Respiratory infections affect the young and the old, the poor and the vulnerable throughout the world. LSTM’s Respiratory Research Team are conducting research to find the best methods of reducing susceptibility to infection, improving prevention and optimising treatment. Research that aims to not only benefit those in the UK, but also have a positive impact on global health.
The team, led by Professor Stephen Gordon, works in partnership with The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and Aintree University NHS Foundation Trust here in the UK, as well as working closely with Butantan Institute in Brazil and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome programme in Blantyre, Malawi. A number of their latest research projects are highlighted in a new section of the LSTM website, and include studies into innovative and potentially lifesaving interventions both in the UK and much further afield.
One such project is the Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS) currently being undertaken in Malawi. The randomised controlled trial is being conducted to measure the effects of an advanced cookstove intervention to prevent pneumonia in the under 5s. The largest study of its kind in the world, it is one of the first studies to measure the health benefits of using clean cookstoves rather than just the environmental ones.
There are also a number of studies and projects being carried out in the UK relating to the treatment and prevention of pneumonia including Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage (EHPC) which aims to investigate human immune responses to induced pneumococcal nasal colonisation under controlled conditions. The model developed has also been used to carry out vaccine effect testing, using a fraction of the healthy volunteers than those in previous pneumococcal vaccine trials and in a much shorter timescale.
Another study featured is looking at improving the treatment experience for patients suffering from lower respiratory tract infection. HomeFIRST looks for hospitalised patients from within the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust to participate in a randomised study to measure the difference in experience of those offered supported care at home and those who receive standard hospital care. The aim of the study is to improve patient outcomes whilst reducing hospital length of stay, an area of strategic importance to the NHS.
Follow this link to find out more about respiratory research at LSTM.
The Respiratory Research Team have a two trials currently running that require healthy volunteers. If you are interested in participating in the research please click here for more information.