NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Maintenance of weight loss in lifestyle interventions to reduce diabetes and cardiovascular risk.
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: This research will identify and begin to evaluate methods for supporting the maintenance of weight loss through changes in diet and physical activity. Literature reviews and stakeholder meetings will identify evidence-based strategies for intervention that may be effective and deliverable in NHS primary care. To address key questions about how much intervention is needed to achieve maintenance of weight loss and whether providing more intensive interventions would increase or decrease costeffectiveness (value-for-money), intervention materials will be developed for delivery at 3 different levels of intensity. A pilot study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the interventions and provide data for planning a large, definitive trial. The results will inform commissioning of NHS weight loss services. The intervention/training materials will be published online for use by NHS staff and funding will be sought for a full-scale trial and related research.

Lay abstract: Maintenance of weight loss in lifestyle interventions to reduce diabetes and cardiovascular risk.

Research activity codes: 6.7 PHYSICAL
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Novel interventions to reverse cardiovascular dysfunction assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Objectives: to determine the causes of diastolic dysfunction, assessed by MRI, in 100 younger adults with T2DM and whether, and how quickly, diastolic dysfunction can be reversed. Fifty-one patients will be included in a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded end-point trial comparing: 1. Optimal medical therapy 2. A very low calorie diet or 3. Moderate exercise training for 12 weeks. Outcome measures: diastolic strain rate (primary); left ventricular function/mass, perfusion, fibrosis, myocardial and liver glycogen content and glycometabolic indices. Patients will be followed up for clinical outcomes. The results should lead to better treatments to prevent heart failure in diabetes.

Lay abstract: There has been a dramatic increase in younger adults with diabetes, linked to obesity. These patients are at high risk of developing heart failure and premature death. MRI scanning will be used to determine what causes early heart failure in 100 younger adults with diabetes. Fifty-one of these patients will be randomly allocated for 12 weeks to 1) optimal blood sugar lowering treatment and lifestyle advice 2) a very low calorie diet or 3) moderate intensity exercise training, to determine whether early heart failure can be completely reversed. This study will lead to better treatments to prevent premature deaths.

Research activity codes: 6.5 RADIOTHERAPY AND OTHER NON-INVASIVE THERAPIES;6.7 PHYSICAL
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Development and feasibility study of a lifestyle intervention to improve diet, increase physical activity and promote weight loss in women with recent gestational diabetes
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) occurs in 5% pregnancies. Women with GDM are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which can be prevented or delayed through diet, physical activity and weight loss. The aim of the fellowship is to develop and test a lifestyle intervention for women with recent GDM. The study has three phases: (1)development, (2)exploring acceptability, and (3)a feasibility randomised controlled trial. This study will assess feasibility of the trial and measure preliminary impacts of the intervention on diabetes risk factors. The intervention aims to decrease risk of developing type 2 diabetes, reducing patient morbidity and NHS costs.

Lay abstract: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) occurs in 5% pregnancies. Women with GDM are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which can be prevented or delayed through diet, physical activity and weight loss. The aim of the fellowship is to develop and test a lifestyle intervention for women with recent GDM. The study has three phases: (1)development, (2)exploring acceptability, and (3)a feasibility randomised controlled trial. This study will assess feasibility of the trial and measure preliminary impacts of the intervention on diabetes risk factors. The intervention aims to decrease risk of developing type 2 diabetes, reducing patient morbidity and NHS costs.

Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;6.7 PHYSICAL
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Enabling Research Award: Promoting engaged communication between health care professionals and patients with obesity
Funder: Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (HSC R&D) of Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland

Abstract: Background: There is an urgent need to reduce obesity, a contributing factor in the development and severity of many chronic conditions. The first step towards obesity reduction is engagement between HCP’s and patients enabling conversations regarding weight management to occur (Jackson et al. 2013, Rose et al. 2013, AMRC 2014). Without engagement of both parties, clinical inertia prevails. Aim: To evaluate an intervention designed to enhance clinician’ engagement with disengaged patients with obesity and chronic illness. Design: A two-phase study comprising a feasibility study with the potential for a full evaluation using clinical vignettes. Phase 1: The educational package, adapted in the ERA study involving communication and mindfulness, will be tested in three HSC Trusts in N. Ireland. Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses and dietitians) will be recruited. Participants will be asked to complete: on-line attitude scales assessing anti-fat bias, using factorial survey design clinical vignettes with integrated patient photographs, participate in the enhanced communication/mindfulness educational programme and then re-do the attitude scales and vignettes. Data collection will be self-reported on-line in a website managed by Project Implicit USA, to evaluate the effects of the programme on clinical engagement and obesity management pre- and post-intervention. These data collection methods have already proven successful (McAloon et al 2015) and the use of vignettes as a surrogate for practice is known to validly represent clinical reality (Peabody 2004). Both the intervention and the research design will be tested and predetermined criteria to allow transition (or not) to a fully powered study will be applied following completion of Phase 1. Phase 2: Assuming the criteria are met, a multi-site trial will be conducted across the UK. The online methodology and largely online intervention will enable widespread testing and estimation of cost effectiveness of the intervention.


Research activity codes: 7.3 MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Knowing to grow: Increasing the resilience of plant centred food production skills
Funder: Welsh Government Office for Science

Abstract: Knowledge and skills are essential for growing and producing food. Ensuring their future availability is therefore vital for resilient agri-food systems. This project considers how to meet knowledge requirements for future food supply chains, focusing on the case of horticultural production. It will draw on international experiences and stakeholder expertise to inform strategies to enhance food security in Wales and beyond. A focus on horticultural production - large-scale growing of fruits and vegetables - will reveal how knowledge flows through agri-food systems. This will characterise risks of shortages or losses of essential skills which threaten long-term resilience, in the context of global food security. International comparison will inform analysis of the Welsh context to reveal success factors required for a step-change in skills provision. The research aims to enhance the resilience of knowledge and skills dimensions of agri-food systems by informing policy, theory and practice. It will contribute characterisation of skills employed in contemporary food production. Beyond the specifics of agri-food this addresses how industrialised work is typically understood as low skilled. Through a networked perspective on skill it will consider how materials including plants affect knowledge flows.


Research activity codes: 1.1 NORMAL BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Opportunities for intervention and innovation in the UK School Food System: the GENIUS (Generating Excellent Nutrition In UK Schools) network
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: School food has a major influence on children's diet quality and has the potential to reduce diet inequalities and reduction of non-communicable disease risk in the long-term. We propose a UK school food system network, considering the food system across the preschool, primary and secondary settings, and including all school food provision. The overarching aim is to build a community to work towards a more health promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools. Objectives include the development of a network of academics and non-academics across the UK actively researching and influencing the school food system, the use of a range of methodologies, including systems mapping and network analysis, to understand the current UK school food landscape, including similarities and differences and areas of best practice between the four nations of the UK, and, finally, the exploration of opportunities for population and system level interventions that will positively impact diet quality and inequalities. The network will bring together a team from a range of disciplines, while inclusion of non-academic users and other stakeholders, such as pupils and parents, will allow the co-development of research priorities and questions. This network will use a combination of workshops, working groups and pump-priming projects to explore the school food system, as well as creating a systems map of the UK school food system, and conducting network analysis of the current system and the newly established network. Understanding the current food system and building network expertise will advance research and policy around food in schools. Findings will be disseminated widely, building upon existing and new academic and non-academic networks. Funding applications will be developed based on these findings, working in partnership with policy makers and schools, to ensure maximum engagement and future sustainability of the network. This grant is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) which is administered by the Medical Research Council on behalf of the UKPRP's 12 funding partners: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Welsh Government; Health and Social Care Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; National Institute for Health Research; The Health Foundation; The Wellcome Trust.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION;3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION)
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Co-design of a sustainable and acceptable implementation intervention to maximise the impact of whole school approaches to food within primary schools
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: A third of primary school children are overweight or obese in the UK and nutrition recommendations are consistently not met. Inequalities in these areas in the UK are the highest amongst all OECD countries and this disparity increases between 5-11 years. Primary schools provide an opportunity to support children to make healthy food choices, with 30% of a child's diet consumed at school. This is also an excellent setting to form behaviours and social/cultural norms; providing an opportunity to improve diet within and outside of school. WHO and UK government advocate 'whole school approaches to food', promoting consistency in food availability, culture, policy and education. However, implementation is poor against the backdrop of multiple competing priorities. Hence, we plan to better understand school food systems in order to co-design an implementation intervention to support them to implement whole school approaches to food via 4 work packages(WP): WP1: Engagement and recruitment of key stakeholders in Leeds, Bradford, Belfast and Newcastle (teachers, staff, caterers, governors, children, parents, local businesses and local authority representatives); WP2: Workshops with stakeholders to develop system maps highlighting factors influencing food choice and uptake of whole school approaches to foods; WP3: Co-design of a sustainable, equitable and acceptable intervention, including compilation of a draft (extended) intervention logic model and theory of change, which incorporates consideration of context, external influences (i.e. wider system), and unintended outcomes (e.g. inequitable impact); WP4: Seeking feedback on the draft intervention from stakeholders, considering implementation within a broader socio-ecological system and transferability for optimal spread and impact. Throughout the project, we will engage with partners in local authorities, PHE, DfE and School Food Matters to develop a dissemination strategy to optimise impact and enable a future evaluation


Research activity codes: 2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION;3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Systems Actions to Malnutrition in All Its Forms in Chinese and South-East Asian Cities - Developing Double-Duty, Population-Level Interventions
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: Malnutrition in all its forms is the largest cause of Disability-adjusted Life-Years lost globally and in South-East Asia (SEA), doubling the burden created by the next biggest risk factors of tobacco use and high blood pressure. This public health crisis also carries substantial social and economic burdens. Different forms of malnutrition share systemic causes and solutions linked to the same food systems and urban environments. They also co-exist at individual, household and country levels. However, they have rarely been conceptualised and managed together through integrated, systems-based interventions. Current approaches of interventions are not reducing undernutrition fast enough and have failed to halt the rise of obesity and related non-communicable diseases. To effectively tackle this largely preventable public health crisis, a Systems Approach is urgently needed. We aim to develop multi-sectoral, double-duty, population-level interventions to reduce malnutrition in all its forms in Chinese and SEA cities through a participatory systems science method (Group Model Building/GMB) and co-creation with local decision makers and community representatives over three study phases. This phase 1 study underpins subsequent studies by 1) co-developing systemic interventions and forming local delivery Action Groups; and gaining practical insights into the GMB-based process in an Asian city, 2) identifying strategies to recruit SEA cities to join the study, and 3) informing the development of an internationally comparable and sustainable intervention monitoring and evaluation mechanism. This will be the first study to apply a Systems Approach to develop malnutrition interventions in developing, Asian cities. Our findings will significantly advance the work on the Decade of Action on Nutrition towards achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and contribute to methodological development and impacts of this new approach on public health promotion globally.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Worldwide phenotypes and transitions in obesity-related multimorbidity
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: Obesity and multimorbidity are key challenges to population health in the UK and around the world. Obesity has increased in most countries but there is significant variation in the prevalence of obesity; distribution among class I, II and II obesity; body fat distribution; and whether obesity occurs alongside undernutrition and other risk factors such as tobacco use and high blood pressure and cholesterol. The overall aim of our interdisciplinary programme is to generate the evidence that will help select and prioritize interventions for prevention and treatment of the health burden of obesity throughout the world. To achieve this aim, in four integrated work packages, we will characterise and quantify key clusters of multimorbidity in those who are obese in comparison with those who are under-, normal- or over-weight in different world regions; estimate changes in the diseases contained in obesity-related multimorbidity clusters and in the prevalence of the clusters since 1990; quantify the role of individual demographic, behavioural, physiological and health care characteristics in variations in obesity-related multimorbidity; and establish an interdisciplinary UK-LMIC network for research on obesity and multimorbidity, and translation into clinical practice and policy. Our data will be from the largest global collection of population-based studies, collated through the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration. We will use statistical machine learning methods for probabilistic clustering of participants based on multiple morbidities, and for understanding the role of individual traits in variations in cluster allocation. Our programme will present a comprehensive view of the phenotypes and transitions in obesity-related multimorbidity in diverse populations, significantly advance global research on obesity from a focus on measurement to characterisation of multifaceted impacts on population health, and guide clinical and public health decisions.


Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS;2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT;2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: HDHL MICA:Innovative plant protein fibre and physical activity solutions to address poor appetite and prevent undernutrition in older adults, APPETITE
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: Older adults with poor appetite are at high risk of undernutrition due to the role of appetite as a key driver of food intake. Dietary protein and fibre are critical nutrients in this population and enhancing their intake is vital to preventing undernutrition and maintaining organ function and health. APPETITE is a transdisciplinary consortium of researchers from eight institutions in six European countries that will collaborate to design approaches to enhance protein and fibre consumption of community-dwelling older adults with poor appetite, and overcome undernutrition through targeted nutrition and physical activity. This translational research will include development of innovative food products, testing these products, and their application in clinical studies. In a series of linked work packages, older adults with poor appetite will be carefully characterized, and their nutritional and behavioural preferences evaluated; working with them, innovative and affordable food products combining several domestic plant proteins and dietary fibres will be developed. Mechanistic insights will be gained by examining the impact of selected products, physical activity and probiotic interventions on digestibility, amino acid bioavailability and whole-body protein metabolism. In a multi-country randomized controlled intervention trial, the impact of two new food products, as part of a personalised optimized diet, a physical activity program, and their combination will be determined regarding appetite, dietary intake, nutritional status, anabolic response, metabolic parameters and physiological function. A wide range of dissemination activities will raise awareness, share knowledge, and improve dialogue between consumers, scientists, healthcare professionals and the food industry. The findings will inform dietary recommendations and policy, strengthen European agri-food industry, and contribute to a better quality of life for older Europeans.


Research activity codes: 6.1 PHARMACEUTICALS;6.7 PHYSICAL
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Data-driven integration of emerging technologies to generate a Standardised and Objective Dietary Intake Assessment Tool
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: The reliable and objective assessment of habitual diet is a major challenge in nutrition research. New technologies are emerging, but unlikely to solve this problem independently. Metabolites derived from food, found in either urine or blood offer objective 'biomarkers' of dietary intake. Similarly, the analysis of images derived from wearable cameras can discern much about eating behaviour. Our overall aim is to evaluate the optimal combination(s) of measurements provided by these emerging technologies to monitor accurately habitual dietary intake in real-life settings. In a controlled food intervention, we will first calibrate the ability of each technology to monitor exposure to a comprehensive range of foods commonly consumed in the UK. First morning void urine samples collected using vacuum tube technology and capillary blood samples obtained using the OneDraw Blood Collection device will be analysed using already standardised quantitative LC-MS/MS methods to measure the concentration of more than 80 dietary intake and nutritional status biomarkers. Images from unobtrusive cameras will be analysed using deep learning semantic segmentation and AI methods to predict dietary intake. A second study with 'rolling' recruitment will validate how each diet assessment tool can be deployed unsupervised to assess habitual diet remotely in a larger, free-living population. The subsequent data will be modelled using machine learning to determine the optimal combination of diet assessment tools to assess habitual eating behaviour. The acceptability and performance of a minimal, low burden novel integrated tool will then be tested both in free-living individuals generally representative of the UK population and in 'hard to engage/low compliance' demographic groups. Throughout the programme we will consult with PPI groups and stakeholders to ensure that the new technology is perceived as highly acceptable, easy to use and cost effective.


Research activity codes: 5.6 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE