Research Animations | Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences

We have developed several animations to help us with our research, take a look at some examples below

Surrogate Outcomes: updated CONSORT and SPIRIT guidelines to help researchers measure and report surrogate markers in trials.

DITTO FrameworkThis video outlines a framework that can be used to optimize the design and delivery of invasive placebo interventions in trials.

Community Engagement Community engagement in clinical trials, explained by the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) in collaboration with the Bristol Centre for Surgical Research and Mr Abraham Mamela.

Basket Trial Design Basket trial methodology explained by the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) in collaboration with the Bristol Centre for Surgical Research and Professor James Wason.

Primary outcomes, explained by the NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) in collaboration with the Bristol Centre for Surgical Research.

Making Sense of Consensus Meetings. These meetings bring together different people, such as healthcare professionals, academics and patients, to discuss and agree on a topic of mutual interest. They make research outputs more robust because they incorporate and reflect a wide range of opinions. The aim is to find common ground on which all participants agree.

The Sunflower study is a UK-wide RCT looking to determine whether testing for common bile duct (CBD) stones before gallbladder surgery is effective or not in patients at low or moderate risk of CBD stones. This is an informative study animation for participating clinicians and healthcare professionals.

Definition of an invasive procedure: There is currently no widely accepted definition of an invasive procedure and the terms ‘surgery’ and ‘interventional procedure’ are characterised inconsistently. Our animation describes work we have done to propose a comprehensive definition for invasive procedures which addresses the limitations of those currently available.

Optimising blinding or masking of participants in a surgical trial: Blinding of study participants and personnel involved in a surgical RCT is often perceived to be challenging. Our informative video showcases a real-life example of how it is possible to blind study participants in a multicentre RCT of minimally invasive or open surgery for oesophageal cancer.

Core Outcome Set for Burns Care Research (COSB): Decision-making for burns care can be challenging. Watch our animation to discover how an agreed set of the most important outcomes to measure and report in randomised controlled trials in burn care will facilitate effective evidence synthesis to support clinical decision-making.

A short 'how to' animation describing study design, management and engaging surgical trainees in trials. Created by 'Jammond Makes'.

Surrogate outcomes can include things like survival, improvements in quality of life, or relief of symptoms. Researchers may use surrogate markers because they may allow new drugs to be approved more quickly to treat serious or life-threatening diseases. This project was aimed at developing updated CONSORT and SPIRIT guidelines to help researchers measure and report surrogate markers in trials. The work was led by: • Rod Taylor, Professor Population Health Research (MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit) at the University of Glasgow & Ms Oriana Ciani, Associate Professor of Health Economics, Bocconi University

Placebo-controlled trials play an important role in the evaluation of healthcare interventions. However, they can be challenging to design and deliver for invasive interventions, including surgery. In-depth understanding of the component parts of the treatment intervention is needed to ascertain what should, and should not, be delivered as part of the placebo. To date, no guidance exists for the design of invasive placebo interventions. This study aimed to develop a framework to optimize the design and delivery of invasive placebo interventions in trials.

Patient and public participation, also known as community engagement in research, is vital. It encourages members of the public to share their feelings and opinions about the issue being studied. Ultimately it allows those most affected by the health challenge being investigated to be involved in finding solutions.

This animation was created in collaboration with the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP).

Within clinical trials, some new treatments may work across different diseases, because those diseases sometimes share similar problems. Normally, two separate trials would be needed to test a new drug in these different conditions. However a ‘basket trial’ allows patients with multiple conditions to be studied in one trial.

This Podcast was created in collaboration with the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP).

Primary Outcomes

This video was created through collaboration between the NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) and Bristol Centre for Surgical Research. It aims to provide a plain language explanation of what a primary outcome is in the context of a randomised controlled trial (RCT). The video is intended for a wide range of audiences, including patients, the public, and academic clinicians who wish to understand more about trial methods.

Researchers and medical professionals may not have first-hand experience of an illness, disease or service that they wish to research. Therefore public involvement representatives can provide invaluable insights into what it is like to live with a particular illness, and what it is like to be the recipient of a treatment or health service. Such insights can help to ensure our research is relevant to the needs of patients, carers and service recipients.

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The Sunflower Study is a randomised controlled trial to establish the cost effectiveness of expectant management versus pre-operative imaging with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in patients with symptomatic gallstones undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy at low or moderate risk of common bile duct stones.

Visit the Sunflower study website

Worldwide there are at least 230 million invasive procedures performed annually and most of us will undergo several in our lifetime. There is therefore a need for high-quality evidence to underpin this clinical area. Currently, however, there is no widely accepted definition of an invasive procedure and the terms ‘surgery’ and ‘interventional procedure’ are characterised inconsistently. We propose a definition for invasive procedures which addresses the limitations of those currently available.

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The feasibility of a randomized controlled trial of esophagectomy for esophageal cancer - the ROMIO (Randomized Oesophagectomy: Minimally Invasive or Open) study: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

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Comparing open and minimally invasive surgical procedures for oesphagectomy in the treatment of cancer: the ROMIO (Randomized Oesophagectomy: Minimally Invasive or Open) feasibility study and pilot trial.

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Agreement on what to measure in randomised controlled trials in burn care: study protocol for the development of a core outcome set.

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