NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Determinants and consequences of HIV treatment amongst adolescents and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Adolescents and young adults (10 to 24-year olds) account for a significant proportion of people living with HIV globally. Due to psychosocial and biological changes associated with individuals in this age category, they are more likely to have poorer treatment outcomes compared to younger children and older adults. Two interventions that have shown potential to improve outcomes in this age group include timely disclosure of adolescents’ HIV status to them and inclusion of the highly potent integrase inhibitor 'dolutegravir' into antiretroviral therapy regimens. However, there is limited knowledge on the psychosocial impacts of disclosure, and level of uptake and impact of dolutegravir use among adolescents and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa. I aim to analyse data from a longitudinal, community-traced cohort study of HIV-positive adolescents in South Africa (Mzantsi Wakho) to assess the effects of timely HIV status disclosure on anxiety, depression, behaviour and suicide. I also aim to analyse routine HIV program data and develop a mathematical model of HIV progression, to estimate the level of uptake and effects of dolutegravir on treatment outcomes among adolescents and young adults. My findings will help improve current HIV status disclosure guidelines and assess the progress in dolutegravir transition among young individuals.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Walking Publics/Walking Arts: walking, wellbeing and community during Covid-19
Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council

Abstract: There is a proven evidence base for the benefits of both walking and art on physical health and mental wellbeing. Our project addresses the lacuna between the arts and those working to promote walking well in the wider community. Walking organisations need rapidly to find new ways to support their members during social restrictions, and to diversify membership to support more people to walk well in and beyond a pandemic. COVID-19 poses an unprecedented challenge to cultural organisations with the need to rethink practices due to physical distancing. Responses to lockdown have created the opportunity to understand how creative walking activities have been and could be used to mitigate isolation and anxiety, maintain health and wellbeing, enhance social connectivity, and facilitate cultural empowerment. This project will deliver a significant contribution to the understanding of, and response to, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, generate new data about a key activity, and innovate arts resources for rapid implementation to support health, wellbeing, resilience and cultural participation. Collaborating with partner organisations, artists, cultural workers, and residents, the project will capture: a) the walking experiences and creative interventions of people during COVID-19 restrictions. b) the 'lockdown' work of artists using walking activity within conditions of restriction. c) the potential of the arts to sustain, encourage and more equitably support walking during and recovering from a pandemic. Key deliverables include: i) a new data set and report on walking experiences and creative approaches to walking well and safely ii) a curated digital gallery of creative walking models, open-access Walking Toolkits and piloted prototypes iii) a Cultural Walking Summit iv) three peer-reviewed articles v) a new cross-sectoral partnership.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: COVID-19 CARE: Culture and the Arts, from Restriction to Enhancement: Protecting Mental Health in the Liverpool City Region
Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council

Abstract: This study will assess the impact on mental health of restricted access to arts and culture in a specific city region, and track, enable and enhance the value of innovation in arts provision in mitigating associated harms. Liverpool has one of the richest concentrations of culture in the UK, boasting the largest clustering of museums and galleries outside London. Cultural capital is critical to the city region's economy, contributing c10% (Culture Liverpool,2019). The city also has a pioneering history of harnessing arts for mental health care through partnerships between culture and health providers. Building on the University of Liverpool's strong alliance with organisations across these sectors, this project brings together an interdisciplinary team of arts and mental health researchers to devise and conduct, in consultation with cultural and health bodies, two surveys. Survey 1 (online interviews) will target 20 arts organisations (10 civic institutions, 10 community arts programmes, representing 'elite' and 'popular' arts) to capture (i)the impact of COVID-19 on public access to arts provision (including those who usually access the arts through formal healthcare routes) and on audience/beneficiary change over time (legacy losses and potential gains) (ii)the success of alternative (e.g. online/digital) modes of provision by arts organisations in reaching and communicating with established and/or new audiences. Survey 2 (online questionnaire and supplementary online/telephone interviews) will target c300 arts' audiences/beneficiaries to capture (i)the impact on mental health of restricted/non-existent access to usual provision (ii)the perceived value and accessibility of alternative arts provision and the latter's impact on mental health/wellbeing.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: ‘Madness’ after extreme events – co-produced understanding of mental distress in the context of political conflict, natural disasters, and global pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Extreme events such as wars, natural disasters and the global pandemic cause significant mental distress. To date, the impact of extreme events on mental health is mainly understood through Western and medicalised understandings of such experiences. Meaningful engagement with people with lived experience of such distress as experts by experience has been identified as important but missing from much global mental health research and practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the proposed research aims to offer novel insights into understanding and supporting people who experience mental distress during multiple extreme events. It involves innovative co-production between social science researchers and local experts by experience through interviews and focus groups in nine locations across the country. The study aims to inform development of new mental health services and relevant human rights advocacy work, both in BiH and globally.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Cognitive Trajectory of COVID-19: Pre- versus Post-COVID-19 Cognitive Function in Survivors
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Despite many people subjectively reporting cognitive disruption or “brain fog” during and following COVID-19, there is no published research based on objective assessment of cognitive function both pre- and post-COVID-19. The proposed study will fill this knowledge gap. Specifically, in collaboration with MyCognition (allowing us access to a large database of people with pre-COVID assessment of processing speed, attention, working memory, executive function, and episodic memory), we will examine the profile of cognitive changes in adults with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis compared to their pre-COVID-19 data, and compare them with age- and sex-matched adults without a COVID-19 diagnosis (target n=86 per group). All eligible and willing participants will undergo online assessments of cognitive function, mental health and well-being at study entry and then six months later. Their baseline (pre-COVID) cognitive data will be extracted from MyCognition database. COVID-19 severity, time-since-infection, sex, ethnicity, mental health and other comorbidities will be considered.


Research activity codes: 5.6 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Assessing the impact of COVID on the social networks, supports, and wellbeing of people convicted of sexual offences and their families.
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: In England and Wales, 13,562 prisoners are convicted of sexual offences (MOJ, 2018), which carry greater stigma (Kovota, 2000) and many offenders are excluded from families, yet there is little research on the impact of sexual offences on families (Martens & Stewart, 2020). Yet there is evidence (Codd, 2008; Duew and Clark, 2012) showing that family engagement during imprisonment results in better outcomes for children and families (Ministry of Justice, 2017) and reduced risk of recidivism. COVID has seen prisons in lockdown, with elevated rates of isolation, distress and self-harm and severe restrictions on visits, and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (2021) have documented the resulting harms experienced by prisoners’ families. Yet the impact on prisoners and families has not been studied. The proposal assesses the feasibility of mapping social support, social capital and wellbeing in people convicted of sexual offences in prisoners and family members from two UK prisons.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Gambling on Google and Twitter: A Big Data Approach to Understanding the Public Health Impact of COVID-19 on Gambling Harms
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Gambling is increasingly health-harming. Gambling problems often start at times of unprecedented stress and anxiety, like coping with ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and social isolation. Gambling advertising has increased during the pandemic, and with easy access online, the temptation to start gambling or to make riskier bets, may be too great for many. Using contemporary ‘big data’ approaches, we will track gambling-related Google searches and social media (Twitter) use before, during and since COVID-19 restrictions in the UK. We will examine how people have searched for gambling opportunities and to seek help with gambling problems and compare trends with publicly available data on treatment-seeking. By examining tweets from gambling brands, we will chart the scope and reach of online communities and the impact of enticements to gamble. The inter-connectedness of our big data approach will identify meaningful trends on the impact of COVID-19 and contribute to theoretical development across disparate fields.


Research activity codes: 8.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The relationships between employee health and stock market returns during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Uber and taxi hospital rides in large cities
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: Research has documented that large stock market fluctuations have an immediate negative impact on investor health. For example, at the population level, large and sudden declines in major stock market indices lead to contemporaneous increases in insomnia, abdominal pain and hospitalisations. Existing studies have not been able to observe whether the individuals who experience these negative outcomes are precisely the individuals who have money at stake in the stock market. We fill this gap by focusing on a group of stakeholders, i.e., company employees, who have a large stake in the performance of their employer’s stock. By studying the number of taxi and Uber trips to local hospitals that originated from public companies headquartered in New York and London during the most recent COVID-19 crisis, this project intends to test whether large fluctuations in the price of a company’s stock have a negative effect on employee health and vice versa.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;8.2 HEALTH AND WELFARE ECONOMICS
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The role of neighbourhood conditions in mental health responses to the Covid-19 lockdown
Funder: The British Academy

Abstract: The Covid-19 lockdown has underscored how important neighbourhoods are for our mental health and wellbeing. Neighbourhood characteristics like urbanicity, greenspace, deprivation, and social fragmentation create very different lockdown experiences, even between neighbours living streets apart. This project will investigate the role of neighbourhood conditions in mental health responses to lockdown. Data are from a longitudinal cohort of >14,000 individuals born in Bristol and surrounding areas and followed from birth for 30 years, coupled with novel data from a Covid-19 questionnaire completed by >7,500 participants. First, I will examine associations of urbanicity, greenspace, deprivation, and social fragmentation with participants’ symptoms of anxiety and depression during and after lockdown. Second, I will control analyses comprehensively for confounds such as poverty using propensity score matching. Third, I will examine the interplay between neighbourhood conditions and individual-level factors including age, housing, household composition and garden access in terms of mental health responses to lockdown.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: INFECTION;MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Immunological tools for a seroprevalence and immune status map of Burkholderia pseudomallei and thailandensis in Vietnam
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: This Newton Fund project aims to strengthen links between immunology and microbiology researchers in Hanoi and London. We will assess potential consequences of human exposure to Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) or B. thailandensis (Bt). Bp is a Gram-negative bacterium, found in soil and water, and capable of causing outcomes in exposed people ranging from asymptomatic seroconversion to sepsis and death. In neighboring Thailand there are thousands of fatal cases annually. The picture in Vietnam is unclear: case-finding is identifying an increasing number of cases and facilitating appropriate antibiotic treatment. We here define a sample area encompassing 5 hospitals in 4 regions of Northeast, Northwest, North Central and South Central Vietnam, a catchment area of 33,621km2. Blood samples will be collected from 200 healthy donors at each hospital, giving a dataset of 1000 individuals for assessment of Bp and Bt seroprevalence, relating clinical sampling sites to analysis of Bp/Bt load in soil samples from these regions. ELISA analysis for seroprevalence focuses on OPS as a validated antigen for Bp seroprevalence studies and Hcp1, which shows only ~35% homology with Bt. We will collaborate closely with world leading authorities on Bp serology and genomics, from Thailand and the USA, . Because diabetes is the key risk factor for development of melioidosis and also correlated with Bp responsiveness, we will collect a dataset of diabetes serum biomarkers, screening for HbA1c as well as antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase 65, C peptide, ZnT8 and islet antigen 2. To look at correlates of protection at the CD4 T cell level, tetramers will be used to sort Bp epitope-specific cells, using a multi-parameter phenotyping antibody panel to define phenotype and cytokine profile. There is strong interest in building enhanced expertise in infection, immunity/flow cytometry and diabetes research with Hanoi researchers, including staff exchange visits and annual joint workshops.


Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS;4.1 DISCOVERY AND PRECLINICAL TESTING OF MARKERS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE
Title: Unravelling the role of host microenvironment in the development of phenotypic resistance in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is the biggest infectious killer in the world, with a person dying from it every twenty seconds. It is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Over the next 10 years, the number of patients with diabetes will double, and more than 600 million individuals will be living with diabetes worldwide. This is a major concern as it has been shown that patients with diabetes are at higher risk of TB disease return (relapse) and more likely to die of TB disease. This project aims to understand why diabetic patients have poor response to TB treatment. The cause of relapse is thought to be the significant number of Mtb bacteria that transform into a slower and fatty form and survive despite antibiotics. These fatty Mtb bacteria is difficulty to identify with current laboratory techniques, but we have established one smart way to identify them. Using fluorescent microscopy, we can detect fatty droplets inside the Mtb. By counting these fat and lazy bacteria, I aim to rapidly identify patients who may not respond to treatment as well as others. Through the project, I aim to develop effective interventions, tailored to the individual needs


Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE
Title: The metabolism of the HIV-infected CD4+ T cell
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: Both treated and untreated HIV-infections are frequently associated with metabolic complications and recent studies are increasingly implicating metabolic factors as predictive for progression to AIDS. However, little is known about the bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands imposed on host cells by HIV-1. As HIV-1 is entirely dependent on the host metabolism, this represents a novel and unexplored target with potential for the development of antiretrovirals. Here, we propose to investigate the metabolism of HIV-infected CD4+ T cells that are the primary target for its replication. In the first instance, differences in the metabolism compared with uninfected cells will be investigated by parallel metabolic and transcriptional profiling using chromatography coupled mass spectrometry, respirometry and microarray technologies. This is expected to reveal viral dependency on specific metabolites and metabolic pathways. Preliminary date included in the proposal support this projection. Following the hypothesis that HIV-1 directly modulates the metabolic state of the cell, an unbiased mutational analysis of all viral proteins will seek to reveal its mode of control. Jointly, these studies will inform experiments that will aim to inhibit HIV-1 replication by interfering with the host-cell metabolism using RNA interference and small molecule inhibitors. Ulitmately, these studies aim to identify targets for the development of antiretrovirals.


Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE
Title: Hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in hepatitis C infection
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a RNA(ribonucleic acid) virus with diverse genotypes and a broad spectrum of clinical outcomes including hepatic steatosis. Metabolic syndrome is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality in HCV infection. Several clinical trials have shown that hepatic steatosis impairs anti-viral therapy, suggesting insulin resistance (IR) as an underlying mechanism. Mechanisms of IR in HCV infection are poorly understood due to the use of metabolically inefficient tumour cell lines in the majority of studies. Some studies including our preliminary results, suggest that IR may impair anti-viral therapy in HCV infection and that liver specific glucocorticoid receptor (GC-R) antagonists, glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) agonists and lipid modifying drugs may improve anti-viral response in HCV infection. Hypothesis 1.There are genotype and strain specific differences in the ability of HCV to drive IR and lipid accumulation in vitro and in vivo 2.Enhanced GC-R activation contributes to the development of HCV-associated steatosis and represent a novel therapeutic target 3.GLP-1 agonists improve IR and augments response to anti-viral treatment Objectives (refer to "Objectives") Methodology To profile the metabolic pathways that are dysregulated following HCV infection of hepatoma cell lines, primary human hepatocytes and human liver slices that promote lipid accumulation. We will investigate 24 patients with HCV infection with evidence of hepatic steatosis for their pattern(s) of insulin sensitivity in liver, adipose & peripheral muscle. We will quantify hepatic lipogenesis using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp, adipose microdialysis and biopsy. Conclusion In view of the suboptimal response to the current anti-viral treatments, it is imperative that research addresses the molecular mechanisms underlying virus perturbation of lipid metabolism to enable future design of tailored combination therapies.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE
Title: Novel invariant NKT cell agonists as adjuvants for antigen specific T and B cell responses.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: We have recently optimised a novel vaccine capable of teaching the immune system how to recognise viruses and cancer cells. Such a vaccine is based on the injection of a lipid molecule, which is recognised by immune cells and leads to the activation of virus and tumour specific killer lymphocytes. We intend to optimise the activity of this lipid molecule by synthesizing a range of variants, which will be able to enhance the activation of immune cells and optimize the expansion of virus and tu mour specific immune cells.


Research activity codes: 5.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE
Title: Ensuring long-term robustness and accessibility of the Karonga Prevention Study database for public health and biomedical research.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: The Wellcome Trust-funded Karonga Prevention Study in Malawi holds a valuable resource. Data spanning 30 years of population-based studies, from ~300,000 identified individuals in a rural district, fully linked across time and study are available, derived from detailed demographic, epidemiological, immunological, molecular, clinical and social science studies with an extensive bio-repository. Work has focussed on HIV, mycobacterial disease, vaccines and demography, and recently diabetes and card iovascular disease. We seek support to ensure continued longevity and robustness of the Karonga study database, to construct a data access interface and facilitate data sharing by; 1. Developing a normalised data model, that preserves temporal and referential integrity 2. Constructing a database that implements the model, transforming and loading the current data. 3. Providing methods and procedures for incorporating data prospectively. 4. Improving data documentation, building a d ata dictionary using modern meta-data standards 5. Developing system and data sharing policies to manage data access requests 6. Developing efficient automated methods of data capture. 7. Ensuring a Malawian centre of data management. 8. Lodging a subset of data in a public repository. 9. Managing incorporation of data from our new urban site.


Research activity codes: 2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION;3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION);2.5 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: INFECTION;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR