Projects with the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Bath range from developing novel technologies for early cancer detection, to lifestyle intervention studies.
Examples of projects include:
Investigating the impact of lifestyle on cancer-related outcomes
This area of study focusses on the outcomes of patients diagnosed with cancer in the local Bath area, and the impacts of exercise.
Researchers are exploring whether physical activity can slow the growth of cancers, and the impact of exercise on the efficacy of anticancer therapies, such as chemotherapy or immune therapies.
Clinical trials are investigating how regular exercise affects tumour activity. They're also looking at how physical activity and related factors such as body composition (e.g. adipose tissue, muscle mass) affect immune function and inflammation in people with different cancers.
Research groups: John Campbell, Oliver Peacock, James Turner (Department of Health), Mark Beresford, Rebecca Oliver, and Sally Moore, (RUH).
Barrett’s metaplasia predisposition in the development of oesophageal cancers
Barrett’s metaplasia is a condition in the oesophagus, which develops in response to prolonged acid reflux. In the disease, the oesophageal tissue changes to intestinal-type tissue. Patients with Barrett’s metaplasia have a greater risk of developing oesophageal adenocarcinoma. To gain a better understanding of the disease, researchers are working with the RUH to investigate how normal oesophageal epithelium switches to intestinal epithelium.
The study is led by David Tosh (Department of Life Science) and Ben Colleypriest (RUH).
Novel diagnostic tools to detect exosomes
Researchers at the University and the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Bath are focussing on ovarian cancer-detecting technologies. Early detection significantly increases the survival rate in cancer patients.
However, early detection is challenging, as we often lack unique symptoms at the outset of the disease. The new screening devices will use cancer-specific markers called exomes to help detect ovarian cancer at its early stages.
Researcher groups include Sandhya Moise, Hannah Leese (Department of Chemical Engineering), and Rebecca Bowen, (RUH).
Developing novel probes for nuclear medicine
Sofia Pascu (Department of Chemistry) and Richard Graham (RUH) develop novel targeted near-infrared (NIR) emitting probes for multimodality applications in nuclear medicine.
This research aims to generate more reliable methods for detection and non-invasive post-diagnosis monitoring.
Improving patient experience of remote hospital consultations
Since 2021, we have conducted research with RUH colleagues to explore staff and patient experiences of remote consultations, and how these could be improved. The study allows us to develop recommendations and guidance for patients on how to best prepare.
Researchers are also analysing routine data collected by the hospital to explore patterns in attendance and follow-up appointments, according to appointment format (remote or face-to-face). We are particularly interested in exploring potential differential impacts on older patients.
Research groups: Fiona Gillison (Department of Health), Christos Vasilakis (School of Management), Raj Sengupta, Inma Mauri-Sole, Dan Augustine and Mark Beresford (RUH).