Programme Name

Programme Lead

Programme Details

The programme focuses on the use of modern molecular pathology to identify appropriate treatments for patients.

Clinical and professional scientists from oncology, pathology, molecular biology, molecular genetics, cancer biology and cancer nursing are involved in the Programme which ranges from basic research to identify novel cancer targets and genes associated with a wide range of cancers to translational research identifying patterns of gene expression with cancers and linking these to the response to therapy with existing and new treatment regimes.

The strategy for this Programme is to: (i) prevent premature coronary arterial disease (CAD); (ii) understand factors involved in familial CAD; and (iii) develop partnerships – particularly with commercial sponsors. The focus is strongly aligned to Technology Foresight priority areas and to NHS plan objectives for CAD, particularly with regard to modernisation, reduction of deaths and the systematic delivery of high quality care.

This programme is concerned with research which is associated with the development and assessment of medical devices in the broadest sense. The programme utilises the physical, engineering and computer sciences to develop and apply technology for the diagnosis, monitoring and therapy of diseases, and also studies the deployment of these technologies in clinical practice. The programme ranges from a) basic science, b) proof of principle research based on patient studies, to c) assessment of the clinical efficacy of the technology and impact on service delivery.

The aims of this Programme are to understand the aetiology of chronic diseases, including the role of environmental and genetic factors and to use such knowledge to improve well-being through health policy, screening and disease surveillance and control.   The Programme involves close partnership between the Trust (patient populations for studies, clinical expertise required for accurate diagnosis and phenotyping, responsibility for the maintenance and development of disease registers) and the University of Leeds (international quality epidemiological research expertise and laboratory-based epidemiology incorporating an understanding of the mechanisms of complex diseases).

Activity within this programme, which is concerned with research into the evaluation and implementation of care, is focused around chronic illness and symptom management with an increasing emphasis on evaluating ways of working for nursing and other Allied Health Professionals within the wider context of the health and social care system.
.All the research is aimed towards directly influencing patient care and the Trust, in collaboration with the University's School of Healthcare Studies (HCS), has developed an R&D strategy for nurses and AHPs in order to develop research capacity.

The aim of this programme is to use molecular genetic techniques in the clinical and population setting with the aim of improving the classification and understanding of factors influencing the aetiology and outcome of haemopoietic cancers. Combining this approach with novel therapeutic strategies we are aiming to develop patient specific ‘tailored' treatment.

This programme, which aims to contribute to improvement in the health and well-being of childbearing women, their babies and families, has been considerably strengthened over the last year. Increasing emphasis is placed on inter-professional and inter-sectoral working and successful tenders for both the HDA Practice Development Collaborating Centre and Evidence and Guidance Collaborating Centre for Maternal and Child Nutrition place the Group at the forefront nationally in this important area of public health. The main themes of the programme are: Infant feeding; Labour and birth and Prenatal testing.

The defining aim of the programme is to improve child health, by better prediction, prevention and improvement of adverse outcomes consequent upon common prenatal/neonatal complications. The objectives are based within three critical clinical timeframes - conception, parturition/neonatal life, and infancy.