NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Integrated compound semiconductor labonchip optical biosensor enabling infectious disease diagnostics at the pointofcare
Funder: Welsh Government Office for Science

Abstract: The diagnosis of infectious diseases currently relies on a variety of laboratory-based tests, e.g. culture, immunoassays and microscopy, which have various limitations. The common shortcoming is that those approaches require the transport of biological samples to be analysed from the point-of-care to a laboratory equipped with expensive instrumentation where experienced personnel perform costly and time-consuming tests. For many infectious diseases, a timely diagnosis at the point-of-care level resulting in a rapid initiation of the treatment can be critical. This project is an ambitious research programme aimed at the development of a novel optical biosensor device, which surpasses current technologies. The biosensor will combine multiplex capabilities, detecting hundreds of biomarkers at once, with quantitative real-time detection, miniaturisation, low-cost and user-friendliness, while exhibiting high sensitivity and specificity, representing a ‘game-changer’ in the biosensors market. The device design is based on a novel lab-on-a-chip approach, where the optical excitation, sensing elements, and detectors are fabricated on the same semiconductor chip. The building blocks of the sensor are photonic crystals, i.e. optical devices where periodic structures of dielectric materials are engineered to tailor the interaction with light, to create unique optical properties.


Research activity codes: 4.1 DISCOVERY AND PRECLINICAL TESTING OF MARKERS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: AMS Professorship award for Professor Petter Brodin, Imperial College London
Funder: The Academy of Medical Sciences

Abstract: In the past 5 years, my multidisciplinary team of experimental and computational immunologists have been able to develop novel methods for decoding human immune systems using systems biology. At Imperial College London we want to take these methods further and apply them to unique samples from children with a variety of immune mediated disorders and spanning the diverse populations of west London. If supported by this fellowship I will be able to establish a systems immunology research program at Imperial college that could transform the way, we as clinicians can interpret and predict immune responses in human patients. We believe that this fellowship together with the strong support for my research provided by Imperial College hold tremendous potential for enhancing not only my own research program but also enhance the work of other researchers and clinical scholars at Imperial College and the Imperial NHS trust. If awarded this fellowship, our team would be able to recruit a senior level postdoc and one technician to work on our proposed project to decode the regulatory logic of the human immune system. This project involves advanced single-cell methods such as multiomics profiling of individual blood cells after in vitro stimulation and modulation of immune cell composition to investigate the relationship between cell composition and functional competence of individual immune cells. With such data we then want to model cell-cell communication and regulation, to be able to predict future responses in human patients. The project is complex and requires both a skilled technician for generation of data and a senior computational biologist for data analysis and modelling. To enable this project the AMS fellowship would be transformative as no other funding currently has been awarded to enable these research positions and the associated reagent costs to be covered. We firmly believe that generating mechanistic data on cell-cell communication and regulatory logic will be of outmost importance in the future as we aim to translate human systems immunology research into novel diagnostic methods and better understanding of human diseases. For the development of my own career an AMS professorship would be tremendously important and would allow me to join a unique network of professors, fellows, and honorary fellows to get inspired and learn from and possibly also establish novel collaborations with. I hope to learn more about how to successfully lead research teams and research programs. I hope to learn more about policies and infrastructure related to research in the UK and better my chances of being successful in my own research programs at Imperial College London. I hope all of this will be made possible if I was awarded this prestigious AMS professorship.


Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS;2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Designing and Customizing Alternative Antimicrobial Therapeutics to Combat Microbial Resistance in Regenerative Endodontic Applications
Funder: The Academy of Medical Sciences

Abstract: Background: Regenerative dentistry has witnessed a major evolution over the past few years particularly in the field of regenerative endodontics which has consistently been at the forefront of clinically applied regenerative approaches. Regenerative endodontics has been among the few dental disciplines that found their way into daily clinical practice. While the regeneration of vital tissues following regenerative endodontic applications has been demonstrated time and time again, the predictability and nature of these tissues is still of question. Residual infection and presence of microorganisms that are resistant to antibiotics are additional challenges. Antimicrobial strategies employed must strive not only to be effective but to have minimal cytotoxicity on resident stem cells while ascertaining maximum growth factor release. At the same time, these therapeutics must be able to effectively eradicate diverse populations of bacteria that are able to persist and interfere with new tissue regeneration. With the growing global challenge of antimicrobial resistance, this made the investigation of alternative antimicrobials that can address endodontic regeneration challenges without contributing to the global burden of antimicrobial resistance of paramount importance.. Therefore, the purpose of the visit: is to be exposed to the vast knowledge and expertise of the visiting institution in dental and bone regeneration as well as exchange knowledge regarding the endodontics undergraduate teaching program at Leeds University. Furthermore, discussions on the logistics for applying for collaborative future funding will be undertaken. The research component of the visit will be to experience the areas of expertise of the visiting department including technological advances in cell culture and molecular biology methods, novel antimicrobial regenerative materials and microbiology methods. The other aim of the visit is to establish a collaborative relationship building on the aforementioned strengths of the visiting department and the strengths of the visiting fellow (development of pre-clinical endodontic regeneration models), to investigate alternative antimicrobial strategies in regenerative endodontics. . Additionally, this visit will aim to plan for a future co-funding grant application, and other reciprocal visits of the collaborating host to create a collaborative channel to encourage student and staff exchange between the two institutions.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS;2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Investigating the impact of Coxiella burnetii infection on dairy cattle in Scotland.
Funder: The Academy of Medical Sciences

Abstract: Coxiella burnetii is a zoonotic bacterial pathogen that causes Q fever, a febrile illness in people, and reproductive disease in livestock. To date, C. burnetii has not received much attention in the UK dairy sector but recent legislative changes requiring national reporting of C. burnetii infections in livestock combined with evidence of widespread infection in dairy cattle has raised important questions about the impact of this infection on animal health and productivity. This research project aims to address the question: what is the relationship between C. burnetii infection and reproductive disease in dairy cattle in Scotland? Building on recent studies in the UK, I will conduct a pilot study with two dairy farms with evidence of C. burnetii infection in their herds. The prevalence and incidence of C. burnetii infection and bacterial shedding amongst cattle will be estimated using samples collected at post-partum health checks. The prevalence and incidence of reproductive disease will be estimated using herd health records. Finally, logistic regression analysis will be performed to investigate the relationship between C. burnetii status and reproductive disease in these cattle. The outputs of this project have the potential to lead to larger scale studies of C. burnetii impacts across the UK and to inform the development of UK animal and public health policy for this poorly understood but important zoonotic pathogen.

Lay abstract: Coxiella burnetii is a bacteria that can cause illness in people as well as reproductive disease such as pregnancy loss and uterine infections in livestock. In the UK, the infection is poorly understood but recent studies demonstrated that this infection is, in fact, widespread in UK dairy herds. This knowledge gap is of national economic importance. New legislation requires the UK government to collect data on this infection in animals to continue trading with the UK but veterinarians and farmers lack evidence to understand the impact of this infection on animal health and to develop appropriate control strategies to reduce potential production losses. This project aims to investigate the relationship between Coxiella infection and cattle reproductive disease in Scotland. Health checks and bacterial testing will be performed on cattle in two dairy farms where Coxiella infection has previously been detected. The relationship between infection and key reproductive disease including pregnancy losses and uterine infections will be investigated to test the theory that Coxiella infection is a contributing cause of these diseases in cattle. The new data generated by this project will be useful for farmers and vets to decide on treatment and prevention options on farms as well as for the UK farming industry as a whole, to understand an infection that may threaten our trading relationships with global partners.

Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS;2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Phenotypic resistance induced by sequential antibiotic exposure in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Funder: The Academy of Medical Sciences

Abstract: We propose to study how sequentially-administered antibiotics affect the frequency of phenotypic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis both in vitro and ex vivo. Phenotypic resistance refers to the transient ability of genetically-susceptible bacteria to survive otherwise lethal concentrations of an antibiotic; it likely contributes to the length of treatment required to cure an infection and to the emergence of genetically-encoded resistance. Stresses derived from both antibiotics and host immunity can induce phenotypic resistance, and in the context of antibiotic combinations such as those used in tuberculosis treatment, the differential penetration rate of each antibiotic into infected tissues may result in sequential exposure of bacteria to the antibiotics. Exposure to the first antibiotic may induce cross phenotypic resistance to the others, dampening the overall killing effect. However, conventional assays used to evaluate antibiotic combinations are done in vitro and assess growth rather than killing, meaning that phenotypic resistance is not measured. The proposed research aims to fill this gap to provide a framework for developing antibiotic combination therapies that minimize phenotypic resistance in vivo, thus potentially limiting genetic resistance and allowing for shorter treatment times.

Lay abstract: When an individual develops a bacterial infection, immune cells deploy an arsenal of antibacterial defenses to kill the invaders. In many cases, this is not sufficient to clear the infection, and antibiotics are needed to help combat it. Although we typically think of the immune system and antibiotics as working together to kill infectious bacteria, in some cases the stresses imposed on bacteria by the immune response can boost their ability to survive antibiotic exposure, making antibiotics less able to help in clearing the infection. Stresses imposed by antibiotics can also prime bacteria to survive exposure to other antibiotics. This can be a problem when antibiotics are taken in combination, such as for infectious diseases like tuberculosis, because some members of the combination may reach the infecting bacteria before others, thereby priming them to survive the normally lethal effects of ones that arrive later. The research we propose here aims to investigate this phenomenon both outside and inside immune cells. Knowledge of how exposure to antibiotics in these different settings primes bacteria to survive subsequent exposure to other antibiotics could be implemented in the design of more effective drug regimens that will cure infectious diseases and save lives.

Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT;5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Rainbows in the Windows: An Oral History of Young Families in Britain in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of young families in Britain in an unprecedented way. Lockdown has fundamentally affected the everyday lives of parents and children. In this study, I will undertake and analyse oral history interviews to develop an understanding of how parents of young children navigated the lockdown and its immediate aftermath, including changes to their working patterns, social activities, and children’s education, and the impact on their physical and mental health. This represents a unique opportunity to collect oral testimony from a key population group at this important juncture in history and explore this testimony in the context of British cultural and social history and in relation to literature on employment, health and the emotions. As I will be recording oral history interviews remotely, over the telephone, the study will also represent an important contribution to literature on oral history methodology.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: MEDICINAL PRODUCTS IN A WORLD PANDEMIC: PROPERTY, REGULATION AND LIABILITY
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: This is transnational research, with research partners in five Continents, of urgent contemporary legal issues of property, regulation and liability concerning medicinal products for human use in the current global Covid-19 epidemic. Issues to be studied include: - Manufacturers' liability regimes and liability for development risks of vaccines and new treatments -Liability for vaccine and drugs trials in a World pandemic and collective redress mechanisms -World patrimony medicinal goods. Patent and copyright issues in a World pandemic: vaccines and new drugs ‘without frontiers’. - WHO, NGO and State liability and duties of due diligence and cooperation of manufacturers - State solidarity, pricing and the right to health -Impact of Covid-19 on future regulation of medicinal drugs after return to normality. The project will look into legal regimes governing medicinal products, and actors involved and stakeholders ( manufacturers, distributors and suppliers, patients, health workers and hospitals, regulatory authorities, laboratories)in different countries.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Does doing good during bad times pay off? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Does it pay off for businesses to do good during bad times such as the COVID-19 pandemic? These bad times might affect firms’ resources and capabilities to do good but also influence stakeholders’ expectations and perceptions of doing good, making it unclear whether firms can benefit financially from doing good in such environments. Our research will address this question by focusing on the socially responsible practices adopted by firms in operations and supply chain management such as repurposing manufacturing, prepaying suppliers, and avoiding layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will employ the event study methodology to quantify the financial impacts of these practices and further analyse how such impacts might vary across firms adopting different types of practices and having different dimensions of slack resources. Overall, this research will advance our understanding of the value of doing good during bad times and provide important implications for research and practice.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Household Dynamics under Crisis: COVID 19 Policies and its Implications for Bangladeshis at home and in the diaspora (UK)
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Policy discussion on Covid 19 has concentrated on epidemiological models that are designed to project rates of infection and fatality ratios. Yet these models are unable to integrate the consequences of containment in milieus marked by social and economic inequalities. We are proposing a primary research through a multi-country (Bangladesh and UK) socially distanced survey among 60 Bangladeshi households from different socio-economic backgrounds. We take the lens of the household decision-making in crisis, created by the spread of COVID-19 and the patchwork of regulations promulgated by different states, to understand the implications of containment policies on intra-household inequality and to examine the social conditions underlying the variability in compliance to containment measures. Do households prioritise food, medicine, electricity or digital technology? This research will highlight the differences of this household level impact between nations and within nations, in order to bring in social perspectives to inform these epidemiological models.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Does Social Distancing Exclude People with Disabilities? – A Case Study of Persons with Sensory Needs
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: The imposition of social distancing and isolation measures by the UK Government as a response to COVID 19 has added an unprecedented impact upon school-aged children, particularly those with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). We seek to investigate the effect of measures introduced by schools to reduce the risk of the virus spreading on a lesser-researched SEND population, children with sensory impairment. We will use a mixed methods approach to study the perceptions and personal experiences of two groups: deaf and blind children. A third group of children without SEND will serve as a comparison. Additional data will be collected from practitioners working with these groups. Our goal is to understand how the issues pertaining to schools’ response to the pandemic has affected children with certain low-incidence disabilities, and, beyond this, to draw out more general principles pertaining to inclusion – particularly in terms of communication and socialisation.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: "Solidarity and Care During the Covid-19 Pandemic": A Transnational Collaboration in Public Sociology
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has re-organized relations of care around the world, revealing new forms of sustainable community. This re-shaping of social reproduction is evident in the unique database collected by ‘Solidarity and Care During the Covid-19 Pandemic’, a transnational publishing platform and research archive launched in May 2020 by The Sociological Review. It is now time to investigate this database and begin generating a global conversation among contributors to help develop a new social contract that centers ‘care’. I propose to analyse the ‘Solidarity and Care’ archival material, and to cultivate collaborative research relationships among diverse ‘Solidarity and Care’ contributors via online workshops and one research summit, to collectively produce an edited compilation. This research process and resultant comparative study will analyse social justice initiatives around ‘care’ during the Covid-19 pandemic in cross-cultural context, and help cultivate the transnational dialogues required to develop robust local and global relations of ‘care’.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Recovery Position? Narratives of community-led recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic: The case of the East Midlands.
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: This research will surface and document the contribution of community-led initiatives across the East Midlands which provided essential services, such as support for those experiencing food poverty and health issues, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research will also follow the progress and development of these services for two years into the COVID-19 recovery. The East Midlands is an area with high levels of deprivation and adult obesity, and has been significantly impacted by COVID-19. The research will use in-depth interviews to explore the contribution of community-led services from the perspective of community organisers, service beneficiaries and local councillors. This research will extend our understanding of how to mobilise community-led services and provide insight into how to empower communities to create their own social infrastructures and build local resilience. This research will also contribute new insight into how community and public services can work in synergy to meet local needs.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION
Title: Project MAVE (meme, art, vaccination, experiments): Countering anti-vaxxer sentiments through memes
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Prominent health organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), often rely on images to promote health behaviours, highlighting the importance of visual communication in public health. Given the vital role of vaccines in reducing infection rates. it is crucial to understand ways in which visual communication can be optimized to promote public health by countering anti-vaccination sentiments. That is, effective visual communication could help reduce the negative attitudes toward vaccination. As of now, it remains unclear how effective the current vaccine-promoting images (let alone misinformation-spreading memes used by antivaxxers) actually are. The increasing power of memes, however, has been recognized by the US military in countering radicalization and disinformation. The current project will draw on such insights by developing novel memes so as to counter anti-vaxxer sentiments. Such memes will also help question the myths and misconceptions that lie behind people’s hesitation, reluctance and refusal to get vaccinated.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: INFECTION