News
Study shows heavy smoking can have a damaging effect on facial ageing
Heavy smoking may have a causal effect on facial ageing, according to new research led by the University of Bristol. The study searched across 18,000 traits from the UK Biobank cohort to identify those that may be affected by how heavily someone smokes. As well as recognising several known…
Researcher profile: Alison Kirby, Brist-IVF study research midwife
Alison Kirby is research midwife for the Brist-IVF study. She manages all aspects of study delivery at the Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM). What inspired you to become a midwife? Throughout my childhood I’d always wanted to become a nurse and qualified as a registered general nurse…
NIHR Bristol BRC appoints Signant Health to explore the use of eConsent in a prostate cancer study
The National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC) at the University of Bristol has selected Signant Health, formerly CRF Health and Bracket, as its partner to provide electronic informed consent (eConsent) support for a prostate cancer study. The partnership will see Signant Health collect…
Fresh insights could lead to new treatments for liver disease
The fight against liver disease could be helped by the discovery of cells that cause liver scarring. Scientists have identified new sub-types of cells that, when they interact, accelerate the scarring process in diseased livers. Experts hope that by understanding more how these cells behave, new treatments can be developed…
BRC cardiologist on finish line at World Athletics Championships
Dr Guido Pieles, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer and Consultant in Congenital Cardiology at the Bristol Heart Institute and Bristol Congenital Heart Centre, has just returned from the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. Tell me about your role at the World Athletics Championships. I’ve been part of the local host…
Dislocation following hip replacements has declined over time and has modifiable risk factors
Dislocation following primary total hip replacements has declined over time, and has a number of modifiable risk factors, research from the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre and published in The Lancet Rheumatology has found. Dislocation following total hip replacement is associated with repeated admissions to hospital and substantial costs…
Risk of bias in evidence underpinning approval of new cancer drugs raises questions
Around half of trials that supported new cancer drug approvals in Europe between 2014 and 2016 were judged to be at high risk of bias, a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has found. The research was led by the London School of Economics, with methodological…
Childhood obesity: what is the minimum change in BMI-SDS needed to reduce body fat?
Childhood obesity interventions that lead to children’s body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) being reduced by at least 0.6 may be deemed successful in reducing body fat mass, NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre researchers have found in a review published in BMJ Open. BMI values, which are used…
Childhood obesity: what is the minimum change in BMI-SDS needed to reduce body fat?
Childhood obesity interventions that lead to children’s body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) being reduced by at least 0.6 may be deemed successful in reducing body fat mass, Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) researchers have found in a review published in BMJ Open. BMI values, which are used…