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Your impact on research

Thanks to your support, our researchers are working to solve global problems.

Making childhood vaccines safe

Dr Asel Sartbaeva has developed pioneering technology to save millions of lives and help eradicate many vaccine-preventable diseases.

Dr Asel Sartbaeva in the laboratory

Millions of currently children miss out on life-saving inoculations because vaccines spoil when not refrigerated. However, Dr Asel Sartbaeva and her team have developed a pioneering technology using a silica coating to keep vaccines stable up to 100°C. The technology first worked in the lab two years ago and now it has proven to work under real-world conditions.

This research has been supported by The Annett Trust, and alumni Tim Ford and Roger Whorrod OBE and his wife Sue, whose generosity created PhD and post-doctoral positions that propelled the project forward.

Asel’s breakthrough has now been recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. She says:

This will help us connect with vaccine manufacturers to build new partnerships.

Projects you've supported

From outreach to healthcare, your gifts are enabling key projects.

Diabetes is a global health challenge, affecting an estimated 463 million people. Sebastian Wild’s research aims to cure type 1 diabetes by converting the body’s liver cells into pancreatic beta cells in order to produce insulin. This would also address the shortage of organ donors.

Sebastian is supported by the Hynes PhD Studentship. Alumnus and donor Nick Hynes says: “Sebastian’s research is a cause close to my heart. It’s incredibly rewarding to support this innovative project.”

The Milner Centre for Evolution has three core objectives: to ask the big evolutionary questions, to find new technological and clinical research applications, and to take research into the community.

In 2020, the Centre received funding from the Evolution Education Trust and the Genetics Society to create a new YouTube series that helps viewers separate the facts from the fake news. Genetic Shambles features discussions on Covid-19 research, as well as the wonders of the study of genetics.

Adolescence is often a difficult time, but for those with chronic pain it can also be one of increased distress, physical disability and changed relationships. Our Centre for Pain Research is finding ways to help sufferers learn how to live with pain, thanks to support from the Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases, the Pain Relief Foundation and the Sir Halley Stewart Trust.

The studies will inform treatment and enable healthcare professionals to better support young people and their families.

Medical research at Bath

Find out more about how we're changing lives.