Faculty of Health Sciences

• Promoting culturally sensitive services to support Somali families affected by autism
  Dr Fiona Fox, Therapeutic Media, and Autism Independence together won ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding to produce a film that supports both the needs of the families and the practitioners trying to help them.
• Improving veterinary prospects with a global approach to professional development
  Hundreds of trainees and practicing vets are benefiting from initiatives undertaken by Bristol Vet School’s clinical skills team, including workshops delivered around the world, innovative approaches to developing animal models and open access knowledge systems.
• Driving responsible use of antimicrobials
  Researchers, practitioners and industry bodies across the food chain successfully combined forces for policy and practitioner changes in antimicrobial use on farms and in veterinary practices.
• Investigating the relationship between braces and gum disease
  Using molecular technologies to monitor plaque, researchers found no predisposition for children wearing braces to gum disease - as long as they follow brushing instructions carefully.
• Influencing cancer drug development programmes
  Collaboration between researchers and the pharmaceutical industry has led to major investment in cancer drug discovery programmes that target inhibitors in transporter proteins.
• Improving livestock health through targeted parasite management
  Research into roundworms that cause disease in livestock has improved the targeted control of these parasites, resulting in healthier animals and economic benefits for farmers.
• Raising welfare standards improves meat quality in poultry
  Research into water bath and gas stunning techniques raises welfare standards and improves meat quality in commercial poultry slaughterhouses.
• Transforming cardiac surgery with pioneering techniques
  ‘Beating-heart’ surgery is used in over 20% of cardiac operations worldwide, improving survival and recovery rates for patients and reducing surgery costs by up to 25%.
• Phasing out all-metal hip replacements
  Research revealing the relatively high failure rates of metal-on-metal implants in hip replacement surgery has led to a dramatic decline in their use.
• IRIS training helps victims of domestic abuse
  Training and support programme IRIS enables GPs to identify patients affected by domestic violence and abuse and refer them to specialist services, benefiting the patient and saving NHS resources.
• Shaping suicide prevention initiatives
  Research has helped shape local, national and global suicide prevention initiatives, leading to subsequent reductions in suicide rates.
• Mixed treatment comparisons inform clinical guidelines
  A new technique for comparing healthcare treatment options is helping policy makers in the UK, Canada, Germany, and South Korea.
• Changing policy on second eye cataract surgery
  Research into good practice have reduced waiting times for second eye cataract surgery, meaning UK patients get the benefits of surgery sooner.
• Improving life expectancy for HIV positive people
  Research showed that antiretroviral treatment dramatically increases life expectancy and should be started as early as possible, leading to a major change of approach by policy makers, clinicians and insurers across the world.
• Improving accuracy of diagnosis for childhood leukaemia
  New cell analysis procedures have led to improved diagnostic techniques and national standards for cell processing.
• Predicting IVF success with greater accuracy
  A free, easy-to-use online calculator is the most accurate tool for predicting live birth outcomes for couples considering IVF treatment.
• Understanding the brain's role in obesity
  Using neuroimaging techniques to measure biological responses to food consumption helps researchers work towards finding an effective solution to obesity.
• Understanding chronic fatigue syndrome
  Using a state-of-the-art MRI scanner helps researchers understand the cognitive impairment which is often associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.
• Molecular research improves worldwide feline health
  Tests used to detect a range of infectious and genetic diseases in cats have informed diagnosis, treatment and breeding programmes.
• Improving dairy cow welfare and farm profitability
  Dairy cows and the dairy farming industry in the UK and overseas are benefiting from strategic animal-husbandry changes and lameness-control programmes.
• Search for new cancer biomarker propelled by detailed exploration of cell structures
  Advances in science, diagnosis and treatment mean that more people than ever before are surviving cancer. But with an increase in survival rates comes an increase in the possibility that for some people, cancer will recur later in life. This presents a continuing challenge for cancer research – biomedical scientists at Bristol University are finding new ways to find a solution.
• Cretaceous Sediment Investigations (CSI) of the Deep Biosphere
  Buried deep within the sediments at the bottom of the ocean – up to a kilometer below the seafloor – there are organisms that we know little more about than had we discovered them on Mars. But thanks to Bristol researchers, we are learning more each day.
• Dental braces and periodontal disease
  There's no predisposition for children wearing braces to periodontal disease - as long as they follow the orthodontists’ brushing instructions carefully.