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

Abstract: The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre brings together all our patients, staff, trainees, facilities and equipment needed to study health, disease and treatments to advance nutritional and lung-related (respiratory) health. The centre of over 600 researchers turns scientific discoveries into better treatments, care and support. It enables some of the world's leading experts in nutrition, lifestyle and respiratory health to involve patients and the public in exploring new ways of tackling disease and improving health at every point of care and at every stage of life. It also concentrates in one place expertise in making the most of research and clinical information to help fight bacteria resistant to antibiotics and to support people to make better health choices. Our goal is to boost research in nutritional and respiratory health and to improve and individualise treatments. Research within the centre is organised into two main, linked Themes: 1) Lifecourse Nutrition, Lifestyle and Health, and 2) Respiratory and Critical Care. The Lifecourse Nutrition, Lifestyle and Health Theme addresses major challenges to our nation's health including childhood obesity, liver disease and alcohol-related illness, cancer linked to obesity and healthy, independent ageing. Work in this Theme examines these issues at three stages of life: 1) from before pregnancy to adolescence; 2) adulthood; and 3) older age. The Respiratory and Critical Care Theme addresses common problems that affect millions of people like asthma, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, tackles rare lung diseases for which therapies are limited, and will discover new ways of improving critical care. Work on these topics involves three stages of care, from better prevention of disease, through earlier and more accurate diagnoses, to developing treatments personalised to each individual including managing end-of-life care with dignity. Common to both nutrition and respiratory care Themes are three important areas of research. The first, with patient agreement, will make the most of the available patient information in both the NHS system and from research studies. By developing new mathematical methods of analysing and combining data from, for example, admissions to hospital, scans, genetic and biochemical results, doctors will be better at working out which treatments are best suited to individual patients. The second brings together experts in engineering, microbiology and physical sciences to address how we could use good bacteria in the gut and upper respiratory tract to improve health, and to tackle the growing number of bacteria and fungi resistant to antibiotics that threaten to make currently treatable infections and routine surgery lethal. Our research will apply gene techniques to identify and pilot new drugs to address this antimicrobial resistance in patients with infections. Lastly, supporting people to choices that improve their health, and that of their families, is critical to wellbeing and our productivity as a nation. In a new Centre for Participatory Medicine, we will combine digital, educational and face-to-face methods of offering support into new individualised ways of improving control of respiratory diseases and reducing obesity and malnutrition.

Lay abstract: The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre brings together all our patients, staff, trainees, facilities and equipment needed to study health, disease and treatments to advance nutritional and lung-related (respiratory) health. The centre of over 600 researchers turns scientific discoveries into better treatments, care and support. It enables some of the world's leading experts in nutrition, lifestyle and respiratory health to involve patients and the public in exploring new ways of tackling disease and improving health at every point of care and at every stage of life. It also concentrates in one place expertise in making the most of research and clinical information to help fight bacteria resistant to antibiotics and to support people to make better health choices. Our goal is to boost research in nutritional and respiratory health and to improve and individualise treatments. Research within the centre is organised into two main, linked Themes: 1) Lifecourse Nutrition, Lifestyle and Health, and 2) Respiratory and Critical Care. The Lifecourse Nutrition, Lifestyle and Health Theme addresses major challenges to our nation's health including childhood obesity, liver disease and alcohol-related illness, cancer linked to obesity and healthy, independent ageing. Work in this Theme examines these issues at three stages of life: 1) from before pregnancy to adolescence; 2) adulthood; and 3) older age. The Respiratory and Critical Care Theme addresses common problems that affect millions of people like asthma, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, tackles rare lung diseases for which therapies are limited, and will discover new ways of improving critical care. Work on these topics involves three stages of care, from better prevention of disease, through earlier and more accurate diagnoses, to developing treatments personalised to each individual including managing end-of-life care with dignity. Common to both nutrition and respiratory care Themes are three important areas of research. The first, with patient agreement, will make the most of the available patient information in both the NHS system and from research studies. By developing new mathematical methods of analysing and combining data from, for example, admissions to hospital, scans, genetic and biochemical results, doctors will be better at working out which treatments are best suited to individual patients. The second brings together experts in engineering, microbiology and physical sciences to address how we could use good bacteria in the gut and upper respiratory tract to improve health, and to tackle the growing number of bacteria and fungi resistant to antibiotics that threaten to make currently treatable infections and routine surgery lethal. Our research will apply gene techniques to identify and pilot new drugs to address this antimicrobial resistance in patients with infections. Lastly, supporting people to choices that improve their health, and that of their families, is critical to wellbeing and our productivity as a nation. In a new Centre for Participatory Medicine, we will combine digital, educational and face-to-face methods of offering support into new individualised ways of improving control of respiratory diseases and reducing obesity and malnutrition.

Research activity codes: 4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION);5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT);6.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT EVALUATION)
Health categories: RESPIRATORY;GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE