Three new projects funded by Bristol BRC Director’s Fund

Three new research projects have secured funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Bristol Biomedical Research Centre’s (Bristol BRC) Director’s fund. The Director’s Fund supports exciting new projects across all our research themes which we hope will be developed into something that could directly benefit patients.

Richard Armstrong from the translational data science theme, Lucy Biddle from the mental health theme and Geri Lynch from the respiratory disease theme were awarded funds to carry out work on predicting postoperative complications, using journaling to address harmful online use in children and young people with mental health difficulties and risk factors for the development of pleural mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lungs).

Congratulations Richard, Lucy and Geri!

New Director’s Fund projects

Analysing proteins to predict complications after surgery

Up to 30 per cent of patients who have heart surgery go on to develop acute kidney injury (AKI) or atrial fibrillation (AF). There is evidence that the mechanism responsible for how inflammation develops in a patient’s body after surgery could also contribute to these other complications developing. It is possible that looking at the proteins produced by a patient’s body after surgery could help us understand these mechanisms better.

The Outcome Monitoring After Cardiac Surgery (OMACS) study collected data and samples from adult patients at the Bristol Heart Institute. Richard’s project aims to use data and samples from the OMACS study to investigate whether looking at the proteins produced by a patient’s body after surgery (together with other data about their condition) could improve how we predict potentially negative outcomes.

Developing a journaling intervention for children and young people with mental health difficulties

The online environment presents a significant threat to the mental health of children and young people, especially in relation to:

• Disordered eating
• Self-harm
• Suicidal behaviour

However, being online also has the potential to prevent these threats by offering social connection, distraction, promoting self-care, and suggesting where someone could get help from.

Children and young people want to be empowered in their digital lives so they can benefit from being online while avoiding harm. Healthcare professionals want to provide interventions that could support this. However, existing interventions focus more on digital literacy and content-regulation rather than the behaviour of individual users.

Lucy’s team will partner with Gloucestershire County Council to:

• Co-develop an app-based journaling intervention to address problematic online use and improve health outcomes in children and young people with mental health problems
• Pilot the intervention with school nurses and secondary school pupils with mental health needs to explore its acceptability, implementation and impact

Is previous pleural trauma an independent risk factor for the development of pleural mesothelioma?

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a cancer that can develop when a person is exposed to asbestos (a naturally occurring fibrous mineral). We know that high dose radiotherapy administered to the upper part of the chest, and having certain genes can increase a person’s risk of developing this type of cancer. However, we don’t know whether there are other factors that could also be contributing to the likelihood of someone developing PM.

It is possible that the inflammation which develops after a pleural injury can interact with asbestos exposure and increase the risk of PM development. The pleura is a thin layer of tissue covering the lungs and lining the interior wall of the chest cavity. Causes of pleural injury include trauma, pleural instrumentation (such as a tube inserted into the pleura) and infection.

Geri’s project will explore whether patients diagnosed with PM are also likely to have a history of pleural trauma and whether this could be used to predict a person’s risk of developing the disease.

Professor Jonathan Sterne, Bristol BRC Director, said:

“We are delighted to be able to support three exciting new projects through the Bristol BRC Director’s Fund.

“The projects selected to receive funding this year showcase the breadth of work taking place within three of our five BRC research themes.

“They show our commitment to addressing the health needs of our communities and exploring how we can use research to improve outcomes for everyone.”