Title: NIHR HPRU in Blood Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at University College London
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Our proposed HPRU is a collaboration between University College London (UCL) and Public Health England (PHE). We will conduct state-of-the-art research on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and blood-borne viruses (BBVs) to improve the health of the population and to address health inequalities. Our research will be structured around three themes of risk/risk reduction, under-diagnosis, and the care of those diagnosed with infections. For example, we will use novel methods to describe patterns of new STIs/BBVs to understand the factors that may be driving STI/BBV epidemics, allowing us to develop more effective means of prevention. We will develop new ways to help to identify the types of people who may be living with an undiagnosed STI/BBV, allowing us to target testing to the groups thought to be at highest risk. We will undertake research to increase our understanding of the barriers that prevent people with STIs/BBVs from engaging with healthcare, allowing us to improve the way that we deliver healthcare to these groups. In addition to working closely with affected communities, we will create a culture of working across different disease areas, populations, institutions and with other HPRUs to provide a legacy of world-leading public health research. Our proposed multi-disciplinary team includes community influencers and researchers from clinical medicine, epidemiology, statistics, behavioural science, social science, health-economics, modelling, implementation and laboratory science. We will therefore be able to approach a research question from several different angles, giving us a deeper understanding of the issues and allowing us to develop more effective tools and interventions. Strong public/community involvement and the inclusion of health promotion experts will enable the team to optimise the implementation and potential impact of research findings. We will include our end-users and the public from the start, through every stage of the research to the point at which we share our findings, and will work with end-users to support them to adopt any recommendations. The flexible structure of our HPRU will mean that we will be able to easily respond should PHE s needs change in the future or should the needs of the communities affected by STIs/BBVs change. This will result in research that will have the most meaningful impact on the health of the nation. Our HPRU Academy will work with patients and the public to design and deliver courses to support the development of a new cohort of health protection researchers, including those in the allied health professions.

Lay abstract: Our proposed HPRU is a collaboration between University College London (UCL) and Public Health England (PHE). We will conduct state-of-the-art research on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and blood-borne viruses (BBVs) to improve the health of the population and to address health inequalities. Our research will be structured around three themes of risk/risk reduction, under-diagnosis, and the care of those diagnosed with infections. For example, we will use novel methods to describe patterns of new STIs/BBVs to understand the factors that may be driving STI/BBV epidemics, allowing us to develop more effective means of prevention. We will develop new ways to help to identify the types of people who may be living with an undiagnosed STI/BBV, allowing us to target testing to the groups thought to be at highest risk. We will undertake research to increase our understanding of the barriers that prevent people with STIs/BBVs from engaging with healthcare, allowing us to improve the way that we deliver healthcare to these groups. In addition to working closely with affected communities, we will create a culture of working across different disease areas, populations, institutions and with other HPRUs to provide a legacy of world-leading public health research. Our proposed multi-disciplinary team includes community influencers and researchers from clinical medicine, epidemiology, statistics, behavioural science, social science, health-economics, modelling, implementation and laboratory science. We will therefore be able to approach a research question from several different angles, giving us a deeper understanding of the issues and allowing us to develop more effective tools and interventions. Strong public/community involvement and the inclusion of health promotion experts will enable the team to optimise the implementation and potential impact of research findings. We will include our end-users and the public from the start, through every stage of the research to the point at which we share our findings, and will work with end-users to support them to adopt any recommendations. The flexible structure of our HPRU will mean that we will be able to easily respond should PHE s needs change in the future or should the needs of the communities affected by STIs/BBVs change. This will result in research that will have the most meaningful impact on the health of the nation. Our HPRU Academy will work with patients and the public to design and deliver courses to support the development of a new cohort of health protection researchers, including those in the allied health professions.

Research activity codes: 2.6 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: INFECTION