News

The NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) has been selected to support a new NHS England initiative to expand access to cancer vaccine research.

The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) aims to increase patient participation in trials for innovative colorectal cancer vaccines. Initially, the CVLP will collaborate with a clinical trial for the personalised colorectal cancer vaccine BNT122-01, developed by BioNTech SE.

Leeds CRF will refer eligible bowel cancer patients to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester for consideration in the trial. As the CVLP grows, it is expected to include patients with other types of cancer, streamlining trial participation for hospitals across England.

The programme’s goal is to advance personalised cancer treatments, starting with the BNT122-01 trial. This involves recruiting patients, transferring tissue samples for genomic sequencing, and evaluating the CVLP’s potential to support additional cancer vaccine trials.

Professor Chris Twelves, Director of Leeds CRF, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, saying, “We are delighted to offer patients the opportunity to participate in this innovative trial for a ‘personalised’ vaccine aimed at reducing the risk of bowel cancer recurrence. This is just one of an increasing number of innovative cancer vaccine trials open to patients in and around our region.”

Professor Mark Saunders, a consultant oncologist at The Christie, also voiced support, highlighting the potential for the personalised vaccine to improve long-term survival for patients.

“We are very supportive of this new initiative and are delighted to be working with CVLP and collaborating with Leeds Teaching Hospitals to facilitate this exciting vaccine trial. This is a trial for patients with detectable tumour genes in their blood after curative surgery. The hope is that patients randomised to the personalised vaccine have a better chance of long-term survival and cure.”

Our children’s research team recently held an exceptional event, ‘Making Research an Everyday Event Across the Children’s Hospital’. This initiative marks a significant milestone in our commitment to advancing children’s healthcare through research and innovation.

With generous funding from CHORAL, we had over 70 attendees participating both in person and online. This diverse group included healthcare professionals, researchers, and community members, all united by a shared interest in improving paediatric care.

The event featured insightful talks and discussions on various topics, including how to get involved in research, the process of conducting research, examples of our past and ongoing research in children’s healthcare, and leveraging data and resources to maximise research effectiveness. Each session was designed to be informative and engaging, encouraging active participation and collaboration.

Highlights of the day were presentations on our latest research projects, showcasing best approaches and panel discussions on clinicians in research and challenges we can face. Interactive workshops provided practical insights and hands-on experience, with VR technology.

We received fantastic feedback for the event, with many attendees appreciating the opportunity to learn and network. The positive response underscored the value of such gatherings in fostering a collaborative research community.

We are incredibly proud of the success of the day and firmly hope this will become an annual event, providing a regular platform for sharing knowledge and inspiring new research initiatives.

Our heartfelt thanks to CHORAL for their generous support and to all who attended and contributed to making this event a success.

On 19 April 2024, the first-ever Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) Patient and Public Involvement, Engagement and Participation (PPIEP) Event was held at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

The event highlighted the significant role of PPIEP in Research, emphasising the importance of comprehending MLTC from the perspective of affected individuals and exploring how medical records can be utilised to advance the knowledge of complex conditions. The event was attended by healthcare professionals, researchers, caregivers, and individuals living with multiple long-term conditions. A total of 35 PPIEP members participated in the event, all living with multiple long-term conditions or serving as caregivers.

Dr Kevin Franks, Medical Oncologist and Deputy Director of the Leeds Clinical Research Facility, and Professor Sue Pavitt, Professor in Translational and Applied Health Research and Director of the Dental Translational Clinical Research Unit, opened the event.

Their remarks were followed by insightful presentations from a distinguished panel of experts, including Dr Hanif Ismail, Research & Innovation / Leeds Clinical Research Facility PPIEP Manager, Julie Corrigan, Leeds Clinical Research Facility Inclusion Lead, Prof Alistair Hall, Consultant in Cardiology, Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Clinical Director Yorkshire & Humber, Dr Marlous Hall, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of Leeds, Dr Jonathan Batty, Clinical Research Fellow, University of Leeds, and Dr Sunil Daga, Consultant Nephrologist and Renal Transplant Physician.

One of the most impactful sessions of the day featured patients with MLTC, who bravely shared their journeys. Their candid insights into the challenges of managing MLTC in their daily lives was inspirational. These testimonials set the stage for dynamic interactive group discussions, which focused on strategies for raising awareness of MLTC, the potential establishment of an MLTC Action Group, and how such a group could help shape research priorities and develop a comprehensive MLTC research strategy.

Attendees were enthusiastic in their praise for the event, with feedback including:

“Thank you for the meeting and knowledge.”

“Probably more events similar to today.”

“Need to include ethnic minority group and groups from deprived
areas.”

“I thought the event was very good.”

“Hearing what brought people to research”

“Seeing the different disciplines and how to access each service.”

Acknowledgement:

This event was made possible through generous funding from the NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The CRF is a dedicated space that facilitates cutting-edge early-stage and experimental clinical trials and research studies involving patients. We are deeply grateful for their invaluable support in enabling this important work.

Rochelle Tatwell has written a glowing article for the Nursing Times about how much she enjoyed her placement with the Leeds CRF.

Reflecting on her placement with the St James Hospital facility in Leeds, Rochelle said she felt like she had “found her tribe”, experiencing a supportive and nurturing environment. She credits this atmosphere with allowing her to maximise the amount she learned on her placement and get the most of her time with the CRF’s great nursing team.

Rochelle hopes her experience will encourage other prospective young nurses to consider research to continue medical studies’ success in combatting disease.

Read her full article here: ‘From my first day at the CRF I felt at home, like I’d found my tribe’ | Nursing Times

These awards recognise examples of excellence for colleagues in nursing and midwifery.

Lucy Leese is a cardiovascular research nurse at the LGI. She was nominated by a patient, who said:

“I was finding my AF and anxiety extremely difficult to live with on a day-to-day basis. Out of the blue, Lucy rang me to introduce herself and explain about the diet. Lucy was bubbly and friendly and I just burst into tears. I was at a particularly low point and was having trouble reaching my usual arrhythmia nurse and Lucy’s warmth and kindness made me feel so emotional I just let all my feelings out. Lucy didn’t rush me and I could feel her genuine kindness and understanding of my situation. I can honestly say I don’t know if I would still be here if Lucy hadn’t rang me that day.”

The LCRF is delighted to congratulate Dr Sinisa Savic, Consultant in Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Leeds and NIHR Leeds Chapel Allerton CRF Site Lead who has been awarded a prestigious £2.4million Senior Research Fellowship by The Kennedy Trust. The five-year fellowship is awarded to researchers with a proven track record of excellence in the field of rheumatology or related musculoskeletal medicine.

The research fellowship will support a novel programme of research which aims to produce a holistic understanding of what underpins the disease process in patients with resistant disease, alongside specific findings to inform routine clinical practice.

Ultimately this programme will improve the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for patients currently left underserved by innovation in the field. Dr Savic’s project will deploy advanced genetic methods and related techniques, taking advantage of the unique infrastructure at Leeds.

A donation of medical supplies was made to the Ukraine through the Leeds Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at St James’ Hospital as part of a Yorkshire Aid Convoy. Jena English, Research Assistant Practitioner and Emily Bennett, Senior Clinical Support worker spent time organising and packing much needed supplies with the support of the whole team at the CRF. 

This is a regular donation of surplus items which are made to various charities. On this occasion the donation of dressings, blood tubes, phlebotomy packs and other medical supplies were sent as part of convoy of vehicles from Leeds to Ukraine. The team at the CRF were amazed to see an email sent from the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine expressing their thanks to the Yorkshire Aid Convoy. Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said “ …express deepest gratitude to your organisation for providing over 60 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine …the medical supplies and medicines contained in your humanitarian shipments are helping civilians and the military to provide first aid”.