The Institute of Applied Health Research is focused in two broad areas: (i) primary care & population health research; (ii) healthcare evaluation & methodology, and there is expertise in the main community focused clinical disciplines: public health, primary care and occupational medicine, and methodological expertise in biostatistics, health economics, clinical trials, evidence synthesis, medical ethics and qualitative research. With internationally recognised clinical trials capacity and expertise the Institute provides an exceptional collaborative framework for developing and delivering translational outputs from the University of Birmingham’s wider research portfolio.
The Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences represents our major academic strengths in fundamental cancer research, particularly around cell biology, haematology, genetics and genomics, and cancer clinical trials. The latter of these is driven through our Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Cancer Clinical Trials Unit, which is the national lead for paediatric cancer trials. Additional key infrastructure includes an Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, and the success of academic Haematology has provided a model for the development of a Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (LLR) funded Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) via Birmingham that links research nurses in 13 UK leukaemia centres, part of our wider status as a national LLR Centre of Excellence. A key driver for our future development will be the award of the West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre, the largest in the UK and linking all 18 regional NHS Trusts, with academic leadership based within this Institute.
The Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences is a developing area of strength, focused around two key themes: Vascular Inflammation, Thrombosis & Angiogenesis; and Clinical & Integrative Cardiovascular Sciences. With a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Chair and a number of BHF senior Fellows, this is a highly collaborative cluster of activity, particularly championing interdisciplinary strengths through partnerships such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Physical Sciences for Health integrated Centre for Doctoral Training and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Surgical Reconstruction & Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC).
The Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy builds on the longstanding success of our MRC Centre for Immune Regulation in carrying out world-leading research into the fundamental mechanisms that regulate immune response, now driving translational outputs through closer integration with leading cancer immunology expertise. The NIHR Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) in Liver Disease forms another key focus around which we are leading both nationally and internationally, with the establishment of our Advanced Therapies Facility providing state of the art cell and gene therapy suites with pharmacy facilities designed for gene, cell and biological therapies. Our Clinical Immunology Service supports a range of national cancer trials, and is the beneficiary of a recent £7.3M Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Infrastructure award to provide ‘deep’ phenotyping of patients involving immunological, metabolomic and DNA sequence analysis.
The Institute of Inflammation and Ageing benefits from a highly collaborative leadership team focused on translational outputs, based within a dedicated wing of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB). The strength of their vision is represented by a number of major national awards, including the MRC-Arthritis Research UK (ARUK) Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing (with Nottingham); ARUK Centre of Excellence in the Pathogenesis of RA (with Glasgow and Newcastle); ARUK Experimental Arthritis Treatment Centre; NIHR SRMRC; NIHR Healthcare Technology Cooperative (Trauma); and the Healing Foundation Burns Centre, as well as our key role in the NIHR Translational Research Partnership on Joint & Related Inflammatory Disease and NIHR SRMRC “Trauma” Centre along with collaborators in cardiovascular and microbiology research.
The Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research is another rapidly developing area, drawing on longstanding strengths in endocrinology and reproductive health as well as metabolomics to create an integrated translational environment. As well as a key role in the MRC-ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, excellence in rare disease is recognised through our leadership of the UK paediatrics theme in the NIHR NOCRI Translational Research Collaboration ‘Rare Diseases’. The Institute also provides much of the academic drive for our NIHR-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, with facilities both at University Hospitals Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and recipient of the largest national NIHR award in the last round of funding.
The Institute of Microbiology and Infection is a unique cross College Institute based in the Bioscience building. It draws together one of the largest national groupings of academic expertise in this area from researchers in LES and MDS, expert microbiologists, immunologists, biochemists and chemists, with technical expertise in next generation sequencing, genomics, proteomics, molecular and structural biology, biotechnology and modelling. Diverse research programmes encompass fundamental science of model organisms to the biochemical and biophysical analysis of microbial components to translational research on key pathogens of medical and veterinary importance. Major interests include pathogenomics, chromosome architecture and gene regulation, plasmids and mobile DNA, physiology and adaptive response, cell wall structure and membrane proteins, pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions, infection and host-immune response, antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance and environmental biotechnology.
While each of our Research Institutes will contribute to the delivery of outstanding teaching, our dedicated Institute of Clinical Sciences will provide the clear focus for integrating our education and training programmes, co-ordinating all teaching, student engagement and related activity across the College and including a number of operational and management sub-units. The Education Institute will deliver an improved, high quality student experience and be the home for our clinical professional Schools.
The new structure will encourage inter-disciplinary and cross-College collaboration to address major health issues.