Researchers, healthcare professionals and industry partners came together to celebrate the launch of a new regional alliance. The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) South West Alliance aims to accelerate biomedical research and innovation across the South West. It brings together the NIHR BRCs in Bristol, Exeter and Southampton. The Alliance aims to build on the collective strengths of the three centres, creating opportunities to work with industry. This will help to turn scientific discoveries into improvements in patient care. The Industry to Impact event was held at Sandy Park in Exeter on 20th October. It marked the official launch of the new Alliance. Professor Nicholas Harvey, Director, NIHR BRC: Southampton, said: "This event, cementing the ever-strengthening collaboration between Southampton, Exeter and Bristol NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, was a powerful demonstration of our innovative approaches to industry partnership, directly addressing both health and growth nationally." Bringing research and industry together The event opened with a welcome from Professor Paul Francis, Industry and Innovation Lead at the NIHR BRC: Exeter. This set the scene for a day of discussion, knowledge sharing and exploring new opportunities for partnership. Delegates came from academia, healthcare, industry and the wider research community. They explored how closer working could support the development of new treatments. They also considered how it could boost new technologies and approaches to improving health. Showcasing innovation and emerging research talent An Innovator Showcase highlighted emerging ideas, technologies and approaches. It provided opportunities for researchers to connect with potential industry partners. Early and mid-career researchers also had the opportunity to present their work. This showcased the next generation of research talent, and the important role they will play in driving future innovation. Together, these sessions demonstrated the breadth of research taking place across the region. This covered early-stage scientific discovery through to the development of new healthcare solutions. Building a stronger regional research community The Alliance brings together expertise and capabilities across the three BRCs. By doing so, it makes it easier for industry partners to connect with researchers and access specialist facilities. Industry partners can now explore opportunities for collaboration across the South West easier. The Alliance will mean they can do this without approaching each centre separately. The event provided opportunities for networking and sharing knowledge. It allowed attendees to explore potential partnerships across organisational and disciplinary boundaries. The Alliance's ambitions also support the priorities of the government's Life Sciences Sector Plan and NHS 10 Year Health Plan. These recognise research, innovation and industry partnerships as key to improving patient care. They also recognise their important role in supporting economic growth. A progress update in July highlighted a continued focus on strengthening the UK's life sciences sector. It also highlighted a focus on accelerating access to new treatments and technologies. Looking ahead The launch of the Alliance marks an important step towards closer regional collaboration. The three centres will now work together to build stronger links with industry. They aim to use this to maximise the impact of their research. Reflecting on the event and the opportunities ahead, Professor Paul Francis, said: “We have some fantastic biomedical research happening across the South West, and this Alliance gives us a real opportunity to bring that expertise together. “By working more closely with each other and with industry, we can share ideas, build new partnerships and help turn research discoveries into real benefits for patients. “It was great to see so many people coming together at last week's event, sharing ideas and making connections. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.” Interested in working with the NIHR BRC South West Alliance? To find out more or explore opportunities for collaboration, contact BRC@uhs.nhs.uk. Your enquiry will be directed to the appropriate team.

By Morgan Mason As researchers, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to answer important questions. However, equally, or even more important, is making sure participants in research understand what they are being asked to take part in. During my PhD, one of the greatest insights I’ve gathered is that applicable research doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It is not shaped by doing research on communities, but by working with them. My PhD is funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Southampton. It focuses on the evaluation of the Early LifeLab Health Warriors’ programme, a health education programme for primary school children ages 4-11 years old. Through an engaging hands-on curriculum, children learn why health is important using practical, science-based activities. Additionally, I work with an amazing group, the Early LifeLab team. This includes Donna Lovelock, Rachel Gagen and Natasha Green, who all have experience within primary and secondary schools. They provide primary school teachers with training, and fully resourced activities linked to healthy eating, physical activity, sleep, hygiene and wellbeing. As part of my evaluation, I’ve used a child-adapted mixed-method approach. This includes questionnaires and creative research activities. My aim is to understand how the children taking part are impacted by the programme. Importantly, research with children must take into consideration their ability to consent, and receiving parental consent is a requirement for children to participate in the evaluation. This is where I encountered one of the main hurdles of the evaluation. Understanding the barriers Early in the study, it became evident that receiving parental consent for the children was a challenge to evaluation recruitment. I was only collecting a quarter of the consent forms sent out for each year group. Upon school and teacher feedback, the Early LifeLab team and I realised the consent documents were too lengthy. They also contained complex language and were heavy with academic jargon. To understand how to make the consent documents accessible, we set up two public and patient involvement and engagement sessions (PPIE). These involved a group of parent volunteers from a local primary school taking part in the Early LifeLab programme. During the sessions, parents reviewed the participant information sheet and consent form. They told us what worked, what didn’t and what information mattered most to them. The feedback we received was invaluable. Parents wanted to know “Why is this research important?” and “How does it benefit my child?” They also asked to have salient information, such as risks and confidentiality, placed prominently in the documents. Parents also highlighted something particularly important in a diverse, culturally rich city like Southampton. As English is not the first language for many families, children often help explain information sent home from school. Therefore, it was clear this issue wasn’t necessarily about children participating in research or lack of information. It was about presenting that information in a way that was easier to understand and more engaging for both parents and children. Primary school children taking part in Early LifeLab From feedback to action Parents in the PPIE group expressed a desire to have information presented in an engaging format that would enable them to feel connected to what their child was learning. They suggested using a visual approach could help with this endeavour. This feedback generated the idea to create a fun, informative alternative approach to participant information - a video! Drawing on our team’s combined experience, we drafted a video script. The main challenge was continuing to make it accessible, while still meeting all the requirements of the University's ethical approval process. This script was then reviewed by the parent PPIE group for feedback. They suggested having information presented as a realistic, familiar conversation. We did this by having a parent actress ask the questions they found important and using one of our Health Warrior puppets, Buddy, to explain the detailed form. The creative ideas from the session were incredible. To bring these concepts to life, I contacted Southpoint Films LLC and requested support from the University of Southampton's Faculty of Medicine ethics committee. Funding was sought and provided generously by the BRC's PPIE programme. The final video featured a conversation between the parent actress and Health Warrior Buddy. This provided engaging, inquisitive participant information in a way that was not only approachable, but also entertaining for children and parents. To access the video easily, I redesigned the written participant information sheet. A physical and digital copy included key messages highlighted by parents at the top, including a QR code to access the Early LifeLab online portal. There, parents could watch the video and access translation options. Families now could choose a format that worked best for them. What I learned about involving communities One thing this project reinforced is that there is no single solution to increasing participation in research. The relationship between schools and families plays a significant role. I discovered that the schools which actively discuss the research and provide reminders to parents about the evaluation often see greater engagement. Parents' previous experiences with research also makes a difference. What this collaboration showed was the value of involving the people who will actually use your research materials. Seeking feedback from parents has been one of the most important things I've done during my PhD. Their insight fundamentally changed how I approach participant information. It helped Early LifeLab create something that was much more relevant to the families we wanted to reach. As researchers, it's easy to focus on what we think people should know. Instead, integrating the public within the research process encourages us to explore, “How do people actually want to receive this information?” It was exciting to share this project at this year’s Faculty of Medicine Research Conference. My hope is for others to see that making research more accessible may not require complex solutions. Sometimes, it starts with taking the time to sit down with people, listen, and understand what they need.

The first Southampton patient in a new trial says he’s looking forward to ‘flying the flag’ for research into mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer linked to asbestos exposure. The SELECTmeso1 trial is investigating a new personalised treatment for patients with mesothelioma whose cancer has returned after initial treatment. This could potentially give them more time with their loved ones. The study is being run by the Cancer Research UK Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU). It is being delivered in partnership with the Southampton and Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centres. Researchers recently started recruiting patients at University Hospital Southampton (UHS). 75-year-old grandfather Dave Young is the first patient in the South to be enrolled in the trial. Tailoring treatments Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs or abdomen. It is linked to exposure to dangerous asbestos fibres. Around 2,700 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. However, there are currently very few treatment options. Outcomes and survival rates are poor, and the cancer will often return after initial treatment. Only around five percent of people diagnosed with the disease will survive for five years or more. Recent mesothelioma trials have been conducted by the SCTU with partners at the Southampton and Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centres. They have shown targeted treatments can improve survival for people with relapsed mesothelioma, where the disease has come back. However, these treatments often only work for some patients but not for others. SELECTmeso1 will test whether a targeted cancer treatment can improve outcomes for patients with the disease who have a particular genetic biomarker. Funded by Asthma + Lung UK, the trial initially opened in Leicester earlier this summer. Professor Gareth Griffiths is Director of the SCTU and co-Chief Investigator of the SELECTmeso1 trial. He is also part of the Respiratory and Allergy theme at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Southampton. “Whether a particular treatment is effective could be down to the specific genetic signals, or biomarkers, present in the cancer, which are often different between individual patients,” he said. “If we can identify which biomarkers each patient has, then we may be able to personalise the care they get, giving them best chance of successful treatment. This is precisely what the SELECTmeso1 trial is designed to do.” Promising anti-tumour activity Almost half of patients with mesothelioma are missing a particular gene called MTAP. This means the cancer is more aggressive and doesn't respond as well to existing treatments. The SELECTmeso1 team are working with pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb, who have developed a drug called Navlimetostat. This targets the weak point created by the absence of the MTAP gene. It selectively kills those cancer cells, leaving the healthy cells largely unaffected. “This drug has already been trialled in some other cancers and has been shown to have promising anti-tumour activity,” says Professor Griffiths. “It was also well tolerated by patients without causing too many side effects. Through the SELECTmeso1 trial, we therefore hope to find out whether this could be a viable treatment for patients with this specific genetic signal. “If we find evidence that patients benefit, this will hopefully lead to future larger practice-changing trials.” First patient in the South Dave Young is a retired engineer who lives in Langley in Hampshire. He went to his doctor in October 2024 after experiencing breathing difficulties while walking on holiday. After procedures to drain fluid from his lungs and several tests, he was diagnosed with terminal pleural mesothelioma. “You feel nothing else but numbness, a finality,” says Dave. “You come back home, there’s sleepless nights, because your whole world is spinning. It’s debilitating. “Anything which is too physical or exerts too much has just got to go, and at first that’s hard to deal with, because the things you love doing you can no longer do.” Dave was treated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy, but after that there were no treatment options left. “My wife’s very positive,” he said. “She used to research these things and there are trials around. There was a proton beam treatment a while back, so I would ask the nurse if I would be ok for that, but she would say unfortunately not as I’d already had immunotherapy and chemotherapy. “But then eventually she said to me, there’s a trial which probably would be suitable for you. So, I said let’s see how we go then, and it came back that yes, I was suitable. So, flying the flag, here I am and I’m looking forward to it.” Patients like Dave, who have relapsed mesothelioma and are found to have the deleted MTAP gene, will be invited to join the trial. They will be given the targeted treatment in the form of tablets every day, in three-weekly cycles, for up to six months. The research team will monitor how much their tumour shrinks, as well as any side effects they experience. Dr Judith Cave, Medical Oncology Consultant, is leading recruitment at UHS. Her research has been supported by the UHS Research Leaders Programme. “It is fantastic to be able to offer this trial to patients here in the South who have not responded to other treatments and have seen their cancer return,” she said. “Not all mesothelioma patients will be eligible to join this particular trial, as it is targeting those with the specific deleted MTAP gene. But we do know that more treatments which target other genes are being developed all the time, and it is exciting that SELECTmeso1 is the just the start for trials that could see a more personalised approach for mesothelioma patients.” Looking for more targets SELECTmeso1 is the first trial in a much larger planned platform clinical trial run by the SCTU at the University of Southampton. This aims to test several targeted drugs, which work against different genetic biomarkers that may be present in a patient’s mesothelioma. Dr Emma Knox is Senior Trial Manager for SELECTmeso at the SCTU. She said: “The idea of the platform trial is that we can run several different trials at once, giving patients more chance of receiving a treatment that works for them. “Once the full platform is open, patients will be invited to join, and will have a sample of their cancer tested in a laboratory. This will tell doctors about the particular genetic make-up of their cancer and what biomarkers their mesothelioma has. “If there is a trial within the platform that is testing a drug that works specifically for that biomarker, they will be invited to join that particular trial.” If there is no trial running for that biomarker at that time, patients will remain in the platform database. They will be contacted if a new trial of a treatment that may work for them comes on board. Dr Samantha Walker is Director of Research and Innovation at Asthma + Lung UK, who is funding the trial. She said: “Asthma + Lung UK is proud to be funding this vital research, which could be a real breakthrough and has the potential to improve the lives of people living with mesothelioma. “With life expectancy remaining low and no current cure available, progress on treating this devastating condition is desperately needed. “Targeted therapy has already shown to be effective for other types of cancer. If this trial is successful, it would offer new hope for the more than 2,000 people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. “Cutting-edge research into new types of treatment for lung conditions is vital to improve health outcomes but funding for lung health research is currently on life-support, despite lung conditions remaining the third biggest cause of death in the UK.” Professor Griffiths continues: “The aim of SELECTmeso1, and the wider trial platform, is to see whether stratifying treatment in this way can improve outcomes for patients. “If our trials can provide that evidence, we hope that in the future doctors treating people with this aggressive cancer will be able to use a more personalised approach, selecting the best possible treatment for each individual patient.” Dave is positive about taking part in the trial. “The thing with research is it might work, it might not, you don’t know,” he said. “But I think you have to look further down the line and say well, whatever the outcome is there will be lessons to be learned from it. “I’m quite happy to be involved with it, even if it does nothing for me, there will be things to be learned for future trials. And the on other hand, there is no alternative, so you just have to do it.”

Gene activity patterns found in children with severe COVID-19 infection have been shown to be shared with other serious respiratory infections. The findings offer early clues as to how the immune system responds to severe infections, to which children are at higher risk. They also identify potential targets for treatments. The results have now been published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Dr Negusse Kitaba, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton (UoS), was the lead researcher. He is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Southampton. The research also included BRC Professors John Holloway and Diana Baralle. Preventing childhood illnesses Lower respiratory tract infections are major causes of childhood illness and death. This is particularly true in low and middle income countries. These infections include COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Southampton researchers worked with those at the University of Cape Town and international partners. They analysed gene expression in blood samples from 333 children from South Africa. These samples were supplied by the Drakenstein Child Health Study. They analysed samples from children hospitalised with severe COVID-19, RSV and PTB infections. They compared these with samples from children with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 and healthy children. Identifying differences in gene activity The team identified over 5,000 genes expressed differently in children with severe infections. Ten groups of genes were expressed in a similar pattern across the three infections. Some were linked to immune responses and cell regulation. Others were linked to other biological processes involved in infection. They also found 82 genes that helped distinguish mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 from severe cases. This suggests gene expression patterns could potentially be used as an indicator of disease severity. Dr Kitaba said: “These findings provide new insights into the biological pathways involved in disease severity. They highlight genes for further investigation as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.” The team say further research with larger groups of children is needed. This will determine whether these promising discoveries can be developed for clinical use. Professor John Holloway said: “This study highlights the value of international collaboration in understanding childhood respiratory disease. It provides a foundation for future research into why some children develop severe infection.”

Researchers at the University of Southampton have secured more than $3.3 million from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to develop new artificial intelligence approaches that could transform the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Helmsley’s Crohn’s Disease Programme has committed more than $690 million to date to support impactful ideas and mobilise a global community dedicated to improving the lives of Crohn’s disease patients while pursuing a cure. The three-year international project, ‘Catalyzing next-generation clinical and translational outcomes for IBD patients through optimization of real-world datasets,’ is led by Professor Sarah Ennis and the University’s Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Group. Paediatric Gastroenterologists Drs Mark Beattie and James Ashton and early career researchers Drs Alex Kadhim and Zach Green are instrumental to the Southampton team. Working with collaborators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the University of Berlin, the team will combine genomic data with information from electronic health records to support the identification of more precise, personalised diagnostics that better guide treatments for IBD patients. IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic inflammatory condition that primarily affects the digestive system. Its prevalence is rising, with projections suggesting that by 2030 around 1% of the UK population could be living with the condition. Transforming clinical notes into data Despite advances in understanding the genetics of IBD, many patients still face lengthy diagnostic journeys and uncertainty about which treatments are most likely to work for them. One reason for this is that much of the information clinicians collect about patients is ‘locked’ in electronic health records. Important details about symptoms, blood test results, disease progression and other health conditions are often recorded as free-text notes rather than in a standardised format. While healthcare records contain vast amounts of valuable data, information captured in these unstructured records cannot easily be used in research or linked with genomic datasets. The Southampton-led project will therefore use artificial intelligence (AI) to convert these clinical notes into machine-readable data that can be integrated with genetic information. Professor Sarah Ennis, Professor of Genomics at the University of Southampton, said: “We now know an enormous amount about the genetics of inflammatory bowel disease, but translating those discoveries into direct benefits for individual patients remains a major challenge. By using artificial intelligence to transform medical records into structured, analysable data and combining it with genomic information, we can build a much clearer picture of why a patient is ill and what treatments are most likely to work.” She added: “Ultimately, this is about moving beyond broad disease labels and towards a more precise understanding of each individual’s condition, helping clinicians make better-informed treatment decisions and improving outcomes for patients.” International collaboration for patient benefit The project combines some of the world’s most valuable IBD research resources, bringing together patient cohorts and expertise from Southampton, New York and Berlin. Building on more than 15 years of patient recruitment through Southampton’s Genetics of Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study, the team will draw on a longitudinal cohort of more than 2,000 patients, including over 800 children. The project will also access two major IBD patient resources at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York: the Mount Sinai Crohn’s and Colitis Registry (MSCCR) and the Cho Laboratory Genetics Cohort (CLGC). Together, these cohorts provide large IBD patient populations ascertained from US healthcare systems, with linked electronic health records and genomic data. Together, these datasets create the opportunity to develop and validate new approaches across trans-Atlantic healthcare system. The lead collaborator at Icahn is Dr Louis Cohen, Associate Professor of Gastroenterology. Professor Judy Cho was previously the Senior Associate Dean for Translational Genetics at Mount Sinai and the Principal Investigator of the NIDDK IBD Genetics Consortium. In August 2026, Dr. Cho was appointed to lead the US National Human Genomics Research Institute and will necessarily reduce her duties on the project but will contribute the wealth of her expertise in genetics of IBD in a Scientific Advisory role on the project. Another key collaborating partner in the team is Professor Peter Robinson, who holds the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Artificial Intelligence at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité and creator of the internationally recognised Human Phenotype Ontology, which is used worldwide to standardise and describe clinical symptoms. Together, the collaborating team will develop and test new AI-driven methods for transforming complex clinical records into structured datasets that can be used to help identify disease-causing genetic variants and support more personalised treatment strategies. Delivering this ambitious programme requires expertise spanning medicine, genetics, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. The work will also be supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Southampton and the Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) Centre, as well as research software engineers and digital infrastructure specialists from the University’s iSolutions team. Improving outcomes through precision medicine The Southampton team has already demonstrated that combining advanced genomic analysis with detailed clinical information can reveal rare genetic disorders in patients initially diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. In some cases, these discoveries have led to revised diagnoses, changes in treatment and significant improvements in patient outcomes. Building on previous successes in uncovering hidden genetic causes of disease and improving treatment decisions, the researchers hope this new international programme will help accelerate precision medicine for many more IBD patients in the UK, the United States and beyond.

Pregnant women and birthing people are taking part in a new study at University Hospital Southampton to see if a vaccine can help protect against Group B Streptococcus. Group B strep is a common type of bacteria that is found in around one in five pregnant women. Most people will not realise they have it, however it can cause complications during pregnancy and serious illness in babies. Despite being a leading cause of life-threatening infections in the first months of life, there is not yet a licensed vaccine for Group B strep around the world. Participants are supporting these efforts by joining the Pfizer sponsored BEATRIX vaccine study at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Clinical Research Facility at Southampton General Hospital. Professor Chrissie Jones, Southampton study lead, said: “There is a need to assess the safety and efficacy of a Group B Strep vaccine which has the potential to transform the way we protect newborn babies, both here in the UK and around the world. Group B Strep remains a serious infection in early life – one that can be life-threatening and may lead to long-term health problems for infants who survive.“ A successful vaccine would represent a breakthrough in preventing these severe infections. We are now inviting pregnant women and birthing people from the Southampton area to take part in this important study and help us evaluate this potentially promising new vaccine.” During pregnancy and birth, Group B strep increases the risk of complications, including preterm delivery, low birth weight and miscarriage. If it spreads to the newborn during labour, it can make them very ill. After giving birth, women with Group B strep are more at risk of developing sepsis, as well as infections of the womb and surrounding area. The international study is investigating a vaccine designed to help protect against serious disease caused by the most common types of Group B strep bacteria. It is hoped that the vaccine will protect both the pregnant mother and her baby. The intention is that the antibodies produced by the woman will pass through the placenta, protecting the baby both during pregnancy and for the first few months of their life. The study is taking place at approximately 183 research sites in about 18 countries. Overall, around 6,000 pregnant women and their babies will take part. To take part, participants will need to be 24 to 36 weeks pregnant on the day of the planned study vaccination and expecting a healthy baby. Participants are randomly assigned to either receive the study vaccine or a placebo (saltwater). This will be given by injection into the upper arm at the first study visit. Mothers will stay in the study for 6 months after they give birth, and their babies will stay in the study until they are about 12 months old. Their health will be closely monitored during the study. For more information, please call the study team on 02381206856 or email reprohealthresearcht@uhs.nhs.uk.

A nasal vaccine that could help halt the spread of whooping cough has shown promising results in children and teenagers, according to a major international study. The trial was led by researchers from Southampton's NIHR Clinical Research Facility and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, working with ILiAD Biotechnologies and partners across the UK, Australia and Costa Rica. The findings, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggest the vaccine could help overcome some of the limitations of current vaccines by boosting immunity where the infection first takes hold in the nose and airways. First paediatric study Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can cause severe illness, particularly in babies. Although vaccination has dramatically reduced serious disease, outbreaks continue to occur around the world because current vaccines do not fully prevent people from carrying and spreading the bacteria. The SUPER (Stand Up to Pertussis) trial involved 366 children and teenagers aged six to 17 years from 16 research sites across three continents. Researchers tested BPZE1, an experimental vaccine given as a single spray into the nose. They found that the vaccine generated strong immune responses in the nasal passages and was well tolerated, whether it was given on its own or alongside a routine booster vaccine. Professor Saul Faust, Professor of Paediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Southampton and Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Facility: Southampton, was coordinating investigator of the study. He is a theme co-lead at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Southampton. He said: "Whooping cough remains a major global health challenge despite longstanding vaccination programmes. These findings show that BPZE1 can stimulate a strong immune response in the nose, which is where the bacteria first enter the body. This is an encouraging step towards a next generation of vaccines that could not only protect people from disease, but also help reduce transmission within communities." Stopping disease spread Importantly, the Phase 2b study met its main goal by showing a significant increase in protective antibodies in the nose. These antibodies are thought to play a key role in preventing the whooping cough bacteria from establishing itself in the airways and spreading to others. The researchers also found that BPZE1 did not interfere with the immune response generated by the standard tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) booster vaccine. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported, and most side effects were mild or moderate. Dr Stephanie Noviello, Chief Medical Officer of ILiAD Biotechnologies, said: "The publication of the SUPER study results marks an important step in expanding our understanding of BPZE1's potential in children and adolescents who previously received the acellular pertussis vaccine series, a population that continues to play an important role in pertussis transmission. “We are deeply grateful to the children who participated in the study, their families and caregivers, and the investigators, study coordinators, and site personnel whose commitment made this research possible." Advancing vaccine development The findings build on a growing body of Southampton-led research into BPZE1. In 2025, researchers reported results from the CHAMPION-1 human challenge study, which provided the first evidence that a vaccine could prevent the bacteria that cause whooping cough from living in the nose and throat. Researchers said this could be a crucial step towards reducing the spread of infection. The latest results support the continued development of BPZE1 and future late-stage clinical trials to determine whether the vaccine can help prevent infection, transmission and disease in real-world settings.

Children who spend more time viewing screens during early childhood tend to perform less well academically several years later, according to an international research study. The research followed more than 500 children in Singapore from the age of one to eight years. It then assessed their academic performance at age nine and working memory at age 10.5. The study is one of the longest-running of its kind. The findings come as international guidance continues to recommend limiting screen time for young children. This is because the early years are a critical period for brain development and the formation of lifelong habits. Researchers have published their results in the World Journal of Pediatrics. Early screen impacts The strongest links were seen between higher screen viewing at around one year of age and poorer academic performance and working memory in later childhood. This suggests that infancy may represent a particularly sensitive period for brain development. The study also found that greater cumulative screen viewing across childhood was associated with poorer academic performance. The associations remained even after researchers accounted for certain factors. These included parental education, household income and the home environment. Professor Keith Godfrey from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Southampton was one of the study’s authors. He said: “Parents are sometimes faced with conflicting advice about screen time. One of the strengths of this study is that it followed children over many years. This allowed us to understand whether there are particular stages of development when screen viewing may have the greatest impact. “Our findings suggest the earliest years of life may represent a particularly important window for establishing healthy screen habits. “This doesn’t mean parents should panic or eliminate screens altogether, but it does reinforce existing guidance that, particularly for babies and toddlers, less screen time is better.” Prof Godfrey collaborated on the study through Southampton’s long-standing partnership with the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) programme. This is helping generate evidence that could inform future public health guidance on children’s screen use. Healthy digital childhoods Parents reported their children’s daily screen viewing at six points between the ages of one and eight years. Trained psychologists later assessed academic performance and working memory using internationally recognised cognitive assessments. The researchers emphasised that the differences seen for individual children were modest. However, because screen viewing is now so widespread, even small shifts across a population could have important implications for children’s education and long-term health. Prof Godfrey also stressed that the findings should be interpreted in context and are not a reason to remove screens from children’s lives altogether. “It’s important to recognise that this study looked at the amount of time children spent viewing screens, rather than what they were watching or whether parents or carers were engaging with them during screen use,” he explained. “Digital technology is now part of everyday family life and can bring benefits when used appropriately. “Our findings aren’t about removing screens altogether, but about recognising that the earliest years are a particularly important period for brain development. “By limiting unnecessary screen time while encouraging activities such as talking, reading and playing together, parents can help give children the best start.” The findings are consistent with existing World Health Organization guidance. This recommends no sedentary screen time for children under two years of age and no more than one hour a day for children aged two to four. The researchers say the findings reinforce the importance of establishing healthy screen habits from infancy, while encouraging activities such as talking, reading and playing together.

Researchers at the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre on the Isle of Wight are celebrating the 30th anniversary of its dedicated centre building. The centre has become a renowned home of pioneering research. Findings delivered in partnership through the NHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Southampton have transformed understanding, prevention and treatment of asthma, allergy and related conditions. Professor Graham Roberts and Professor Hasan Arshad are directors of the centre. They are both key members of the BRC’s respiratory and allergy theme. Three generations of the same families While the centre’s building opened in 1996, its research started several years earlier. Families have been taking part in the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort since it was first established in 1989. It is one of the world's longest-running studies of asthma and allergy. Southampton researchers have been monitoring the health of over a thousand people in this cohort from when they were born. This is building understanding of allergies and asthma, and helping to identify new or improved treatments. Many members of the cohort are now parents themselves, and have put their own children forward to be included in the cohort. This means three generations of the same families - parents of the cohort, their children and grandchildren - have provided valuable data for research. The cohort has informed over 100 research publications. This is helping researchers to better understand asthma, eczema and food allergies. In particular, it is revealing more about how these conditions might change over someone’s lifetime. An internationally recognised centre Part of Isle of Wight NHS Trust, the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre has grown over time. Starting as a locally based research unit, it is now an internationally recognised centre of excellence. The centre has helped shape clinical practice and influence national and international guidelines. This has improved the lives of countless people living with allergic diseases. Its research has delivered significant advances in our understanding of how asthma and allergies develop. This has helped to identify factors that increase risk. It has also revealed how certain actions early in life may help prevent disease. Professor Roberts is Professor of Paediatric Allergy and Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton. He is also an honorary consultant paediatrician at University Hospital Southampton. “A lot of our current understanding of asthma and allergy comes from research based on the Isle of Wight, he said. “When I am at international meetings, it is noticeable how often experts quote results from studies run from the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre.” The centre remains committed to improving lives through research, education and clinical care. This will help to ensure discoveries have both a local and wider impact. Professor Arshad is Professor of Allergy & Clinical Immunology at the University of Southampton. He is also an honorary consultant at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust. “We have achieved a lot over the last 30 years, making a global impact from the studies that have been done at the centre,” he said. “We’re hoping that our studies will continue to have a big impact and improve the lives of those with asthma and food allergies.”

An international study that was co-led by Southampton researchers has been awarded an NIHR20 Impact Prize. The national honour recognises how the HARMONIE trial has transformed protection against a common virus for babies around the world. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one of the leading reasons babies are admitted to hospital. The study has helped change policy and clinical practice globally. More than 11 million children have now received the winter jab and the treatment is approved in more than 50 countries. Researchers and delivery teams from the NIHR Clinical Research Facility (CRF): Southampton and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Southampton played a leading role in the design and delivery of the study. Delivering global change Before the HARMONIE trial, preventative options were limited, costly and available only to a small number of babies at highest risk. The trial provided the first large-scale, real-world evidence that a single-dose immunisation could protect healthy babies throughout the RSV season. The study was co-led by experts at University Hospital Southampton, the University of Southampton, St George’s University Hospital and University of Nottingham Health Service. Anniversary award This is one of 11 NIHR20 Impact Prizes to mark the 20th anniversary of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). They celebrate researchers and teams whose work has improved health and care outcomes across the UK and internationally. Professor Saul Faust is Director of the NIHR CRF: Southampton and co-lead investigator for the HARMONIE trial. He is a theme co-lead at the NIHR BRC: Southampton. He said: “This award recognises the dedication of an extraordinary team effort. HARMONIE brought together multiple parts of the NIHR research infrastructure to work alongside NHS organisations, academic partners and industry collaborators to design and deliver a large, pragmatic trial at unprecedented speed and scale. “Seeing this research translate into policy change and protection for millions of babies around the world is an achievement shared by everyone involved.” Informing healthcare policy The study recruited more than 8,000 babies across the UK, France and Germany. This included over 4,000 babies through the NIHR Clinical Research Network. The research demonstrated that a single dose of the long-acting antibody nirsevimab can reduce RSV-related hospitalisations in infants by 83%. The findings from HARMONIE have already informed RSV immunisation programmes internationally. Last winter, the NHS rolled out nirsevimab to thousands of babies born before 32 weeks. Paul Grundy, Chief Medical Officer at University Hospital Southampton, said: “Research matters because of the difference it makes to patients, families and healthcare systems. We are proud that research led from Southampton is making such a significant difference to lives around the world. “We are also incredibly grateful to the thousands of families who chose to take part in the study. Their contribution has helped generate evidence that is now influencing healthcare policy internationally, reducing serious illness in babies and helping to ease pressure on health services.” ‘Changing lives through research’ Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, said: “I offer my warmest congratulations to all the excellent winners and commended teams of this year’s NIHR Impact Prizes, who have all made a crucial contribution to changing lives through research.”

Thousands of people took part in science workshops, talks and hands-on activities at the British Science Festival in Southampton. The five-day festival attracted more than 10,000 attendees and showcased research spanning health, technology, engineering and the environment. It was hosted by the University of Southampton and organised by the British Science Association. Researchers from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Southampton were among those contributing to the programme, highlighting how research is improving health and wellbeing. Science through style Taking part in the British Science Festival provided an opportunity to showcase that research extends beyond traditional academic settings and engage directly with patients, families and local communities. As part of the festival programme, the BRC supported several events that helped bring health research to new audiences through engaging and interactive experiences. Visitors to Clothed with Protection explored the role of vaccination through an innovative fashion event that used clothing as a metaphor for protection against infection. The catwalk showcased designs developed in Uganda. It formed part of an event series focussed on Lifelong health. Professor Chrissie Jones said: “It’s fantastic to bring together science and fashion. The story we are sharing today is about vaccines in pregnancy, and it’s a new way of talking to people about a lifesaving message. It’s lovely to see people enjoy and appreciate our work and our message.” Technology improving health At Engineering Better Health, festival-goers discovered how researchers, engineers and clinicians are working together to develop technologies that could transform healthcare. This offered insights into the collaborative approaches driving future medical advances. Meanwhile, Mapping the Air We Share highlighted research investigating air quality and its impact on health. Through hands-on activities and discussions, visitors learned how researchers are helping communities better understand the environments in which they live and work, and how this knowledge could support improvements in public health. Read more British Science Festival highlights in this report from the University of Southampton. Images courtesy: University of Southampton

Southampton researchers will study whether genetic testing can help identify the safest and most effective medicines for older people taking several regular prescriptions. The PRIMO programme has been awarded around £3 million in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). It will explore how genetic information could be used as part of routine medication reviews. The aim is to help doctors and pharmacists identify the safest and most effective medicines for individual patients. The research will be led by Professor Diana Baralle, Co-director at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Southampton, and Dr Kinda Ibrahim, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton. A growing challenge for older people As people get older, many develop multiple long-term health conditions. These can require treatment with many different medicines. These drugs are often necessary. However, taking multiple medicines can increase the risk of adverse drug interactions. Taking five or more regular medicines is known as polypharmacy. This affects around one-third of adults aged 65 and over. Adverse drug reactions account for a significant proportion of hospital admissions. They are estimated to cost the NHS around £2 billion each year. Older people and those living in more deprived communities are particularly affected. Using genetics to personalise prescribing Structured Medication Reviews are now a key part of NHS policy. They help patients and healthcare professionals regularly review prescribed medicines. However, these reviews do not routinely take account of genetic differences. These can affect how people respond to medicines. One potential way to address these challenges is through pharmacogenomics. This examines how genetic differences can affect a person’s response to medicines. Pharmacogenomics uses genetic information to help guide prescribing decisions. It can also help tailor treatments to individual patients. Over 90 percent of people have at least one genetic variant that could influence prescribing decisions for certain drugs. Research has shown that using pharmacogenomics can reduce medication-related harm. It can also improve treatment outcomes. Yet there is currently limited evidence on how this approach could work in UK primary care. This is particularly true for older adults taking multiple medicines. Dr Ibrahim said: “This funding is both timely and transformative. By bringing together leading experts in pharmacogenomics and medicines optimisation, alongside NHS partners, patients and public contributors, we will tackle the major challenge of medicine-related harm in people taking multiple medicines.” “PRIMO will generate the evidence, tools and implementation strategies needed to support the NHS 10-Year Health Plan and embed pharmacogenomics into routine practice. This will enable safer, more effective and truly personalised prescribing, based on a person’s genetic profile, clinical needs and preferences.” PRIMO brings together collaborators from the University of Southampton, the University of Oxford and Aston University. It also involves collaborators from the NHS, the Health Innovation Network and Queen Mary Clinical Trials Unit. The team includes researchers, NHS partners, pharmacists and genomics specialists. It also includes health economists, public contributors and primary care teams. This interdisciplinary team was brought together through Wessex Health Partners (WHP). WHP also supported the development of the research programme. They did this through a series of workshops to help shape the proposal and research agenda. Genetic testing at GP practices Researchers will develop and validate a genetic test. This could help healthcare professionals understand how individual patients are likely to respond to different medicines. The team will work with NHS laboratories to ensure the test can be used easily within existing NHS systems. This will allow results to be shared easily with GPs and pharmacists. If successful, this could make it easier to adopt the approach more widely across the NHS. The research will begin with a small study involving 34 patients across four GP practices. It will then expand into a larger trial. This will involve more than 1,000 people aged 65 and over who take five or more regular medicines. The study will compare standard medication reviews with those informed by patients’ genetic test results. It will involve 30 GP practices in Birmingham and the South West. Researchers will assess whether genetic information helps healthcare professionals make better prescribing decisions. They will also determine whether it helps reduce medicine-related harm. The team will examine the impact on side effects. They will assess medication burden, treatment adherence and quality of life. They will also look at the effect on healthcare use and NHS costs. A dedicated Public Advisory Group will contribute throughout the programme. These members of the public will help to shape the study. They will aso share the results with local communities. Professor Baralle said: “We are excited to begin work on this new NIHR-funded pharmacogenomics programme. “It represents an important step towards bringing the benefits of genomic medicine into everyday healthcare.” Supporting the NHS workforce Alongside the research, PRIMO will support doctors, pharmacists and other primary care professionals. This will give them the knowledge and confidence to use pharmacogenomics in everyday practice. The programme will build on the nationally recognised Polypharmacy Action Learning Sets. These were developed and delivered through the Health Innovation Network. The network has already trained more than 1,300 GPs and pharmacists across England. New training resources will help healthcare professionals interpret pharmacogenomic test results. These will enable them to discuss these results with patients and use them safely during medication reviews. If successful, PRIMO could provide new evidence to support wider use of pharmacogenomic tests in NHS medication reviews. This could help reduce avoidable side effects and improve treatment outcomes. It could also enable more personalised prescribing for older people across the NHS.