1. Professor Melanie Davies Director Leicester NIHR BRC
Leicester’s Research Live – celebrating our success

2. NIHR BRC
dear colleagues, Leicester BRC located in the Heart of England * is a collaboration between the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust (UHL)*, the University of Leicester lead University*, and Loughborough University*,

3. Cross-cutting precision medicine theme
Our Themes
Builds on 3 successful BRUs
Cardiovascular (since 2009)
Respiratory (since 2012)
Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity (since 2012)
Our BRC has three research themes, cardiovascular, respiratory and lifestyle; building on the success of our BRUs in these areas and which, over the last 5 years, have recruited over 35,000 patients to BRU studies, published 790 papers and delivered a four-fold return on NIHR investment.
Since 2012 existing BRUs have published:
1049 papers (over 4 a week)
Recruited over 54,000 patients to associated studies
Generated £73.3M of matched funding
Cross-cutting precision medicine theme

4. BRC Theme Structure Nutrition & Lifestyle Cardiovascular Precision
Medicine
Respiratory

5. BRC Theme Structure

6. Research Across Our Themes
Translate our findings for patient benefit
Prevention & management of chronic disease
Personalised therapies and devices
Discovery science
Research across our themes will be underpinned by a common approach of cohort development for discovery science, developing and evaluating novel personalised therapies and devices for the prevention and management of chronic disease, and a strong pathway to translate our findings for patient benefit.

7. Cardiovascular Leicester Biomedical Research Centre
Target disease areas:
Coronary artery disease
Heart failure
Stroke
Aortic diseases
Sudden cardiac death (SCD)
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection
Bileaflet aortic valve disease
Discovery: Genomic and biomarkers
Interventions:
Organ protection during myocardial ischaemia and cardiac surgery
Challenges in percutaneous coronary intervention
Our CVD theme will target coronary artery disease, heart failure stroke and sudden cardiac death, and rare disorders such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection, and will use genomic and biomarker discovery to improve risk stratification and elucidate new mechanisms. We will test new approaches aimed at organ protection during myocardial ischaemia, cardiac surgery and after stroke, and address on-going global challenges in percutaneous coronary intervention
Leicester Biomedical Research Centre

8. Respiratory Leicester Biomedical Research Centre Target disease areas:
Asthma
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Discovery:
Identification of new therapeutic targets
Interventions:
Anti IL5 biologics
Targeted anti-microbials
Our respiratory theme will target asthma and COPD and will use the discovery platform to identify new therapeutic targets and develop personalised interventions including anti IL5 biologics and targeted anti-microbials using a microbial dysbiosis biomarker. (SLIDE 6)
Leicester Biomedical Research Centre

9. Lifestyle Leicester Biomedical Research Centre Target disease areas:
Prevention and management of chronic disease
Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease as exemplars
Discovery:
Synergies and interaction between physical activity, diet, sleep and pharmacological therapies
Our lifestyle theme will extend the experimental evidence for the role of personalised physical activity interventions in the prevention and management of chronic disease using type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease as exemplars, and will be investigating synergies and interaction between Physical Activity, diet, sleep and pharmacological therapies.
Leicester Biomedical Research Centre

10. Precision Medicine Leicester Biomedical Research Centre Target areas:
Optimise post genomic complementary analytical methods in tissue proteomics and metabonomics
Discovery:
Tissue multi-omics to enhance breath analysis for volatile organic compounds
The addition of a Precision Medicine cross cutting theme will add strength and depth and we will develop and optimise post genomic complementary analytical methods in tissue proteomics and metabonomics. An example is the use to  tissue multi-omics to enhance breath analysis for Volatile organic compounds in distinguishing acute breathlessness, bringing together expertise from across our research themes.  
Leicester Biomedical Research Centre

11. BRC Leadership Professor Melanie Davies Nilesh Samani Chris Brightling
David Stensel
Leong Ng
Director
Cardiovascular Theme Lead
Respiratory Theme Lead
Lifestyle Theme Lead
Cross-Cutting Theme Lead
Professor of Diabetes Medicine, UoL
NIHR Senior Investigator since 2009
450 Publications.
H Index: 70
British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology, UoL
NIHR Senior Investigator First Wave
>450 Publications.
H Index: 114
Professor of Respiratory Medicine, UoL
NIHR Senior Investigator
200 Publications.
H Index: 82
Reader in Exercise Metabolism, LU. Appointed 1999.
162 Publications.
H Index: 29
Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics, UoL
>200 Publication
H Index: 58

12. Core Principles
1. Seamless integration of pre-clinical and clinical science
2. The provision of state of the art infrastructure
3. Core integrated platforms supporting research themes
4. Enhancing critical mass
5. Establishing high-quality national and international partnerships
Our BRC has a strong leadership team with a clear strategy for success, based on 5 core principles

13. Seamless Integration of Pre-Clinical and Clinical Science
Research integrates with clinical services
BIGGEST AND BUSIEST NHS TRUST IN THE COUNTRY
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF LEICESTER NHS TRUST EMPLOYS 11,000 STAFF
Our investigators work on key questions informed by and closely integrated with clinical services. For example we have the largest number of acute respiratory admissions in a single site in the UK.

14. Provision of State of the Art Infrastructure
As shown in our video, we have over 11,000m2 of state of the art infrastructure opened since 2012, which is directly linked to delivery of our BRC mission

15. Core Integrated Platforms
Training
PPI/EP
We have increasingly used our collective resource to be ‘BRC ready’  by developing and integrating supporting platforms including our PPI/EP strategy – the first to be developed across BRUs and to be endorsed by INVOLVE.
Clinical and Bio-Informatics
Industry and Life Sciences

16. Packaging BRC Outputs for Patient Benefit
We have had great success in working with the wider NIHR infrastructure, industry and charity partners to ensure that BRC outputs directly improve patient care.
React UK
Multi-centred trial, n=427 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction
NEJM 2005
Stream
Multi-centred trial, 1892 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction
NEJM 2013
Guidelines
European Society of Cardiology / European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery 2014
Interleukin-5 efficacy
61 patients with severe asthma
NEJM 2009
Dream Trial
Multi-centred trial, 621 patients with severe asthma
Lancet 2013
Mepolizumab
Licenced in the USA and Europe 2015
PREPARE
87 participants with NDH
Diabetes Care 2009
Let’s Prevent Diabetes
NIHR programme grant, trial involving 880 participants with NDH
Preventive Medicine 2016
Healthier You
Let’s Prevent part of NDPP framework and available for commissioning nationally

17. Integration with NIHR infrastructure

18. Pipeline
Idea
Research
Dissemination
Discovery
Product
Implementation

19. Website

20. Contact Details Twitter: @LeicesterBRC
Linkedin: NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre
Website:
Contact for industry enquiries: Mr Tim Skelton, BRC Manager, or
Professor Melanie Davies
Professor Nilesh Samani,
Professor Chris Brightling,
Professor Leong Ng,
Professor David Stencil,