Birmingham BRC in Inflammation

The Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) unites leading NHS and academic institutions in the UK s biggest and most diverse population centre outside London, serving ~5.7million people with significant healthcare inequalities in some of the most socially-deprived locations in the UK. Inflammation causes or worsens many common long-term illnesses including arthritis, liver disease and cancer.

More than 50% of the UK s population have at least one inflammatory disease, and over 25% have more than one, termed multi-morbidity .

Current treatments rarely provide a cure or improve quality of life, are often life-long, expensive and have side-effects, with these problems compounded in an ageing population.

Poor understanding of differences between diverse communities (often under-represented in research studies) make individualised treatment and prevention even harder.

These challenges provide a unifying vision for our BRC, connecting patients, communities, clinicians, nurses, scientists and trials experts, in order to translate the latest scientific discoveries into new, improved and personalised treatments that will benefit patients, and invigorate our local economy through partnerships with industry.

The BRC will offer New hope for patients, including diverse, globally-representative communities, to access the right treatments at the right time Innovative tests and treatments, including new medicines for cancer, infections, liver disease Reduced costs for healthcare providers, with new opportunities for prevention of disease Economic growth for the UK and our region through new partnerships Since 2016, our current BRC has delivered 949 clinical trials (51 first-in-human/child) of novel treatments; has raised £429million in research funding, with BRC researchers providing more than a seven-fold return on NIHR investment, with 285 industry partnerships worth ~£70million.

We have published over 14,600 papers across subject areas which, for most of our research themes, we are ranked first or top-five in England.

Importantly, the BRC will provide an inclusive, diverse research environment, community and culture; welcoming, training and supporting talented researchers, doctors and patients from all communities, genders and life-stages.

One-third of our theme leaders identify as BAME and one-third are women, and we are committed to further diversifying this.

Our BRC team combines the outstanding clinical care of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, with cutting-edge research at the University of Birmingham.

Research partners in Keele and Aston Universities and additional NHS Trusts; Birmingham Women s and Children s Hospital, Birmingham Community Trust and Sandwell West Birmingham – give us greater reach, diversity and opportunities for co-creation and impact across our regional population.

Our patient-led research focuses on illnesses where inflammation is a serious problem, including: Arthritis Inflammation of the heart and circulatory system Liver disease Inflammation in cancer Oral and Intestinal health Infections Inflammatory diseases unique to, or most common, in women Muscle-wastage (sarcopenia), a common complication of inflammatory illness Three further research areas will add great value: Data, Diagnostics & Decision Tools, analysing/interpreting health records and trial results, and using the right tests/treatments at the right time, Next Generation Therapies, technologies including stem cells and gene therapy, Patient Reported Outcomes, combining patients experiences and priorities with laboratory and clinical information.