Award Title: NIHR Bristol BRC
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Bristol is a partnership between University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol. We will conduct innovative medical science research to improve health and healthcare, and encourage closer working with industry. We have world-leading scientists working on many aspects of health, from the role played by individual genes and proteins to analysing large collections of information on hundreds of thousands of people. We have extensive experience in taking science from the laboratory bench or computer and developing it into new drugs, treatments or health advice. This will make a real difference to patients, and attract new investment from research funders, charities and industry.     What sets BRC Bristol apart is the strand of exciting and ground-breaking population health research that runs through it. This is about examing patterns of health and illness in large groups of people and we have particular expertise in interpreting this information to learn about causes of disease. Uniquely, we can combine this work with our laboratory-based science and the knowledge of the doctors working directly with patients to identify possible treatments and find out how effective they are.     To make the most of this expertise throughout our BRC, we will have three cross-cutting themes. In Translational Population Science we will use sophisticated techniques to analyse not only the genetics of many thousands of participants in our studies, but also the microorganisms they live with, the proteins their body makes and changes to their DNA molecules that may be important in predicting disease. We will use this information to work out what factors might help prevent illness, predict how a disease might affect an individual and which treatments are most effective. Alongside this, the Biostatistics, Evidence Synthesis and Informatics theme will help our researchers use cutting edge approaches to organise and analyse different information types.     Our Research Themes cover a wide range of clinical areas:    Cardiovascular Disease: reducing complications and increasing the chance of survival for patients undergoing cardiac surgery.  Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): reducing antibiotic use, preventing the spread of infections and making vaccines more effective.  Mental Health: predicting who is most at risk of mental illness and developing novel approaches to prevention and treatment.  Musculoskeletal Disease: investigating how different treatments and lifestyle choices can improve arthritis and joint disease.  Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle: improving health by changing diet and exercise patterns.  Perinatal and Reproductive Health: making IVF more successful, predicting and preventing birth complications, and understanding how the menopause affects health.  Surgical Innovation: developing better ways to evaluate novel surgical techniques.       Our Training, PPI and PPE Theme will ensure we ask patients and the public to advise us on what research we should do, how we should do it and what we should do with the findings. We want to develop future generations of researchers so we will have an extensive training programme, aimed at equipping the very best scientists, doctors and allied health professionals to carry out cutting-edge medical research.

Lay Abstract: The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Bristol is a partnership between University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol. We will conduct innovative medical science research to improve health and healthcare, and encourage closer working with industry. We have world-leading scientists working on many aspects of health, from the role played by individual genes and proteins to analysing large collections of information on hundreds of thousands of people. We have extensive experience in taking science from the laboratory bench or computer and developing it into new drugs, treatments or health advice. This will make a real difference to patients, and attract new investment from research funders, charities and industry.     What sets BRC Bristol apart is the strand of exciting and ground-breaking population health research that runs through it. This is about examing patterns of health and illness in large groups of people and we have particular expertise in interpreting this information to learn about causes of disease. Uniquely, we can combine this work with our laboratory-based science and the knowledge of the doctors working directly with patients to identify possible treatments and find out how effective they are.     To make the most of this expertise throughout our BRC, we will have three cross-cutting themes. In Translational Population Science we will use sophisticated techniques to analyse not only the genetics of many thousands of participants in our studies, but also the microorganisms they live with, the proteins their body makes and changes to their DNA molecules that may be important in predicting disease. We will use this information to work out what factors might help prevent illness, predict how a disease might affect an individual and which treatments are most effective. Alongside this, the Biostatistics, Evidence Synthesis and Informatics theme will help our researchers use cutting edge approaches to organise and analyse different information types.     Our Research Themes cover a wide range of clinical areas:    Cardiovascular Disease: reducing complications and increasing the chance of survival for patients undergoing cardiac surgery.  Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): reducing antibiotic use, preventing the spread of infections and making vaccines more effective.  Mental Health: predicting who is most at risk of mental illness and developing novel approaches to prevention and treatment.  Musculoskeletal Disease: investigating how different treatments and lifestyle choices can improve arthritis and joint disease.  Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle: improving health by changing diet and exercise patterns.  Perinatal and Reproductive Health: making IVF more successful, predicting and preventing birth complications, and understanding how the menopause affects health.  Surgical Innovation: developing better ways to evaluate novel surgical techniques.       Our Training, PPI and PPE Theme will ensure we ask patients and the public to advise us on what research we should do, how we should do it and what we should do with the findings. We want to develop future generations of researchers so we will have an extensive training programme, aimed at equipping the very best scientists, doctors and allied health professionals to carry out cutting-edge medical research.

Research Activity Codes: 4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION);5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT);6.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT EVALUATION)
Health Categories: CARDIOVASCULAR