This week has seen further success for respiratory research at LSTM, with Dr Andrea Collins receiving the British Lung Foundation Early Career Investigator of the Year award at the winter meeting of the British Thoracic Society in London earlier this week.
Dr Collins was able to attend the meeting due to a grant from LSTM’s Department of Clinical Sciences. She presented the work as a member of the team at LSTM involved the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) and Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage (EHPC) study. Dr Collins work was presented as one of six finalists selected from 140 abstracts. Following previous studies it has been proven that nasal pneumococcal carriage could be reproductively achieved in healthy volunteers using LSTM’s unique EHPC model. The study presented was a double-blind placebo randomised control trial using the EHPC model to determine if the readily available PCV is protective against pneumococcal carriage in healthy adult volunteers, in a safe and controlled manner.
Dr Collins was delighted to receive the award. She said: “The standard of the other finalist’s presentations was very high so it was a real honour to receive this award on behalf all those involved in the research here at LSTM. This project is a huge team effort, and I would like to thank the whole team at LSTM and in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.”
The award follows just a month after specialists in LSTM’s respiratory team were awarded nearly £4 million in grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for further research and development utilising the EHPC model developed by the team. Head of LSTM’s Department of Clinical Sciences,Professor Stephen Gordon, said: “The work on EHPC began in 2008 when a 100,000 USD Grand Challenges Explorations award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was used in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Microbial Infection. The model has gone from strength to strength since then. I am delighted that the work of Andrea, and the rest of the team has been recognised further with this latest award.”
The results of the study are currently awaiting publication, but you can read more about respiratory research carried out at LSTM here.