HITs secure £2.9 million in research funding in 2018-19

Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams (HITs) have attracted nearly £2.9 million in research funding to Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire during 2018-19, for nearly 40 different projects.

The Parkinson’s and Other Movement Disorders (MOVE) HIT have received an impressive clutch of funding awards, including £30,000 for work on imaging and machine learning for Parkinson’s and £75,000 to use computational modelling to assess Parkinson’s movement.

The Sexual Health Improvement Programme (SHIP HIT) were similarly successful, attracting nearly £100,000 for projects including anti-microbial resistance threshold modelling and dynamic network models of sexually transmitted infections.

With more than £555,000 awarded, Bristol Bones and Joints will be leading six different studies including a feasibility study looking at reducing the effects of fatigue in inflammatory arthritis through individualised support. The team will also be working on a study on optimising decision-making and communication about bisphosphonates in consultations using a computerised tool.

The Integrated Pain Management HIT will be taking on a £94,000 project to test the feasibility and acceptability of an internationally agreed core clinical outcome measure set for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome clinical research studies.

Stroke HIT Director Phil Clatworthy is a co-applicant on “Stroke Odysseys”, a Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fund grant of £75,000.

The impact of self-consent procedures for the schools-based HPV vaccination programme is being researched by the Bristol Immunisation Group (BIG HIT) in a £167,000 project. This is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit fund.

£280,000 goes to the Improving Perinatal Mental Health HIT, for a three year Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship awarded to Dr Iryna Culpin to study the role of fathers in the context of maternal postnatal depression.

In the Chronic Kidney Disease HIT, Lucy Selman received an NIHR Career Development Fellowship to look at optimising staff-patient communication in advanced renal disease, using conversation analysis. The fellowship is worth £682,000.

Psychosis HIT were awarded £150,000 from the NIHR School for Primary Care Research to improve current assessment methods for risk of psychosis.

Lisa King, Bristol Health Partners Chief Operating Officer, said:

“Our Health Integration Teams are leading an impressive range of research projects, from small, pragmatic evaluations of interventions to full scale randomised control trials. It is heartening to see our Health Integration Team model playing such a key role in attracting resources to the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire region.”