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BUPA Foundation specialist grants winners and previous themes
Please click on the links below to find out about winners and themes for each year:
2007
Just rules for incentivising pharmaceutical innovations and for disseminating their benefits
Australian National University
Professor T Pogge
£157,386 for one year
Self-administered behavioural intervention for communication impairments following stroke
University of Sheffield
Professor R Varley
£251,834 over 3 years
Sharing responsibility: The public health impact of a nurse-led telemetric home blood pressure monitoring service
University of Edinburgh
Dr J Hanley
£233,524 over 3 years
Multi-professional intervention and training for ongoing volunteer-based community health programs in the North-East of Thailand
International Union Against Cancer (UICC)
Dr M Moore
£90,000 over 3 years
4 specialist grants were awarded in 2007.
2006 - Health in the workplace
Five medical research projects promoting good health at work have been awarded grants worth a total of £982,119 from the BUPA Foundation.
Grants have been awarded to the following projects
Driving out back pain in business drivers
Loughborough University
Dr Diane Gyi
Dr Diane Gyi and her team from the Department of Human Sciences at Loughborough University have been awarded a grant of £192,037 to research the effects of car driving on individuals who drive as part of their job. Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common forms of work-related ill health in the UK, with an annual cost of over £200 million, and employees who drive more than 20 hours a week as part of their job are at particular risk. The research will involve the development and evaluation of a Driving Ergonomics tool, specifically targeted at managing the risks of ill health in business drivers.
Work-related musculoskeletal diseases of surgeons
University of Hong Kong Medical Centre and Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Dr Pei Ho
A grant of £102,808 has been awarded to the team from the University of Hong Kong Medical Centre and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led by Dr Pei Ho, who will be undertaking a unique research project looking at how the intense working environment impacts on surgeons' health. Long working hours, rigorous physical and mental work, awkward posture and repetitive joint movement can all induce work-related musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons; this project will assess the prevalence and severity of their symptoms. An on-site biomechanical study on surgeons during theatre will also be carried out, with recommendations on postural and muscle training offered by rehabilitation experts. Their effect will be tested.
Increasing physical activity: designing and testing a workplace intervention
Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, and Health and Safety Laboratory, Buxton
Dr Rebecca Lawton
This 36 month study will develop and evaluate a flexible and problem-based initiative to promote physical activity in the workplace. The initiative will target Awareness, Motivation and Environment (AME) and will compare changes in behaviour, health and work for employees who receive the AME intervention with those who do not. The study is being led by Dr Rebecca Lawton of the Institute of Psychological Sciences at the University of Leeds in collaboration with the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton. An award of £332,172 has been made from the BUPA Foundation for this study.
An investigation into the links between a proactive corporate approach to employee health, attendance management and organisational performance - what works and why?
Division of Health in the Community, University of Warwick
Professor Jeremy Dale
Forward-thinking employers are becoming more aware of the benefits of enhancing the health of their employees and supporting their early return to work after periods of sickness absence. The aim of this study is to identify examples of good practice and to develop and evaluate the impact of guidance to encourage organisations to adopt such approaches. An award of £272,788 has been made to Professor Jeremy Dale of the Division of Health in the Community and his team at the University of Warwick for this research.
A randomized controlled trial of a scalable and minimally intrusive workplace health promotion initiative upon individual work performance and productivity
The Work Foundation
Mr Stephan Bevan
The Work Foundation, led by director of research, Mr Stephan Bevan is to receive an award worth £82,314 to investigate health promotion at work. The study will look at a health promotion initiative in a UK organisation and study its impact on the health of employees, their performance and productivity. The research will develop a tool to measure performance and productivity at work that involves asking both the employee themselves and their colleagues. The tool will then be available to other researchers for use in the future.
2005 - Health and care of older people
The BUPA Foundation has awarded over £850,000 to five research projects that help to improve the health and care of older people who suffer mental health problems because of Alzheimer’s or other neurodegenerative diseases.
The following projects have been awarded funding from the BUPA Foundation:
- a trial by The Stroke Association to determine whether vascular surgery can help prevent older people suffering from stroke
- a study at the University of Newcastle into ways of improving communication between dementia patients and their doctors
- a project at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, to determine whether a blood test for the enzyme GSK-3 could be useful in helping to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease
- a pilot study by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong into whether Curcumin can help to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease
- a study at the University of Cambridge to gain a fuller understanding of what it means to live to a very old age
Asymptomatic Carotid Surgery Trial
The Stroke Association
Alison Halliday
Research has shown that people with substantial narrowing of the carotid artery, a main blood supply to the brain, have increased risk of stroke. This study will investigate whether surgery to remove the narrowing artery could benefit patients with no previous stroke-like symptoms. A five-year study has already taken place. The BUPA Foundation grant will enable this study to be extended over 10 years. This project is the world’s biggest ever trial of vascular surgery and the results will determine effective methods of stroke prevention and rehabilitation.
Improving patient-centred care for people with dementia in medical encounters
University of Newcastle
Claire Bamford
Research suggests that people with dementia are often excluded from participating in the decision-making process about their treatment and care with their doctor. This study will videotape consultations between people with dementia, their carers and medical professionals, to identify the factors that prevent people with dementia from fully taking part in the discussion. The researchers will then use the results of the study to develop a workshop for healthcare professionals to improve the way they work with dementia patients.
Integrating clinical outcomes and biomarkers in dementia: GSK-3 and quality of life
Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Professor Simon Lovestone
Recently it has been found that people with Alzheimer’s disease have increased levels of the enzyme GSK-3 in their blood. This study will investigate whether the enzyme GSK-3 might be useful in both the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and in the assessment of dementia severity. The study will also investigate the relationship between such measures and clincial outcomes including quality of life.
A pilot study of Curcumin for treating Alzheimer’s disease
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr Larry Baum
Curcumin, a flavourless powder that is often used in food colouring, has been shown to reduce the kind of inflammation that may aggravate Alzheimer’s disease. This study will look at whether Curcumin can play a role in helping to care for people with Alzheimer’s disease, and may lead to inexpensive treatment that delays the progression of the illness.
Living and dying in extreme old age
University of Cambridge
Jane Fleming
More and more people are living to a very old age. This study aims to improve understanding of what it means to live to very old age by interviewing people in their nineties, their families and carers. Building on 20 years of quantitative data, the research will also help in planning better social and health care for an ageing population.
2004 - Exploitation of Clinical Datasets
Eight medical research projects have received awards worth a total of £900,397 from the annual BUPA Foundation specialist grants programme. All the projects will exploit existing data sets to yield new medical knowledge, leading to improved services and treatments.
The benefit to public health and patient care from the chosen research projects is wide-reaching and the information gained will provide medical teams and policy-makers with new knowledge about the following.
Occupational causes of prostate cancer
Chronic disease management and equity of healthcare
Prevention of urinary incontinence in older women
Prevention and management of infections during pregnancy
Benefits of screening for coronary heart disease risk
Assisted reproductive technology and low birth weight
Management and resources for the Hepatitis C virus
Improved planning of health funding for intensive care units
Occupational causes of prostate cancer
The Queensland Cancer Fund in Australia is investigating occupational causes of prostate cancer and benign enlargement of the prostate. Currently few risk factors are known for either disease and there are no preventative strategies. The project will use existing data that showed Australian Vietnam veterans are 50 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than the general population.
Chronic disease management and equity of health care
A three-year study analysing Primary Care Databases will examine disease incidence and equity of health care focusing on: secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, medicines use in the elderly and sexually transmitted diseases. This study, by St George's Hospital Medical School, will provide invaluable information on chronic disease management.
Prevention of urinary incontinence in older women
A two-year project by the University of Leicester (Department of Health Sciences) will evaluate whether changes in diet and lifestyle can help prevent urinary incontinence in older women. It will also confirm whether similar changes can alleviate symptoms and slow progression. The conclusions from the project will contribute to the development of preventative services and improved primary care.
Prevention and management of infections during pregnancy
A study led by Dr Andrew Hayward from UCL Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, will use the General Practice Research Database to analyse the cases of over 200,000 pregnant women and their offspring. The study will look at the effect of infections during pregnancy and its effect on maternal, foetal, infant and child health problems. As well as providing additional information on the cause of many disorders for both patients and the medical profession, it will also highlight the need for national strategies for prevention and management of infections.
Benefits of screening for coronary heart disease risk
The Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Cambridge University have received funding for a study looking into the reliability of screening for C-reactive protein for assessing coronary heart disease risk. This project will provide public health policy makers with essential information for building a case, either for or against launching a screening programme for millions of adults.
Assisted reproductive technology and low birth weight
An Australian study, from Monash University, will confirm whether babies born by assisted reproductive technology (ART) have a low birth weight compared to non-ART babies and, if they do, whether this is due to the process or relates to the infertile couple. The results will drive new gynaecological practice policy as it will compare different forms of ART and will confirm if one type of treatment is more favourable for mother and child.
Management and resources for the Hepatitis C Virus
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects one in every 200 people in the UK, and is now recognised as a major global health problem by NICE and the DoH. Professor Irving from the University of Nottingham will use a grant from the BUPA Foundation to analyse the Trent HCV Cohort Study database and assess clinical effectiveness in managing the disease as well as the most effective use of resources when treating the infection at its different stages.
Improved planning of health funding for Intensive Care Units
A study from the University of Western Australia will analyse existing data to provide new information about the long-term outcome of patients leaving Intensive Care Units. Researchers will consider factors including age, pre-existing illness, severity and type of critical illness to provide reliable information for policy-makers to consider when planning intensive care services.
2003 - Surgical innovation
Researchers to develop instrument that "feels" tissue
The BUPA Foundation has awarded a grant of over £200,000 over three years to a study that is seeking to develop an endoscopic instrument for keyhole surgeons that will give surgeons information they can usually only obtain by touch when performing conventional open surgery. If successful, this will dramatically increase the diagnostic value of keyhole surgery.
"During open surgery surgeons are able to touch organs and this can aid their diagnosis because inflamed tissue and tumours feel different to healthy tissue. In keyhole surgery, surgeons do not have this advantage. This project aims to overcome this problem by providing real time information about the sponginess of tissues. Moreover, the newly developed system will quantify this information rather than depending on the subjective touch with surgeon's hand. The BUPA Foundation is very excited to support his project and we look forward to seeing the results," said Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, governor of the BUPA Foundation.
The research team led by Mr George Hanna from the Department of Surgical Technology and Oncology at Imperial College London will develop the equipment, software and mathematical calculations that will enable the endoscopic instruments to convey three-dimensional, real time information about the touch and mechanical properties of tissues. Once this phase of the project is complete, researchers will conduct laboratory tests before using the equipment in a clinical setting.
"We will develop a computer-controlled system that uses standard endoscopic instruments to provide real time information about the mechanical property of normal, inflamed tissue and tumours in different parts of the body including the stomach, oesophagus, duodenum, small and large bowel, appendix and gall bladder. The information will be collected during both keyhole and conventional open surgery on patients at St Mary's and Harefield Hospitals in London. This kind of knowledge is not currently available for living human tissue," said Mr Hanna.
Researchers will compare data on the mechanical properties of tissues with the clinical findings and pathology. "This will build a bank of knowledge about the nature of normal and diseased tissues and will also test the reliability of the system. Having completed this stage successfully, the system will be used for diagnosis during keyhole surgery," said Mr Hanna.
In addition to the direct benefits to patients, the bank of knowledge will be used to build virtual reality simulations that are based on real data from living human tissues. Surgical trainees will be able to use those systems to carry out virtual operations. "This will significantly improve surgical training and have an impact on clinical safety" added Mr Hanna.
2002 - Patient choice
In 2002, the BUPA Foundation awarded grants totalling £600,000 to three research projects looking specifically at the role of patient choice and education in health care.
- The BUPA Foundation awarded a grant of more than £330,000 to a study examining the effectiveness of enabling people with asthma to help others with asthma learn how to deal with and manage their condition. The study is led by Professor Martyn Partridge, professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College, London, and Ann Caress, lecturer in nursing at the University of Manchester.
"We know that giving control for managing a long-term condition such as asthma to patients results in the best outcomes for them. Educating patients on how best to manage their conditions can be time consuming and is usually done by nurses. Our study aims to discover whether well-trained patients with asthma can train other asthma sufferers to manage their condition equally well," said Professor Martyn Partridge.
- A grant of more than £250,000 was given to a study run jointly by the Universities of Bristol and Dundee that aims to help women decide how they would like to give birth. The study is looking at ways of assisting women who have already had a caesarean section decide whether to try to give birth to subsequent children naturally or by another caesarean section.
"Women who have already had a caesarean are faced with a difficult choice when it comes to deciding how to give birth to subsequent children. In these cases, deciding on the best and safest way of giving birth is complicated by the difficulty of weighing up the risks of a second caesarean with those of a vaginal birth," said Dr Alan Montgomery from the University of Bristol, who is leading the study.
- The BUPA Foundation awarded a grant of over £80,000 to a study focusing on the impact of some patients becoming more knowledgeable than their doctors about certain conditions and how they should be managed.
The study led by Dr Darren Shickle of the University of Sheffield's School of Health and Related Research will explore how patients, carers and health professionals use or feel threatened by others' expertise. The research will also look at how this role reversal can lead either to a willingness to learn from each other or to a strain in relationships.
2001 - Reducing adverse events in patient care
In 2001, the BUPA Foundation committed £600,000 to research projects aimed at reducing adverse events in patient care.
- The BUPA Foundation awarded a grant of £361,140 to a study that aims to reduce the number of adverse events that occur during surgery. Adverse events in health care cost the NHS an estimated £2 billion per year in additional hospital stays alone. Studies from Australia and Harvard have found that the majority of adverse events are preventable and that about half of adverse events in hospital patients are associated with surgical operations. The study led by Professor Ara Darzi of the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine will analyse information recorded on the "operating room black box". Developed by Imperial College, the black box is similar to the black box used by the aviation industry.
- The BUPA Foundation awarded a grant of £102,400 to a study that aims to develop a practical method that could be used by NHS trusts and private hospitals to examine a wide spectrum of adverse events in individual hospitals. The study led by Dr Graham Neale of the Action for Victims of Medical Accidents, will devise a programme for entering data directly onto computer to streamline future reviews by individual hospitals.
- The BUPA Foundation awarded a grant of £32,839 to a study led by Dr Hilary Anne Wynne of Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary that assessed the effect of an anticoagulation programme on elderly patients with atrial fibrillation. The study aims to provide evidence to support interventions that will achieve reduction in anticoagulation adverse effects. Researchers believe empowering patients to manage their anticoagulation is likely to achieve better targeted, safer and more cost-effective anticoagulation.
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