Translational Centres
The Healthcare Technologies Institute
The Healthcare Technologies Institute brings together leading experts from a variety of disciplines across the University of Birmingham, including:
- Chemical Engineering
- Biomedical Science
- Computer Science
- Applied Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Physics
Researchers across campus are working collaboratively to accelerate the translation of new discoveries into health applications.
Our research supports the development of existing markets and stimulates new ones for small and medium-sized life sciences businesses, enabling them to bring products to market quickly, at lower cost, and with reduced risk.
Our Research Themes Include:
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Healing Without Scarring
65% of trauma victims suffer from problematic scarring, some of which can remain for the rest of their lives. Wounds, whether from trauma or disease, can lead to significant issues such as infection or long-term deformities. Researchers at the Healthcare Technologies Institute are developing new technologies to minimize the impact of scarring on both skin and eyes. -
Early Detection
Early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, brain injuries, and cancer can offer patients a better chance of recovery. Currently, diagnostic technologies are often invasive, unreliable, and expensive. Our researchers are investigating rapid, real-time chemical and biological detection methods to help clinicians make faster and more accurate decisions, improving long-term outcomes. -
Better Prosthetics
Currently, three million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis, and over 25% of people over 50 have osteoarthritis. By 2040, one in ten adults will be diagnosed with diabetes, which can impact the health of eyes and limbs. While prosthetics and implants are designed to match patients’ geometries and native tissue, infection is still a common issue. Our researchers are developing better, longer-lasting prosthetics to help patients return to full function and maintain quality of life. -
Tackling Antibiotic Resistance
Our researchers are committed to increasing life expectancy by finding new ways to combat antibiotic resistance. They are focused on understanding how antibiotics work and developing new strategies to prevent and treat infections, tracking and discovering innovative approaches to fight drug-resistant bacterial infections. -
Tissue Regeneration
The number of fractures is increasing rapidly, putting strain on global healthcare systems. Osteoporosis-fragility fractures alone cost the NHS £1.5 billion, with significant personal impacts on quality of life. Current methods, such as autologous grafts and allogeneic bone, have limitations. Researchers are focused on creating new methods to generate large volumes of bone without patient morbidity, overcoming the challenges posed by existing approaches.
Key Projects, Centres, and Programmes:
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Centre for Custom Medical Devices (CMD)
CMD brings together multidisciplinary expertise to explore the potential of additive manufacturing in medical devices. CMD innovates across the medical device supply chain, from implant simulation and novel designs to prosthetics manufacturing that address healthcare challenges. -
EPSRC-SFI Joint Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineered Tissues for Discovery, Industry, and Medicine (lifETIME CDT)
This partnership, between the University of Glasgow, the University of Birmingham, Aston University, and CURAM (Science Foundation Ireland), trains leaders in drug discovery and regenerative medicine, focusing on bioengineered 3D models, microfluidics, diagnostics, and sensing platforms. -
Scar Free Foundation Centre for Conflict Wound Research
Funded by the Scar Free Foundation, this national facility aims to reduce and eventually eradicate the impact of scarring and related loss of function in Armed Forces personnel and civilians injured in conflicts or terrorism. The Centre will focus on biological and clinical research across three strategic themes. -
West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA)
Funded by Innovate-UK, the WMHTIA tackles the challenges faced by companies bringing new technologies to market. The programme unites industry, NHS, and university experts to guide pioneering businesses through the key stages of medical translation. -
RESILIENCE Medicines Manufacturing Skills Centre of Excellence
This national talent development network, delivered in partnership with Innovate-UK and DSIT, supports the UK’s life sciences workforce by offering high-quality training and outreach for industry, academia, and the NHS.
For more information, visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/healthcaretechnologies
Email: hti@contacts.bham.ac.uk
Follow us: @Htibham
Health Data Research Team
Data Research Programme
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) Department enables safe access to health care data for Quality improvement, Research, and Innovation.
We are committed to the responsible use of data to improve patient care and the population’s health and well-being. There are several Data Hubs and teams supporting the use of healthcare data for Research Purposes hosted by UHB.
WMSDE
A regional data storage and access platform that improves patient care by delivering innovation sooner. It is funded by NHS England and is one of several regional platforms in the national secure data environment network
PATHWAY
Designed to provide safe access to those clinicians, analysts and researchers who are committed to using UHB data to improve patient care and the population’s health and well-being
www.researchdata.uhb.nhs.uk/pathway
INSIGHT
An NHS-led partnership set up to make routinely collected eye data available for health research. The data available consists of large-scale data sets of ophthalmic images linked to clinical records currently from two NHS foundation Trusts: University Hospitals Birmingham and Moorfields Eye Hospital. The datasets have been used by researchers advancing the field of Oculomics, which studies the eye to understand broader health conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and Alzheimer’s.
INSIGHT holds some of the largest eye datasets in the world.
PIONEER
Improving patient care by making routinely collected acute health data available to doctors, researchers and academics, under licence, so that the data can be used ethically and with robust governance to improve treatment choices as well as identifying new ways to deliver clinical care.
Platform Development
Our technical platforms, including the WMSDE, offer cloud-based data access built to the latest standards. It is highly secure, ISO27001 accredited, proactively monitored and auditable. It is operated by an experienced technical team, and strongly aligned with information governance and legal frameworks.
It curates multi-modal healthcare data assets which allows data authorised data researchers to remotely access the information they need within one NHS- controlled space.
Business Development
At UHB, we offer comprehensive data research services designed to support both academic institutions and commercial organisations in unlocking the full potential of health data.
Our team facilitates strategic collaborations, providing seamless access to high-quality, ethically approved data for research, innovation, and commercial development.
Whether you’re a researcher seeking robust data resources or a company looking to harness healthcare data for transformative solutions, our expert team ensures a seamless, ethical, and efficient process to accelerate your success.
AI and policy
The AI & Digital Health Research and Policy Group is dedicated to ensuring that AI technologies in healthcare are safe, effective, and equitable. Our work involves collaborating with global health, academic, industry, and policy institutions to develop best practices for AI health technologies. They have made significant contributions, such as leading the world’s first meta-analysis of AI diagnostics, developing international reporting guidelines for clinical trials in AI, and co-leading the NICE Evidence Standards Frameworks for Digital Health Technologies.
Additionally, they work with the MHRA on regulatory frameworks, evaluate adverse event reporting systems, and develop the Medical Algorithmic Audit for post- market safety monitoring.
The group also addresses AI equity by mapping under- representation in datasets and improving data diversity through initiatives like the STANDING Together programme. Their collaborative approach extends to participatory research, involving diverse communities in their projects, and policy engagement, with members contributing to various national and international policy bodies. Supported by the NIHR, they lead the UK’s Incubator for AI and Digital Healthcare, fostering innovation and capacity building in the field. Their work is recognised for its impact on improving scientific standards, evidence, safety, and inclusivity in AI health technologies. They have also recently been awarded a grant to establish a Centre of Excellence for Regulatory Science and Innovation in AI and Digital Health Technologies to optimise the regulation of AI and digital healthcare technologies to ensure innovations are safe and effective for patients.
Data Governance
UHB has obtained the necessary ethical approvals for all its Research Data Hubs from the Research Ethics Committee (REC) and Health Research Authority (HRA and CAG). These approvals ensure that all research activities conducted within UHB’s Data Hubs adhere to the highest ethical and regulatory standards, safeguarding patient confidentiality and data integrity.
To maintain robust oversight and governance of all UHB Health Data Hubs, dedicated oversight committees have been established for each hub. These committees play a crucial role in monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating all data access requests, ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines, legal frameworks, and institutional policies. This structured governance approach helps to uphold transparency, accountability, and responsible data usage in medical and health research.
Research and Statistics
The Statistics team work with clinical staff, researchers, and academics on a variety of projects. The team have a wide range of expertise and provide statistically robust answers to clinical questions by analysing, interpreting, and presenting data. The team have collaborated on a large number of publications in peer-reviewed journals and often contribute to data analysis requests within UHB.
The AI & Digital Health Research and Policy Group
Aim
Our work seeks to ensure AI technologies are safe, effective, equitable, and sustainable, benefiting both patients and society.
Who We Are and What We Do
We are a research and policy group focused on the responsible innovation of AI health technologies, addressing the four pillars of safety, effectiveness, equity, and sustainability. We collaborate with health, academic, industry, and policy institutions around the world, bringing together diverse, interdisciplinary teams to build best practices that can be translated internationally.
Our work is recognized for its impact, including improving scientific standards, enhancing evidence, improving safety, and addressing inclusivity and fairness in AI. Our work has been cited by regulators, the WHO, and the G7.
Example Projects
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STANDING Together
An international collaborative effort to build standards for health data, promote transparency, and reduce the impact of biased algorithms. The project engaged stakeholders from 58 countries and leading international regulators.
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The Medical Algorithmic Audit
A framework for the safe deployment and ongoing safety monitoring of AI health technologies within healthcare systems. This framework has been cited by the MHRA as best practice.
How We Work
We thrive on collaboration, bringing together individuals from different backgrounds, disciplines, and sectors to tackle challenging problems with the aim of improving lives through our work.
We invest in people, provide opportunities, and create a dynamic learning environment within our team and our wider networks. We strive to balance excellence, rigor, and pragmatism in our work, using scientific methodology to tackle practice- or policy-related issues concerning AI health technologies.
Once we address these challenges, we partner with relevant national and international bodies as their trusted academic partner to translate our research into real change on the ground.
The Clinical Informatics Group
The Clinical Bioinformatics Group is a diverse multidisciplinary group comprised of members with diverse expertise, backgrounds and skills ranging from biology, genetics, medicine, health informatics, clinical bioinformatics, digital and genetic epidemiology, public health, computational biology, to data science, computer science, engineering, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, big data, statistics and mathematics. With research and training at the core of our group, we aim to harness the full potential of Birmingham’s health data science capabilities to develop regional, national, and global leadership in the field of health data science.
NIHR Global Surgery Unit
The NIHR Global Surgery Unit was established at the University of Birmingham in 2017. The Unit established a research infrastructure across 7 countries on 3 continents. Over 8 years, this infrastructure has been developed to deliver practice changing randomised controlled trials involving 30,000 patients and cohort studies involving a quarter of a million patients from over 100 countries, informing on variation in surgical outcomes and resilience in surgical services during COVID. International agencies now recognise that surgical services development is urgently required for Universal Health Coverage to be realised. This will require a massive growth in surgical services over the next decade, with sustainable developments alongside the safe expansion of services.
Housed in the ITM, Professor Aneel Bhangu leads this diverse and multidisciplinary team including clinicians, statisticians, health economists, management teams, patient professionals, and public health professionals. We have a stable and growing PhD programme for clinical and non-clinical team members. Their work spans a breadth of topics, including improving surgical outcomes, advancing surgical techniques, and enhancing access to surgical care in low-resource settings. The Global Surgery Unit provides high quality evidence to support the investment into this growth. This growth will need to be performed in a sustainable fashion, demonstrating both financial and carbon efficiencies. The team continues to secure new funding to support their ambitious research agenda.
Professor Aneel Bhangu
Professor of Global Surgery Honorary Consultant Colorectal Surgeon
www.aneelbhangu.co.uk
@aneelbhangu
a.a.bhangu@bham.ac.uk
Global Maternal Health
Lead
Professor Arri Coomarasamy
The Maternal Health team at the Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM), led by Professor Arri Coomarasamy, focuses on two main areas of research:
- Preventing Miscarriages
- Understanding Ways to Prevent Maternal Deaths During Childbirth
Research Focus Areas
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Miscarriage Prevention
One in four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, causing significant emotional distress for couples. As the Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, Professor Coomarasamy leads a world-class team of scientists and doctors working to identify those at increased risk of miscarriage and prevent it from occurring. -
Maternal Mortality Prevention
Every two minutes, a mother dies during childbirth somewhere in the world, often leaving behind a young family. A third of these deaths result from postpartum haemorrhage (excessive bleeding during childbirth). As the Joint Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health, Professor Coomarasamy leads an international team dedicated to finding ways to prevent maternal deaths caused by excessive bleeding.
Key Research Trials
The Coomarasamy team conducts numerous national and international multicentre randomised controlled trials, including:
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The PRISM Trial (NEJM, 2019)
Evaluating the effects of progesterone therapy for women with early pregnancy bleeding. -
The MifeMiso Trial (Lancet, 2020)
Exploring the role of misoprostol with or without mifepristone in the medical management of missed miscarriages. -
The E-MOTIVE Trial (NEJM, 2023)
Investigating the effects of early detection and first-response management of postpartum haemorrhage with a bundle of care in low-resource countries. -
The LOCI Trial (Ongoing)
Studying the effects of letrozole versus clomifene, with or without metformin, for ovulation induction in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
Recognition and Impact
Professor Coomarasamy’s team is committed to ensuring that their research has a tangible impact on healthcare. In 2024, the E-MOTIVE trial was awarded the University of Birmingham Award for Outstanding Impact on Health, and the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research team received a Highly Commended recognition for Outstanding Impact on Policy Change and Clinical Practice.
Learn More or Get in Touch
To find out more about the work of Professor Coomarasamy and his team, visit:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/lifesavingprojects-targeting-maternal-mortality
Contact the teams
Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research:
Email: tommys@contacts.bham.ac.uk
E-MOTIVE / Postpartum Haemorrhage Team:
Email: emotive@trials.bham.ac.uk
NIHR HealthTech Research Centre Devices, digital and
robotics
The NIHR HRC in Devices, Digital and Robotics is one of 14 new centres across England recently funded to drive life-changing research into health technologies and bring industry, academia and the health and care system together. Our core themes of Medical Devices, Digital & Data and Robots & Autonomous Systems are led by world class academics from the University of Birmingham, University Hospitals Birmingham, and Imperial College London. The themes each include the cross-cutting areas of Human Factors & Usability, Health Economics & Value Proposition, and Regulations, with leads from the University of Birmingham and Health Innovation West Midlands.
The vision of the NIHR HRC in Devices, Digital and Robotics is to be a national centre of excellence to support the safe, effective and efficient translation of new healthcare technologies into routine care for NHS patients and follow-on social care.
Our work aims to improve efficiencies, and rate of success, of HealthTech uptake into health and social care. The NIHR HRC-DDR provides a national service supporting partners and industry, particularly SMEs, through the innovation ecosystem linking with expert academics and clinicians within our partner organisations and infrastructures, generating evidence to support uptake and adoption.
The NIHR HRC-DDR plays a key role in identifying unmet needs, supporting prioritised technologies, and generating evidence across Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) to support the evidence required for regulatory approval and adoption. We continue to improve the knowledge and expertise surrounding medical device development and regulations and provide specialised support for digital and data-driven solutions. Our strategies, programme and project work are informed by patients and the public and align with national strategies for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and sustainability.
NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre
The National Institute for Health and Care Research Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Birmingham BRC) translates new scientific discoveries into treatments and diagnostics to improve people’s health. We focus on inflammation and the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of its associated long-term diseases.
We are part of the NIHR and hosted by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Birmingham. Our associate partners bring additional expertise, increase our research capacity and add regional capability. They include Keele, Aston and Oxford Universities and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s, Birmingham Community Healthcare and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trusts.
To achieve our ambitious vision, we rely not only on our brilliant researchers, but also on our hard-working core team. Working alongside academic and clinical colleagues, our BRC core team supports the delivery of our research programme – providing invaluable expertise including leadership and operations, project management, patient and public involvement, industry engagement, communications and administrative support.
In addition to day-to-day management, our core team represents the BRC at regional and national meetings, drives forward national projects, and contributes to strategic direction and decision making.
To find out more about our work, please visit our website: NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre
The UHB School of Nursing, Allied Health Professional and Midwifery Clinical Academic Team (CAT)
Led by Professor Annie Topping, includes Dr Caroline Miller and Dr Emma Sutton (Clinical Academic Co- Leads), Teresa Melody (Head of Research Education), Ackeelya Dyce (Project Manager) and Lisa MacDougall (Personal Assistant). They promote and support clinical academic careers for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHP’s) at the trust and provide research education through bespoke training sessions for all aspects of the research pathway and have created internally funded scholarships and fellowships to create space for NMAHPs wishing to undertake a Quality Improvement or Research project.
The team facilitates regular communities of practice for those interested in research development and delivery, providing key skills to submit grant applications and understanding the key aspects of clinical academic careers.
The team provide support through the trust’s mentorship programme and host writing clubs.
Let them know if you wish to receive further information or think of other events or training that would be useful.
Sexual Health and HIV Research Unit
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The Sexual Health and HIV Research Unit at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust collaborates with Birmingham City University and the University of Birmingham to enhance the delivery of high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare. Key focus areas include:
- A program of healthcare services research
- Increasing research capacity in sexual health and HIV
- Contributing to research and teaching programs within UHB, BCU, and UoB
- Supporting the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network
Collaborators (Past Year):
- Birmingham City Council
- Coventry University
- University of Nottingham
- University College London
- Glasgow Caledonian University
- Oxford Jenner Institute
- Sexually Transmitted Infections Research Foundation Charity
Major Research Themes:
- Sexual health service delivery
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Selected Activities (Past Year):
NIHR Funded Research:
- CONNECT Study: Understanding the impact of remote consultations in sexual and reproductive health services on health inequalities
- IDSV Study: Co-developing approaches for health outcome measurement for interventions tackling sexual violence
- DEVA Trial: Evaluating the safety and efficacy of dequalinium in treating bacterial vaginosis
Delivering High-Quality Sexual Health Services:
- International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI) Guidelines Editorial Board
- World Health Organization (WHO) STI Management Guidelines Group
- Advertising sexual violence support services in sexual and reproductive health services to improve awareness, relatability, and acceptability
Supporting Commercial Research in the NHS:
- EAGLE Study: Phase III randomised controlled trial assessing gepotidacin for the treatment of gonorrhoea
- Phase 3 Study: Evaluating a switch to Doravirine/Islatravir once-daily in participants with HIV-1 who are virologically suppressed on antiretroviral therapy
- GSK HSV EPI HSV-006 Study: Evaluating frequency and severity of recurrent genital herpes to assist in vaccine development
Dr. Trivedi
Associate Professor, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre
Dr. Trivedi is the Chief Investigator for the UK-Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) Consortium and holds key roles in multiple professional organizations:
- Elected chair of the British Association for Study of the Liver (BASL) Special Interest Group (SIG) for immune-mediated and cholestatic liver disease
- Elected steering committee member of the Global Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) Group and International PSC Study Groups (2022)
Dr. Trivedi has been the chief or principal investigator for over 30 interventional trials, leading four academic multicentre studies in PSC. His extensive research output includes:
- Over 100 articles on PubMed, with more than 50 published in the last five years
- Over 40 original articles, with 50 as first or lead author
- £18 million GBP in independent grant funding
His research focuses on the role of gut-liver immunity, modeling the natural history of rare liver diseases, and optimizing clinical trial design for chronic cholestasis.
Research Team:
- 2 post-doctoral scientists
- 3 clinical research fellows
- 1 MSc student
- Project manager and data manager
Current Research Areas:
- Leveraging population-based healthcare data to map rare liver disease epidemiology
- Development and delivery of experimental medicines, especially gut microbial manipulation to attenuate autoimmune liver disease progression
- Conducting post-market approval studies of newly licensed therapies for rare liver diseases
- Quantifying real-time symptom variability in patients to inform rare liver disease trial designs aimed at improving patient quality of life
- Applying exercise interventions to mitigate fatigue in chronic cholestasis
CRF @ Centre for Rare Diseases
The CfRD activity has continued to grow with restoration of all clinics following the pandemic across all consultation modes, with activity levels for 23/24 exceeding previous years. The CfRD currently houses around 100 different clinics, some of which are multi-disciplinary in nature. An example of this is the Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic where the patients will see consultants from renal, neurology, urology, pharmacy as well as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Some clinics may also have a dietitian, physiotherapist or a speech and language therapist present. The CfRD is unique in that we provide a “one stop” shop appointment; depending on the clinic pathway, there is the option to have an electrocardiography, echocardiography, fibroscan, spirometry and blood tests in one visit, the majority of which are carried out by the CfRD nurses.
There have been several highlights throughout the year; the Cystinosis clinic has been awarded National Designation, the set up and delivery of The Institute of Transplant Oncology Clinic and the transfer of the Vasculitis clinic. In addition, the first clinic in the UK for patients with the ultra-rare condition of Familial Chylomicronaemia Syndrome in the UK has taken place. The CfRD continues to support collaboration with research teams for the delivery of rare and non-rare studies within the CfRD and ITM CRF. There was also a successful Life Arc application with the aim of setting up a Rare Disease Registry.
The Renal Research Group
This group comprises three overlapping fields led by senior kidney medicine specialists.
Chronic Kidney Disease – Led by Professor Paul Cockwell, current President of the UK Kidney Association. The main aims of this group is to improve the care and outcomes of all patients who have abnormal kidney function using Patient Reported Outcome Measures, observational and interventional clinical trials and the use of large data sets to analyse the epidemiology of CKD. This grouping has been extremely successful with multiple clinicians gaining their PhD and moving on to senior clinical and academic positions, multiple large national and European grants awarded and many high impact publications in the field.
Cardiorenal Medicine – Led by Professor Charles Ferro, current chairperson of the European Renal Association Strong Kidneys Taskforce and Vice-chair of the European Renal and Cardiovascular Medicine Working Group. This group is very active in investigating the links between heart disease and kidney disease using advanced cardiac imaging techniques housed within the ITM, randomised and observational trials as well as using large national and international datasets. This group has successfully produced 15 successful PhD candidates in the last few years, has received multiple international and national competitive grant awards, and produced many high impact publications.
Kidney Transplantation – Led by Dr Adnan Sharif, current Councillor on the British Transplantation Society and Executive Board member of the UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network. This groups research aims to improve the outcomes of patients being treated with a kidney transplant, largely using information technology as well as clinical trials and observational clinical studies. Dr Sharif has recently managed to create a combined dataset from NHS England and UK NHS Blood and Transplant that will create a national resource to enhance transplantation research in the UK. This group will work closely with other teams within the ITM to ensure optimal usage of this unique dataset.
Birmingham Renal Informatics Group – the 3 groups above all combine their resources and expertise to ensure all data collected and available is used as efficiently as possible collaborating as a single entity with other informatic groups across Birmingham Health Partners.