Cambridge teams investigating diagnosis of oesophageal cancer and treatment of Crohn’s disease both won awards last night at the first NIHR Impact Prizes. These awards recognise major improvements in health over the last two decades, driven by research and scientific advances.
Established investigator award winner: Team capsule sponge
Led by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, the capsule sponge team have developed a quick and simple ‘pill on a string’ test and AI-based analysis that they hope could be used in GP surgeries to detect Barrett’s oesophagus, a precursor to oesophageal cancer.
The technology is already reducing endoscopy backlogs, providing a less invasive and more acceptable test for thousands of patients across the UK. To help find new cases the team is currently recruiting for the BEST4 trial, if successful it could lead to a national screening programme.
Cases of oesophageal cancer have risen dramatically over the last 30 years. Screening people with capsule sponge could detect many more cases early, which will prevent deaths from this devastating cancer, and reduce the number of people experiencing side effects from treatment. The whole team are thrilled to have our work recognised by the NIHR through this award, and for all the support we’ve received over the years.
Rebecca Fitzgerald, Professor of cancer prevention at the University of Cambridge and honorary consultant in gastroenterology at CUH
Early-career researcher award winner: Dr Nurulamin (Nuru) Noor
Dr Noor’s award recognises his work on the PROFILE trial. The trial is informing global changes in treatment guidelines and a new standard of care for people with newly-diagnosed Crohn’s disease. PROFILE showed that focusing on early treatment straight after diagnosis, can dramatically improve outcomes, reduce complications, and greatly lower the need for urgent abdominal surgery related to Crohn’s disease.
Colleagues and patients around the world have highlighted the game-changing nature of PROFILE, which has helped raise the bar in terms of outcomes and given hope as to what can be achieved for people newly-diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I am pleased to have played a part in research that has such a large and direct effect on people’s lives around the world. I am thrilled by this award and thankful to the NIHR for supporting our team and recognising the value of our work.
Dr Nurulamin Noor, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Gastroenterology at the University of Cambridge and CUH
Both awards celebrate work performed at CUH and the University of Cambridge. They were selected from 136 applicants from across the country. Five winners were announced in each of the two categories: established investigators, and early-career researchers.
Huge congratulations to both winners. Both projects reflect the research excellence we have here in Cambridge, and demonstrate what we can achieve through close cross-sector collaboration. The Impact Awards represent an outstanding opportunity to celebrate research supported by the NIHR that is making a difference at the national level and beyond.
Nuru played a key role in delivering PROFILE, the findings of which are helping to shape clinical practice and guidelines, nationally and internationally, for the management of Crohn’s disease. While, with capsule sponge, we now have the potential to screen a large number of people for risk of oesophageal cancer in the GP surgery, with a method that is cheap and widely accessible.
Professor Miles Parkes, Director of the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Consultant Gastroenterologist at CUH, who also led the PROFILE trial
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Impact Awards celebrate NIHR funded and supported research across areas including health, public health, social care, and global health research. The award ceremony was held last night in Birmingham and awards were presented by Professor Lucy Chappell, the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department of Health and Social Care and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR.
To register your interest in participating in groundbreaking research at CUH, find out about Love Research.
Development of capsule sponge has received significant funding from Cancer Research UK and received NIHR funding and support from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility, NIHR Clinical Research Network East of England (now the NIHR East of England Regional Research Delivery Network) and NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme.
The PROFILE trial was led by the NIHR-funded Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit, ran across 40 hospitals thanks to the national NIHR Clinical Research Network and was built upon laboratory research supported by the NIHR Cambridge BRC.