, with a daily mortality rate in excess of 3,500 people. As a result, more than 1.2 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of antibiotic-resistant infections - and as global healthcare systems are being threatened, the rate is growing.
Global Public Health – realising the potential of a global collaborative network
The Global Public Health strand of the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute multidisciplinary research initiative was established specifically in response to the challenges of understanding and managing health problems in a globally connected world. The ease of cross-border and cross-continental movement of people and commodities means that infectious diseases can quickly establish themselves in regions far from their point of origin, with enormous effects on populations worldwide. Here we explain the potential for a global collaborative network.
Opening the door to arts-and-science collaborations
Our Medical Humanities research strand developed arts and humanities research by opening the door to arts-and-science collaborations. As the work of this strand comes to a close we look at at how it created and supported new arts-science collaborations by connecting researchers from all faculties together with clinicians and external partners.
Bioethics, Biolaw and Biosociety - making an impact through interdisciplinary research
The Biolaw, Bioethics and Biosociety strand - or B3 - dealt with the ethical, legal and social issues impacting the biological sciences, health, medicine and social care. Although there had already been collaborative research in these fields, this research strand was established to augment cross-collaborative initiatives that were, in some cases, already underway - as well as identifying and nurturing new research avenues. Professor Ailsa Cameron of the School for Policy Studies is one of the co-leads of the strand, along with Professor Richard Huxtable of the Bristol Medical School and Dr Sheelagh McGuinness of the University of Bristol Law School.
Health Data Science - an integrative research strand
There is a recognised need throughout the University of Bristol - and beyond - to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in the health or biomedical arenas. To cater to this, the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute initiated a series of interdisciplinary research strands, designed to facilitate a range of health research activities throughout the University, with funding from the Wellcome Trust. Here we highlight impacts from our Health Data Science strand.
Breaking down, dropping out: supporting mental health and academic achievement among autistic students
Researchers at the University of Bristol have been working to understand the issues faced by autistic people in the university setting.
Online support in crisis - reviewing mental health support services for young people
A team of researchers at the University of Bristol is investigating ways to improve mental health services for students and young people in the UK.
Impact of race and racism within the NHS through literature
A new study assesses the impact of race and racism within the NHS through literature. This interdisciplinary research from the University of Bristol will also address the impact of culture and society on the health of black populations.
AboutFace - How an app could revolutionise emotion recognition training in autism
A Bristol University team is developing a new app-based emotion recognition training app for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Finding more pieces for the Nephrotic Syndrome puzzle
Research at the University of Bristol is leading the way towards new understanding of a difficult-to-treat kidney disorder in children. Dr Anna Mason is studying the genetic basis of paediatric Steroid Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome.
Patient Oriented Discharge Summary (PODS) could promote selfcare in older patients
Hospital discharge forms are written with care professionals in mind. While this is understandable, it can leave the patients themselves confused about the treatments they have received, and what the next steps are. The patients may be unaware of what conditions they have, the results of investigations and the medication required following hospital discharge. They also need to know what they can do to help themselves and where to go to receive ongoing help.
Could yoghurt bacteria hold a key to treating bowel disease?
Researchers from the University of Bristol are investigating a novel treatment for long-term bowel disease which holds great promise.
Disease modelling in 3D – developing new cellular tools for drug discovery
A team of researchers at the University of Bristol is developing a new 3D model of kidney disease which should make the development of new treatments much more efficient.
How fibromyalgia might change the way pain is perceived
A team of researchers at the University of Bristol is investigating the differences in how fibromyalgia sufferers experience pain.
How your internal microbes can keep you healthy
There is a vast community of bacteria, viruses and fungi living on your body right now; collectively they are known as the human microbiome; they have hugely greater complexity than the human genome itself. The microbiome, which mostly lives in the gut, plays an important role in immunity, defense against pathogens, increasing availably of nutrients to the host (that’s you and me), and even influencing health and behaviour. Although how the microbiome affects our health and behaviour (or vice versa) is not particularly well understood.
Screen time and anxiety in adolescence
Modern teenagers spend vastly more time in front of screens than their forebears ever did - and there is also an increase in reports of anxiety disorders amongst the age same group. It seems, obvious, therefore, that the one must directly influence the other. But is that so?
Fires and photospheres – a digital intervention to identify injury hazards in the home
A team of researchers at Bristol University and the University of the West of England has developed an Augmented Reality app which could help with injury prevention in the home.
Probing new treatments for post-operative kidney problems
Kidney transplants - especially in children are always fraught with risk. In up to 10% of cases, transplants into young children fail because of graft thrombosis - an issue with the blood supply to the new kidney. At present, the only way doctors know that this is happening is because the patient’s condition starts to deteriorate - and at this point, successful intervention and treatment is unlikely. What is needed is a minimally invasive probe, which would be able to monitor the perfusion of the kidney in real time.
Emergency anaesthesia under the spotlight
Emergency surgery is a procedure beset with risks; many of these concern the use of anaesthetics. Dr Lucy Elliott, a medic with the North Bristol NHS Trust, is using the Clinical Primer Scheme from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute to find ways to minimise the dangers.
Bridging Fund helped to secure £1 million award
A Research Fellow at the Centre for Academic Child Health at the University of Bristol’s Medical School used a Bridging Fund from Elizabeth Blackwell Institute to help secure a five-year MRC Career Development Award worth over £1 million.
A single gene with large implications for rare blood disease
A researcher at the University of Bristol has used next-generation sequencing technologies to identify a completely new way that faults in a gene result in a rare blood disorder, thanks to funding from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute.
Could robotic implants treat Stress Induced Incontinence?
Stress urinary incontinence is a distressing problem which is common for women following pregnancy, childbirth or the menopause. It affects at least 200 million women worldwide, although it’s rarer in men. Researchers at the University of Bristol are investigating whether it might be possible to implant a soft robotic device to more successfully control urine flow.
Heart insight - glaucoma drug’s potential for cardiac treatment
Every three minutes, someone in the UK suffers a heart attack. Although 100,000 people die from coronary heart disease, ten times more people suffer a non-fatal attack. Researchers at the University of Bristol have uncovered a new use for acetazolamide, a drug previously used to treat glaucoma, as a treatment for heart attack patients.
Strokes and the ageing brain
With advancements in medicine, the world’s population is living longer, and age-related diseases are becoming more and more prevalent; the diagnostic technologies we have need to keep pace with our changing requirements. A University of Bristol researcher developed new approaches with MRI and disease modelling to further understand the ageing process, and how it can relate to disease states.
Can xenon help protect against neonatal brain damage?
Hypoxic-ischæmic encephalopathy (HIE) is brain damage caused by limited blood flow - and thus oxygen deprivation - in newborn babies, at or around the time of birth. A team at the University of Bristol is working towards new treatments for babies with birth-caused brain damage.
Clinicians and researchers come together to develop new test for blood disorder
Researchers at the University of Bristol are working on a new test to help treat a debilitating blood disorder, immune thrombocytopenia. Dr Charlotte Bradbury, consultant senior lecturer in the department of Haematology at the University of Bristol, submitted a challenge to researchers via the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Research for Health scheme, which aims to pair up scientists and clinicians with an unmet need.
Research leads to practical support for young people with continence problems
Bladder and bowel problems are very common and can be affected by psychological issues and stressful life events in a child’s life. There is also strong evidence that bladder and bowel problems affect the mental health of children, young people and their parents.
What does kainate do in the brain and how does it do it?
A researcher at the University of Bristol has started to unravel the mysteries of a secretive receptor that modulates how and when nerve cells fire, what this means for brain function and dysfunction, and to garner substantial further funding to continue her work.
Backache - how to identify a broken back
Osteoporosis, or bone weakening, is a debilitating disease which becomes more common with age and affects roughly four times more women than men. A team from the University of Bristol led by Dr Emma Clark is developing a new screening tool for clinicians to determine when descriptions of back pain in older women should be referred for X-ray in case of vertebral fractures.
Treating ataxia with bone marrow stem cell therapies
A team at the Bristol Medical School is using stem cell technology to help treat people with one of the most common inherited neurological disorders, Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA).
Supercharging Immunity - how to make the immune system better at recognising cancer
A team at University of Bristol, led by Professor Linda Wooldridge, is engineering a type of immune cell that might be able to better target cancer cells. This could potentially lead to new therapies which could help the immune system combat cancer with fewer difficult interventions.
A cure for blindness: treating glaucoma with genes
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide; it affects roughly 2% of all people over 40. Researchers at the University of Bristol are pioneering a new way of treating glaucoma using gene therapy.
Why do more people who inject drugs get MRSA infections, and how can we help?
In Bristol, a small - but significant - number of people who inject drugs (PWID) contribute to increase in hospital admissions in Bristol with community acquired MRSA. Why this might be, and how the number of cases can be reduced, are questions that GP Dr Kate Rush posed to University of Bristol researchers Professor Matt Hickman and Dr Maya Gobin (Public Health England) and collaborators from Bristol Drug Project.
Putting mathematics into intensive care
Mathematicians and data scientists from Bristol University are collaborating with clinicians and healthcare professionals in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) to turn the full force of machine learning onto the problems of patient management.
Nosing out new treatments for spinal cord injury
The treatment of spinal cord injury has seen some striking successes in recent years, although there are still a great many hurdles to be overcome. When the cord is injured, a variety of factors come into play which actively suppress new nerve growth. Zoe Cortes, a veterinary surgeon from the University of Bristol, has been investigating how cells from noses might help.
Bionic control of blood pressure
It is no over-exaggeration to say that high blood pressure is a pandemic. An estimated one billion people currently suffer with elevated blood pressure, and that total is expected to rise to 1.4 billion inside the next ten years. However, for many people the drug treatments have severe side effects, which makes taking them long-term unattractive - indeed, over 40% of patients do not have their high blood pressure adequately controlled despite being prescribed blood pressure tablets. Professor Julian Paton and his team, aim to change that.
Concept to reality – time to change the catheter
A Foley catheter is the most common type of indwelling urinary catheter, which are used when a patient is unable to urinate for themselves. Despite having been developed nearly 90 years ago, 100 million people worldwide are reliant on them. But the Foley catheter, as would perhaps be expected in a design from the 1930s, has a variety of problems resulting in infection, blockage, pain and distress for patients.
A salve for infant mortality? New cream may help reduce newborn deaths
Infant mortality is still a pressing problem. Every year, 3 million newborn babies die, mostly in the developing world, and infection of the umbilical cord stump is a major contributor to those deaths. There is a common antiseptic which can help, but it needs to be administered daily; in the developing world it often isn’t. Researchers at the University of Bristol are developing a novel form of antiseptic which has the potential to save a great many newborn lives.
Rodent touchscreens and the quest for better models for depression
Depression is a mood disorder which, according to the American Psychiatric Association, will affect 1 in every 6 people during the course of their lives. Antidepressant drugs are a common medical treatment, but since their accidental discovery over 50 years ago, few significant advances have been made - not least because of the lack of effective animal models.
Fast identification and screening of osteoporosis genes could lead to novel treatments
Osteoporosis is a bone-weakening disease that creeps up unawares. The first sign is often a broken bone and is therefore often diagnosed in the hospital after presenting with a (serious) fracture. Most of currently available therapies can only prevent bones weakening, but do not strengthen them. Osteoporosis is largely genetically determined, so discovering new bone strengthening genes could lead to novel and better treatments.
Friends and relatives of survivors of domestic violence - what support do they need?
One in four UK women experience domestic violence at some time in their lives, and most seek informal support from the people around them, even if they don’t choose to access professional help. But what are the support needs of friends and family members trying to help?
New findings may have implications for fertility treatment
If a cell has an abnormal number of chromosomes (for example, 47 or 45 instead of the usual 46 in a human cell) it has what is called aneuploidy, which is a leading cause of human embryo deaths, miscarriages and infertility. Dr Binyam Mogessie’s work investigates the mechanisms which separate the chromosomes in mammalian eggs and embryos, and how these are disrupted in disease.
Uncovering mechanisms behind long-term heart problems
Heart attacks kill over 7 million people every year, and those who survive often go on to suffer from long term heart problems caused by the initial damage, and the heart muscle’s responses to it. Similar issues are also found in patients with high blood pressure. Dr Georgia Connolly has uncovered some of the molecular pathways that might be behind these long-term problems; it’s hoped that her findings might be extended to lead to new treatments.
How GPs can use safety nets to navigate the tightrope walk of patient advice
‘Safety-netting advice’ is information given by a healthcare professional to a patient or their carer designed to help them know when they need to seek further medical help. This might be because their symptoms are not getting better, they are getting worse or they have further concerns or worries about their health. It can occur in a variety of contexts and in a variety of ways, but oversight into how and when this type of advice is given to patients in routine practice is limited.
New chain in the membrane: combating antibiotic resistance
Increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an issue which has alarming consequences, and there is a real need for a solution. Dr Sara Alvira-de-Celis’ work towards understanding how proteins are expressed at the membrane surface of bacteria may be critical in research to make new antibiotics which work in novel ways.
Postnatal depression and fatherhood – what is the fathers’ role?
Fathers may play a key role in supporting mothers and children in families affected by post-natal depression, preliminary data suggests. But what is the nature of father involvement and is it important for children in families where mothers suffer from postnatal depression?
Potential new treatment options for infant brain injury
Dr Robert Spuall investigates whether the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from premature babies might yield clues for brain injury treatment, by looking at how the CSF might change the way that cells in the infant brain develop.
Action plan for childhood eczema puts children first
Parents of children with eczema know that it can be extremely challenging keeping on top of medications. Effective management often requires a combination of topical medications, and it can be frustrating for parents trying to liaise with GPs to manage their child's’ symptoms. Dr Emma Le Roux worked with Action Plans for Children with Eczema (APACHE) to develop a written plan for childhood eczema that puts children first.
What mothers eat might change their children’s metabolic regulation
The effect of diet is of obvious importance throughout life; a well-balanced diet can help mitigate against a wide range of potential issues. What’s less well understood, however, is how changes in the diet of mothers during pregnancy can change how their offspring metabolise nutrients and whether it renders them more prone to obesity. Dr Sophie Walker used an award from Elizabeth Blackwell Institute to study epigenetic changes in mice.
Biomarker tool aims to enhance cancer immunotherapy targeting
New immunotherapies which help the immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells are promising, but some patients don’t respond to the new treatments. With the help of an Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Clinical Primer Scheme award, Emily Milodowski has been developing a new tool as a step towards being able to identify people who can be helped by these new therapies.
Why do some wounds fail to heal?
Non-healing wounds such as pressure sores and diabetic ulcers are a growing health problem, and we still don’t know enough about how and why wound repair can fail. Thanks to an EBI Early Career Fellowship award, pharmacologist Dr Jenna Cash has set up her own lab to examine wound repair more closely and inform novel therapies for chronic wounds.
Prehabilitation: boosting patients’ powers of recovery before surgery
Improving patients’ health and fitness before a major operation can reduce the risk of complications and help recovery. Yet its potential has not been sufficiently explored. Researchers at Bristol aim to improve surgical outcomes in cancer patients by boosting health in the vital weeks before surgery.
Observing the battle of the stem cells
Stem cells must compete with one another to remain among a smaller number of pluripotent, self-renewing cells rather than transform into a specialised cell. But how does this process play out, and with what effects? Dr Marc Amoyel, a developmental biologist, received an EBI Early Career Fellowship award to examine stem cell competition in the fruit fly, Drosophila.
Improving outcomes following surgery for breast cancer
Clinical scientist Dr Shelley Potter is passionate about improving the lives of women with breast cancer. A key focus of her research is women undergoing breast reconstruction following a mastectomy, since there is a lack of reliable evidence to inform women’s choice of reconstruction surgery. An award from the EBI Bridging Fund provided her with the opportunity to pursue this work while completing her specialist surgical training.
Shooting from the hip: tracing the genetics of osteoarthritis
You’re more likely to get osteoarthritis of the hip if your parents have had it, and certain hip shapes can increase the risk. So could changes in hip shape associated with hip osteoarthritis be inherited?
Integrating population health data for better interventions
An EBI-funded study to improve health and social outcomes for children in care could be an important first step towards developing a ‘digital population health laboratory’ to boost the health and wellbeing of people in Bristol.
Can opioids make pain worse by disturbing sleep?
One in four of us will suffer chronic pain in our lifetime. Opioids such as morphine can sometimes help. However, deaths relating to opioid use have trebled in the last 20 years. Greater understanding of the risks and benefits of opioids could result in better and safer management of chronic pain.
Novel pacemaker technology could transform treatment of heart failure
Implantable devices to restore heart rhythm (eg pacemakers) are commonly used to treat heart failure and cardiovascular diseases. Groundbreaking technology, developed by academics at Bristol and Bath and supported by the EBI, promises to revolutionise the therapeutic potential of these implants.
Brain imaging offers novel insights into appetite control
It’s one of the biggest public health problems facing society today: one in three adults and three in ten children worldwide are overweight or obese. Why do some people seem to ignore their body’s internal satiety (fullness) signals and continue eating high-calorie foods in the face of weight gain? Brain imaging could shed new light on what goes wrong.
A new avenue for synthetic bone grafts
Bone grafts are the second most commonly transplanted tissue after blood transfusions. The use of synthetic bone graft substitutes is increasing, but the challenge is to make them as ‘clever’ as their natural counterparts in stimulating fusion with the host bone. Bristol researchers believe a tiny lipid molecule could provide the answer.
Helping frail older people stay out of hospital
Our ageing population, with an associated rise in the number of people living with frailty, is increasing pressure on hospital services in a financially squeezed NHS. If support for these more vulnerable patients were given earlier, fewer might be hospitalised. However, community assessment is still relatively untried and untested.
Reducing heart risk from fluid overload in children on dialysis
Teenagers on kidney dialysis have a high a risk of heart disease – as high as people 50 years older in the general population. One major problem is that there has been no reliable method of measuring fluid overload, a condition that can cause heart damage. A novel use of ultrasound could address this, and lead to more accurate dialysis prescriptions and improvements in children’s long-term cardiovascular health.
Novel targeting of disease causing cells could transform treatment of autoimmune diseases
There is a problem with the traditional treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Steroid therapy doesn’t always work, and immunosuppressant drugs can have toxic side effects. Bristol researchers, with the help of an award from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, are working to overcome this using novel ways of targeting disease causing cells.
Bristol researchers lead the way for next generation of hip implants
Total hip replacements are one of medicine’s success stories – but they eventually wear out, and sometimes complications develop that require further surgery. Now pioneering research in biomaterials at the University of Bristol could herald a new generation of biomimetic implants that could last a lifetime of use
'Gold standard’ model for evaluating novel therapies offers hope for children with leukaemia
Leukaemia causes more deaths in childhood than any other cancer. New treatments are needed, but also more reliable tests to decide which drugs should go to clinical trial. Collaborative research at Bristol has delivered a pioneering model of childhood leukaemia that is far more accurate than standard laboratory tests in evaluating novel therapies.
Solving the mystery of deep brain stimulation in pain relief
Trainee neurosurgeon Dr Hugh Sims-Williams wanted to build a career in clinical academia, ‘to challenge current practice and break the stigma whereby neurosurgery equates to poor quality of life’. A Clinical Primer Scheme at Bristol allowed him to pursue his passion for investigative practice and research.
Preventing progression in diabetic kidney disease
Glitazones are drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes because they improve insulin resistance and reduce progression of associated kidney disease. But how do they work? The EBI’s Clinical Primer scheme for early-career clinicians has allowed a Bristol-based clinician, Dr Caroline Platt, to explore this question.
Making progress in renal research
As a Renal registrar Dr Emily Bowen manages patients with both acute and chronic kidney disease, but she felt she had more to offer the specialty than just her clinical skills. The EBI Clinical Primer Scheme gave her a chance to pursue her research interests in immunology and build a career as a clinical scientist.
Towards targeted prevention of tooth decay in young children
Despite improvements in dental health, too many children are having teeth extracted because of decay, often under general anaesthetic in hospital. This is distressing for families and expensive for the NHS, with children from disadvantaged communities most at risk. The University of Bristol is leading collaborative research that paves the way for targeted prevention by understanding local inequalities in children’s dental health.
Postgraduate fellowship provides ‘enriching interdisciplinary experience’
Offering postgraduate students a training window in another field can open up exciting new opportunities at the start of their research career. An EBI fellowship scheme lets PhD students at Bristol discipline-hop between Wellcome Trust-funded programmes to broaden their skills and experience.
The arts in healthcare: the human touch?
The creative arts have long played a role in traditional healing. In Western medicine the arts have recently also been used increasingly to ‘(re)humanise’ the healthcare experience, often in response to concerns that the process has become more ‘medicalised’. Research at Bristol, supported by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, is contributing towards a better understanding of how and why the arts have been used in modern healthcare.
Helping the body’s own defences fight cancer cells
Immunotherapy offers the big hope of teaching the body’s immune system to destroy cancer cells, but there’s a major obstacle: cancer cells can stop immune cells from recognising them as a threat.
Stemming the rising tide of waterborne infections in a changing world
Waterborne diseases pose a major health risk to livestock and people – all the more so as climate change takes hold. Health and environment researchers are working together on developing novel modelling techniques that can simulate these changes to allow better planning and prevention.
Microwave imaging offers promise for knee replacement
Knee replacement is a common procedure performed in the NHS and around the world. It generally has good outcomes. However, it can leave some patients in persistent pain. Researchers at the University of Bristol are exploring the potential of microwave imaging for assessing patients’ suitability for revision surgery.
New smart materials for wound healing
Wound infection represents a major global health challenge as chronic wounds are particularly susceptible to infection and cause clinical complications. A new technology which could increase protection against bacterial and fungal infection is being developed by researchers at the University of Bristol.
Soft robotics offers hope for patients undergoing throat surgery
Surgical removal of the voice box is a potentially life-saving treatment for laryngeal cancer. It is also a mutilating procedure, which means that patients may no longer be able to speak, swallow or cough. Engineers at the University of Bristol are using new robotics technologies to design devices that could potentially transform post-surgery treatment and recovery of such patients.
Slow eating can be good for your health
What we eat has wide-ranging impacts and long lasting effect on our health: unhealthy eating may lead to obesity diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Eating slowly is thought to reduce how much you consume overall, but how does the speed of eating affect our bodies’ responses to food? A recent research project at the University of Bristol produced some interesting evidence.
Smart stem cells home to damaged tissue
Stem cell-based therapy promises cures for a multitude of diseases and disorders including regeneration of heart tissue, but is severely limited by the ability of stem cells to identify the damaged location and remain there after administration. A new strategy is being developed at the University of Bristol to address this challenge.
Engineering the future of cancer treatment
Of the many new developments in cancer research, one of the most promising comes from nanoscience. Bioengineers are designing nanoparticles that can deliver treatments and diagnostics directly to tumours, raising the prospect of much more precise and effective interventions.
‘Nudging’ clinicians toward better decisions
Iain Gilchrist is a Professor of Neuropsychology from the School of Experimental Psychology and Director of the University’s interdisciplinary centre for research on ‘making decisions in an unstable world’. A three-month Research for Health Award from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute allowed Iain and his team to collaborate with Dr Chris Bourdeaux from University Hospitals Bristol. Together they studied the role of information flow in helping intensive care clinicians to make better decisions and achieve better outcomes for patients.
I spy with my little eye….peas, chips and pie
One of the biggest problems in nutrition research is measurement of individual food intake. A novel crowdsourcing approach developed at the University of Bristol allows crowds to identify food groups and portion sizes, from which total meal size and dietary patterns can be computed, in meal photos collected using a smartphone app.
Computational neuroscience: from theory to practice
Dr Conor Houghton is a computational neuroscientist in the Merchant Venturers School of Engineering. His work to date had focused on studying the brain in abstract, but a Senior Fellowship from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute helped him become more closely involved in experimental neuroscience.
Preventing self-harm and suicide in adolescents
Self-harm is relatively common among adolescents. It causes distress to the young people concerned, as well as to their family and friends, and is associated with poor mental health and future substance abuse. Many young people also experience suicidal thoughts.
Towards a better aerosol: targeting treatment of lung disease
Lung disease is on the rise around the world. Some 300 million people suffer from asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predicted to become the third-highest cause of death by 2020; and respiratory infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
Do eating disorders cluster in schools?
Clinicians working with young people with eating disorders have the impression that they see more students from some schools than others, and indeed the national press has reported that there is an epidemic of eating disorders in all girls’ public schools. However, there was no research investigating whether or not this is true.
Postnatal depression and effect on children’s development
Postnatal maternal depression is a well known risk factor for poor emotional outcomes in childhood and long term risk of offspring mood disorders, which pose substantial global economic and health burden. Dr Rebecca Pearson, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the risk of developmental disturbances in the offspring of mothers who are depressed during pregnancy and after birth, and to translate this into preventative interventions.
The Sleeping Newborn Brain
Newborn children spend much of their lives sleeping. It is known that the brain is actually very active while babies sleep and that this activity is important in controlling how the brain develops. The team of researchers led by Dr Mike Ashby (School of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Bristol) and including Dr Jade Thai (Clinical Research and Imaging Centre, School of Clinical Sciences), Dr Karen Luyt and Dr Adam Smith-Collins (Neonatal Neurosciences), aims to understand the link between sleep and healthy development of the newborn brain.
EBI award helps to improve understanding of back pain in women
The study led by Dr Emma Clark at the University of Bristol provides the first evidence that there is a difference in back pain between women with and without vertebral fractures. It forms a basis for understanding why only a fraction of women with vertebral fractures comes to clinical attention and provides an important next step in conducting further research in this area.
Stem cells help to repair pelvic floor injuries
Pelvic floor injury can come as an unpredicted and distressing outcome for the majority of young women affected with approximately 1% suffering anal sphincter injury as a result of child birth. Even after correct diagnosis and repair long term anal incontinence is recorded in 20-67% of women.
Sleep in your genes?
Different parts of our brain communicate with one another as we learn new information during the day. Then, while we sleep, our brain files away memories for long-term storage. Evidence suggests that this process, which varies naturally in everyone, may be disrupted in patients with mental health conditions.
EBI Clinical Primer helps to improve diagnosis of bowel cancer
Adam Chambers, a surgical trainee in the East Midlands Deanery, is used to applying research evidence in his day-to-day surgical care of patients. Adam believes that basic scientific research is the vital initial step that ultimately leads to a change in clinical practice, and that’s why he welcomed an opportunity to develop his academic interests through an EBI Clinical Primer scheme alongside continuing his surgical training.
EBI Senior Fellow brings new expertise in brain imaging to Bristol
Paul Warr, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, spent his Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Senior Fellowship working at the Martinos Centre for Biomedical Imaging alongside experts from three top USA academic institutions, Harvard, MIT and Stanford, trying to improve MRI images of the brain.
EBI award helps to improve radiation cancer treatment
Jaap Velthuis, from the School of Physics, University of Bristol, together with a team from the University of Swansea and the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, developed a novel detector system to monitor the X-ray therapy beam shape and intensity in cancer treatment.
Clinical Primer Scheme opens doors for veterinary surgeon
As a veterinary surgeon in a small animal practice, Cath Lewis was seeing cats dying from a virus for which there is currently no effective treatment and no vaccine. EBI funding scheme allowed her to take a break from practice and undertake study into genetic causes of the disease as well as inspiring her to pursue a full-time career in research.
National Compound Collection
A small idea to search and collate chemical compounds in Bristol University’s School of Chemistry could lead to creation of new medicines, materials and agrichemicals, and is now growing to become a national project. Laura Broad and Tim Gallagher explain how this project would not have happened without the support from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute.
EBI funding enables researcher to obtain prestigious fellowship
Simon Collin was recently awarded an NIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship to study chronic fatigue syndrome with a view of making treatments more effective in the long term. Here he explains how EBI funding enabled him to secure this prestigious fellowship.
SPHERE: developing technologies to help people live at home independently
We're all too familiar with the emergence in the 21st century of a complex set of health problems: an ageing population; rising obesity and diabetes; growing numbers of people living alone; shrinking healthcare budgets. But at the same time, there are striking new innovations in electronics and engineering: sophisticated sensors, wireless networks, monitoring software, videoanalytics, data mining. What if these technologies could be harnessed to address those problems?
EBI funding gives clinician first step on the academic ladder
Rebecca Carnegie’s dream to combine her practice of psychiatry with academic research came true thanks to the support from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute.
Clinical Primer Scheme enables surgeon to progress cancer research
An innovative EBI funding scheme designed to give outstanding clinicians the chance to experience a world-class research environment for the first time spurred a surgeon to pursue translation science alongside surgery. John Bunni, a recent recipient, explains how.