Title: NIHR Birmingham BRC
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Diseases of the immune system which lead to persistent inflammation such as colitis, Crohns disease and arthritis, are a group of common and highly disabling conditions which share underlying disease processes. They affect up to 10% of the UK population and this figure is likely to increase with our ageing population. Unfortunately treatment is expensive, rarely curative and often associated with disabling side-effects such as infection. Our proposed BRC will exploit the outstanding clinical environment of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the long-standing research at the University of Birmingham, which has shed light on the common and distinct mechanisms underpinning these diseases To do this we will build on the outstanding clinical research infrastructure in Birmingham to carry out studies in well-defined groups of patients with inflammatory disease in which we will: 1) Explore the disease processes that drive these conditions focusing on mechanisms that are shared between different conditions allowing us to design rational treatments that will benefit many more patients; 2) Develop new biomarkers that allow us to select the best new treatment for each patient, an approach called stratified medicine that has transformed treatment for cancer and we think is now ready for application to inflammatory disease; 3) Test new treatments that switch off or re-calibrate the over active immune system that underpins these diseases. Treatments will include drugs that target specific immune pathways; cell therapies that can promote suppression of inflammation and encourage healing; the use of beneficial species of bacteria in the gut that can displace the harmful ones that drive inflammation in the gut but also have detrimental (inflammatory) effects on other parts of the body. Our vision is the establishment of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, nurses, scientists and clinical trials experts that can deliver a Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) to reduce the time taken to translate scientific discoveries into clinical benefits for patients. Our BRC will also have an important educational remit, helping to train the next generation of biomedical researchers and to inform and educate the public about advances in medical care for inflammatory diseases.

Lay abstract: Diseases of the immune system which lead to persistent inflammation such as colitis, Crohns disease and arthritis, are a group of common and highly disabling conditions which share underlying disease processes. They affect up to 10% of the UK population and this figure is likely to increase with our ageing population. Unfortunately treatment is expensive, rarely curative and often associated with disabling side-effects such as infection. Our proposed BRC will exploit the outstanding clinical environment of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the long-standing research at the University of Birmingham, which has shed light on the common and distinct mechanisms underpinning these diseases To do this we will build on the outstanding clinical research infrastructure in Birmingham to carry out studies in well-defined groups of patients with inflammatory disease in which we will: 1) Explore the disease processes that drive these conditions focusing on mechanisms that are shared between different conditions allowing us to design rational treatments that will benefit many more patients; 2) Develop new biomarkers that allow us to select the best new treatment for each patient, an approach called stratified medicine that has transformed treatment for cancer and we think is now ready for application to inflammatory disease; 3) Test new treatments that switch off or re-calibrate the over active immune system that underpins these diseases. Treatments will include drugs that target specific immune pathways; cell therapies that can promote suppression of inflammation and encourage healing; the use of beneficial species of bacteria in the gut that can displace the harmful ones that drive inflammation in the gut but also have detrimental (inflammatory) effects on other parts of the body. Our vision is the establishment of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, nurses, scientists and clinical trials experts that can deliver a Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) to reduce the time taken to translate scientific discoveries into clinical benefits for patients. Our BRC will also have an important educational remit, helping to train the next generation of biomedical researchers and to inform and educate the public about advances in medical care for inflammatory diseases.

Research activity codes: 8.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE