UoA SAM Structure and policy (RA5a analysis)

· research outputs enhancing institutional reputation and standing;
· research outputs drawing down direct and discrete income;
· research outputs connecting to the ability to generate new income from new product (e.g. consultancy);
· creation of a research culture attractive to new staff and research students;
· a connectivity between research and academic innovation (e.g. new
· programme/curriculum development; quality of teaching);
· an ability to comply with serial QAA guidelines aligning increasingly the standing and status of the institution with its research performance (see QAA guidelines on Framework of Qualifications and Degree Awarding Powers).

The College is open in its recognition of:

· the necessity of its engagement with a re-vitalised research agenda;
· the need to monitor more effectively the existing scale of investment in research;
· the enhanced clarity of understanding within the College about research obligations and opportunities;
· the importance of management of research and the high profile of research in College’s Corporate Plan and Schools' Business Plans.

At College level, research leadership is provided by the Director of Research and Scholarship, who reports to the Deputy Principal. Research policy is determined by the Research Committee (a sub-committee of Academic Board) which also allocates the research budget. All academic staff are expected to engage in research as defined in individual Personal Research Plans; this generates a range of research profiles. Research performance is assessed via the staff appraisal system and monitored by Heads of School and the Director of Research. Staff are supported through centrally organised development sessions on such topics as writing for publication, applying for research grants and effective supervision of research students. An on-line newsletter promotes research opportunities and publicises staff and student research achievements. The ‘town and gown’ lecture series disseminates staff research findings to a wider audience and invites high profile external speakers to lead debate on topical issues.

At School level, the unit operates a regular programme of research seminars, open to all staff and students and affording opportunity for collaborative development. Such activity will be further enhanced within the new Sport and Health building, due to open in 2003. The importance of ICT in the sharing of good practice has been recognised by the development by Matthew Molineux of a virtual British Institute for Occupation and Health (OccupationUK) whose website is hosted by the College.

School Research Co-ordinators, who are members of the College Research Committee, act as the channel for research related information, including the production of a regular “Research Update” sheet. The School Research Committee allocates funding against clearly identified priorities which include support for staff with book contracts (currently five new contracts are in place) and granting of sabbatical leave for staff undertaking part-time PhDs.

The majority of staff either have a higher degree or are working towards completion and provide collaborative supervision for post-graduate students on degrees validated by the University of York and the University of Leeds.

Dr Mary Connor and Val Wosket work within the field of Counselling, both focussing their research on aspects of counsellor training and supervision. Mary Connor has carried out research into counsellor training and psychotherapy. Continuing Professional Development is a theme explored in her research in relation to the use of doctors as mentors for counsellors. Val Wosket has focussed on issues in the supervision of counsellors, especially those who are already experienced practitioners. Research by the unit's research students is extending this theme. Two of them (one in his writing up period) are researching the training of counsellors in Malaysia, both being established counsellors themselves in that country. The third research student is exploring the sensitive issue of dual relationships in counselling.

Dr Christine Mayers and Matthew Molineux work in the field of Occupational Therapy. Christine Mayers' research explores the quality of life for people with problems caused by physical disabilities or mental health. Matthew Molineux has researched issues arising in OT when working with prisoners and people with HIV/AIDS or different sexual orientations. Dr Ian Rivers also works in the field of sexual orientation, particularly the psychological problems facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youths, e.g. bullying in schools, homophobia within the church. His research also relates to issues of therapy and nurse education, so has strong links with other health-related research in the unit. Laura Potts' main research interest is perceptions of breast cancer. She has worked in collaboration with colleagues both in Britain and abroad to examine the ideologies of breast cancer from a feminist perspective.

Dr Andy Smith is Head of the School for Sports Science and Psychology. His research and professional work falls into two clusters:

1. Research to determine the social psychological determinants of exercise adherence in adult populations. This work has focused on the use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and began with his PhD and continues through the supervision of Cath Jackson, who is looking at the social norm dimension of this theory. Whilst his work began by adopting a purely quantitative approach, recently he has moved to more qualitative approaches and his other PhD student (Diane Crone-Grant, in her writing up period) is using grounded theory to explore the experience of people on GP exercise referral schemes and how this experience relates to their mental well-being.

2. The development of evidence based guidelines for professional practice in the use of exercise interventions targeted at improving the health of individuals and communities. This work has included involvement in the development of the accreditation system for the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences; contributing to the physical activity/mental health guidelines for the HEA, and working with the NHS on a National Quality Assurance Framework for Exercise Referral Systems (published April 2001).

Support for research students:
We have placed considerable importance upon our programme for research students in order to promote research by both young researchers and those with considerable clinical experience.
The University College employs a system of supervisory teams to support its research degree students. All teams must meet the requirement of supervisory experience to successful completion. As the majority of the academic staff within the Centre came into higher education via the health professions, the number of staff having the more traditional doctoral qualifications and previous supervisory experience is limited. To meet College requirements staff development programmes support staff in obtaining PhDs. Those with a doctorate but without previous supervisory experience able to join supervisory teams alongside experienced staff and required to complete a College training course for research degree supervisors. The Centre has 8 current doctoral students (3 full-time and 5 part-time) and has 5 successful completions (4 PhD, 1 MPhil) since 1996.

Research degree students are each allocated a research degree tutor for pastoral support in addition to their supervisory team. A substantial programme of general and specific research training is compulsory for research degree students before registration as an Advanced Postgraduate Student. Thereafter they must meet the approved formal requirements for transfer to registration for a specific award (PhD or MPhil). Students within the Centre for Healthcare Education participate in the series of research seminars and colloquia and access modules within the Masters programmes as part of their research degree training. Courses for teaching within HE are available and required to be taken by all research students undertaking part-time lecturing or demonstrating as well as being available for career development for those wishing to progress to post-doctoral lectureships.
Our post-graduate provision formed part of the successful QAA subject review for healthcare which was given a score of 22 points. This was an interdisciplinary review and included all provision across the Centre.

Collaborative research
Collaborative research activity is seen as a vital element of the department’s research programme. Its importance is related to both the multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary nature of much of the activity within healthcare, the intrinsic link between theory and practice in much of the Centre’s work, the relationship that the Centre for Healthcare Education maintains with local healthcare purchasers and providers and the opportunities that linking with external research teams, both internationally and nationally, affords.
As examples of international collaboration, work has just been completed with the Universities of Genoa, Paris, Turin, Rome and Liverpool as part of an EU Framework IV (Biomed II) research programme on the mechanisms of trigeminal pain. An application for funding under Framework V has also just been made with colleagues in Italy, Belgium and Holland.
Collaborative work is being undertaken with institutions in Boston, Florida and the New York and Pennsylvania Colleges of Podiatric Medicine investigating leg pain in children with velocardiofacial syndrome. This work is also involving a number of European collaborators in a European survey of the prevalence of leg pain in children. A research project into community healthcare in Poland is being undertaken with the Universities of Posnan and Katowize.
National collaborative work includes several joint projects with the University of Cambridge (to determine the nature of the human papilloma virus, study of the effects of low level laser irradiation on human DNA, study of the mechanisms of pain relief using RF lesions), Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham on the effects of air pollution of the lung function in children, University of Newcastle (lower leg amputation rates), the Open University (infant mortality), King’s College London and University of Cardiff (stroke rehabilitation), University of Ulster (use of lasers in clinical practice), University of Bristol (antioxidant research) and nutritional programming and early life nutrition research with the University of Southampton.

Relationships with research users
The Centre for Healthcare Education places great importance on close liaison with service providers, purchasers and users, all of whom are also users of healthcare research. Consequently there are a variety of mechanisms, both formal and informal, to ensure that this liaison is effective. These range from formal committees (e.g. between the nursing/PAMs leads for all local NHS Trusts and senior managers of the Centre for Healthcare Education, reciprocal membership of research committees, clinician and user (patient/client) representation on research project steering groups), a system of ‘account management’ whereby identified Centre staff have a role in linking with senior management of individual Trusts or private/voluntary sector provision, coordination and/or membership of research networks and informal links on an individual or research group basis. This enables joint research projects to be planned and pursued, evidence from research to be fed back into practice and evidence-based practice to be a lived reality for all staff and students. This interchange involves NHS acute and community Trusts, primary care (at both individual practice and Primary Care Group levels), private hospitals and practitioners, the ambulance service and the voluntary sector. As an example, a part-time research assistant (Rose Streeton) was appointed in September 1999 to work on a project investigating the expectations and perceptions of both patients/clients and health practitioners in primary care consultations. This has been identified by the local Primary Care Research Network as being the area of most interest for its members and involves collaboration with primary healthcare teams, community trusts acute hospital trusts and the health authority.
Local collaborative work with users of research includes the Anglia and Oxford Regional Podiatry Research Forum (which cluster members have initiated and coordinate), active participation and facilitation of the Northamptonshire Primary Care Research Network and the Oxford and Anglia Research and Development Ambulance Consortium. Current research projects with local NHS Trusts include an investigation of contemporary patterns of daily activity, the use of pain charts in hospice care, evaluation of assessment tools for mental health care and the role of rostered service in nurse education. A large research project investigating the outcomes of ‘low-risk’ elderly patients discharged from NHS care is currently being undertaken in collaboration with community trusts in Cambridge and Huntingdon. Close links have been established with the Research and Development Unit at Northampton General Hospital. Collaborative work with the primary care sector has developed significantly and includes a piece of commissioned research into the development of integrated nursing teams within a primary care setting. Staff members have also been involved in research development for local Trusts (acute, community and ambulance), a private hospital and primary care teams. There has also been increased liaison with the private healthcare and nursing home sector.
In the food science area there are links with local and national industrial partners including a part-time post-graduate student (Michelle Walker) who works in a local food manufacturing company and collaborates with Aplin and Barrett, UK on her research project.
Other research projects are also underway with local industrial partners (Dr C. Phillips) which have informed practice within the industry.

Staffing policy
Development and support of staff research
Currently 8 members of staff are working towards a PhD and three have completed their research degree in the last two years (2 PhD, 1 MPhil). Staff are following the College research degree supervisors’ training course and gaining experience within supervisory teams.
Newly appointed staff are encouraged to join one of the four research groups and are appointed an appropriate mentor, if necessary. Staff are made aware that research outputs are an important part of their appraisal and targets are set each year, tailored to the needs of both the individual staff member and their staff sections/research groups.
A mini-sabbatical scheme for staff has been particularly useful at the beginning of a new project, in enabling staff to write up their research work for publication and to work on research grant applications.
Small amounts of internal funding is available for staff to bid for. This is specifically to enable pilot projects or small scale research projects to be undertaken. In the case of pilot projects, it is expected that staff will then apply to external bodies for grants for the main study.
Developing new researchers
Staff that have not previously been research active are actively encouraged to move along a continuum from research awareness through research engagement to research activity. There is an expectation that all staff are research aware and can integrate evidence from others’ research into their practice and teaching. All staff have personal research objectives which are defined and monitored as part of the Centre’s performance review system.
The Centre runs a programme of research development workshops covering topics ranging from methodological issues to statistics and writing for publication. There is also a research seminar programme which includes research presentations from all disciplines across the Centre. These are given by Centre staff, research students and external speakers. The lunchtime programmes are being complemented by half-day internal research conferences. In addition, discipline-specific journal clubs are held for staff and students.
Staff are supported to undertake formal research training as part of Masters or other courses and the Centre operates a research mentor scheme to support staff undertaking a research project for the first time. This has also been extended to include some NHS and private hospital staff. New researchers will usually undertake research projects as part of a team which includes experienced researchers.
A programme of ‘writers’ groups’ has been established, following a model established in the University of Strathclyde to help new researchers develop towards writing for publication.
Staff recruited during the assessment period
Three staff have been recruited during the assessment period: Simon Langley-Evans joined us as a senior lecturer from the University of Southampton in September 1998, Mary Cooke was appointed as a senior research fellow in July 1999 from a post in Homerton College. Cambridge. Sarah Earle joined us as a senior lecturer in January 2001 from a post at the University of Central England.

· Dr Donnelly is the Co-Director of the Public Health Nutrition Unit (PHNU) established at Trinity and All Saints in 1998 to house the DH/MRC funded Supermarket Nutrition Information Project (SNIP, value of grant awarded: £162,800), for consultancy and for development of courses and seminars on nutrition for health professionals and educators. The PHNU has already successfully organised a major conference (Nutrition for Pharmacists, September, 1999) and a number of tailored courses (see RA6a).

· The award of the DH/MRC grant in 1998 has permitted staff development. The PHNU Co-Director and fellow principal investigator, Joan Ransley, was able to take a sabbatical from her Senior Lecturer post to become the Research Fellow on the Supermarket Nutrition Information Project (SNIP), register for a PhD award and develop a research profile in public health nutrition.

· In the SNIP project barcode technology and supermarket databases have been used to investigate whether the fat and energy content of the family shopping can be measured using itemised till receipts. Such information is essential for nutritional epidemiology studies and is usually collected using food diaries. The use of food diaries has many difficulties, this project has tesed an alternative methodology which has considerable strengths.

· Dr J E Cade at the Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds and Mrs K Tonks at Tesco Stores Ltd, Cheshunt, are collaborators on the SNIP project.

· Papers on the methodology developed and findings of the SNIP project have been submitted for publication and are in preparation. Public Health Nutrition have accepted a paper entitled The Use of supermarket till receipts to determine the fat and energy intake in a UK population (Donnelly and Ransley) for publication. Presentations of results have been given at the Healthy Weight Conference, Royal Society of Medicine, London (December, 1999), the Nutrition Society Summer Meeting, University College, Cork, Ireland (June, 2000) and the Fourth International Conference on Dietary Assessment Methods, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA (September, 2000).

(2) Public Health Engineering

· The public health engineering projects in which Dr Donnelly is involved are in two areas, water disinfection and air disinfection.

· Dr Donnelly’s role in these projects is as a specialist in mechanisms of free radical biochemistry. Free radicals are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons. They can be generated, for example by ultrasound or UV light, to act as agents of disinfection. Many disinfection techniques depend on efficient and reliable production of free radicals to destroy pathogenic micro-organisms.

· The water treatment project, conducted with Prof. E I Stentiford (School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds), was funded by industry (and experimental results are not for publication). Dr Donnelly’s main interest in water treatment is in the application of ultrasound and advanced oxidation processes (UV, ozone and ultrasound) for removal of the protozoan gastro-intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium parvum. At present water companies are unable to guarantee removal of Cryptosoridium and a number of large outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis have been associated with public water supplies in the UK, USA and elsewhere.

· The air disinfection projects are funded by NHS Estates and EPSRC. Dr Donnelly is a principal investigator on projects with four colleagues at the University of Leeds. The multidisciplinary team, the first team of its kind in the world, includes a ventilation/aerobiology engineer (Dr Beggs), a medical microbiologist and consultant microbiologist (Dr Kerr), a numerical modeller (Dr Sleigh) and a public health engineer (Prof Mara).

· In these disinfection projects, which are mainly hospital-based, the team are using techniques including ultraviolet irradiation and air ionisation for removal of pathogens, with particular attention to multiply drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and organisms responsible for hospital acquired infections including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In the UK one in ten patients acquire an infection during a hospital stay; costing the NHS over £1 billion per annum. Conventional methods of hospital infection control have failed to prevent the sharp rise in infections originating in hospital and there is a need to develop alternative approaches to infection control.

Disease Processes: Nine academic staff (Allen, Bone, Cunningham, Faragher, I. Green, M. Green, Hardy, Horne, Yeoman), 8 PDRA/PGRA and 18 PGRS (3 external) bring together expertise in in vitro/vivo modelling, cell biology, electrophysiology, gerontology, and health psychology to study characteristics of disease, normal biological ageing, and patient behaviour and compliance. Output: original papers, 60; research sponsorship, Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, NHS, EU, JDRF, TCS.
Highlights: Bone, Cunningham, I.Green and M.Green, investigating mechanisms of beta-cell destruction and factors affecting the development of diabetes (Wellcome Trust, EU CA programme), have demonstrated changes in islet cell proteomic profiles (I.Green [4]), apoptosis (I.Green [1,2]), DNA damage (Cunningham [1,2], M.Green, I.Green[2]), and defence and repair mechanisms (Bone [4]). Bone has completed the first longitudinal analysis of the diabetes process (Diabetologia, 2001, 44, 320) linking beta-cell apoptosis with disease progression. I.Green [3] has developed a novel method for the rapid isolation of pure undamaged beta-cells as a major improvement over FACS methods. Allen [1] and Faragher [1] have dissected the mechanisms of cellular senescence in multiple, normal and progeroid human cell types (BBSRC). Studies in the premature cell senescence disease Werner’s syndrome have shown that this can be corrected by telomerase (Faragher [2,3]). This work on cells obtained from Werner's syndrome patients has produced the first all-encompassing model to explain why the disease attacks some tissues but spares others. Telomerase is being used by the group to create immortal human bronchial and pancreatic cell lines for research and potential therapy in lung disease and diabetes (JDRF). Yeoman [1-4], with his experience of Lymnaea neural physiology, has recently established a means of investigating the neurobiology of ageing.
Hardy, studying the pore-forming action of bacterial enterotoxins [3], has recently characterised the action of a novel toxin from Bacillus cereus (FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 2001, 197,47). Hardy (J.Physiol., 2001, in press) and Allen, have developed the first selective activator of the maxi chloride channel, intending to bypass the CFTR mutation in cystic fibrosis (CF).
Established in 1999, the NHS-funded (£779k) regional Centre for Health Care Research (section 1.8) has catalysed research expansion in the psychosocial aspects of disease and therapy (Horne [3]; CHCR director). Horne [1,4] has shown that incorrect perceptions of symptoms by patients are the major cause of harmful treatment delays for myocardial infarction and he has identified the main psychological reasons for physician failure to prescribe optimal therapy. His work [2] has produced the first validated questionnaire on beliefs about medicines which has been adopted by over 50 research groups (translated into 6 languages). He has also contributed to the development of an illness perceptions questionnaire, considered a global standard, used in over 200 studies (12 languages).
Molecular Mechanisms and Design: Six academic staff (Cragg, Gallacher, M. Green, O'Hare, Naughton, Moghimi), 4 PDRA/PGRA and 8 PGRS (3 external) apply a chemical perspective to biological systems in health and disease. Specific areas are: oxidative/free radical and radiation damage; drug delivery; ion channels; and catalytic antibodies. Output: Original papers, 48; patent applications, 9; research sponsorship, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, EPSRC, MRC, DoH, BNFL, Ataxia-Telangiectasia Children's Project.
Highlights: O'Hare [3,4] has developed novel scanning probes allowing oxygen permeability to be mapped with sub-micron resolution in cartilage (Wellcome Trust). He has monitored the effects of electrical stimulation on oxygenation and perfusion in muscle in vivo using multiple microelectrodes. Cragg [1] and O'Hare have developed further a sensitive and selective NO sensor. Advances in the detection and elucidation of mechanisms of free radical and radiation damage in biological systems have been made using novel photoelectrochemical sensors (O'Hare; Analyst, 1996, 121, 1779), comet assays (M.Green [1]), and NMR spectroscopy (Naughton; Free Radicals: The Practical Approach Series. IRL Press, 1996, Chpt 3) (EPSRC, MRC, BNFL, DoH). M.Green has characterised the roles of type of radiation-induced DNA damage and repair processes in cytokine release [1,2] and apoptosis [3,4]. Naughton [2] has demonstrated that xanthine oxidase can generate nitric oxide and potentially peroxynitrite. Novel catalytic antioxidants (Cragg, M.Green; A-T Project grant [US funding]) and antioxidant chelators (Naughton) have been designed and synthesised to suppress free radical damage. Naughton is developing new vasodilator-antioxidant analogues (2 patent applications, 1999). Cragg has developed quartz crystal (piezoelectric) resonance sensing (QCRS) to study manganese SOD-mimetic binding to DNA and correlated reduced pro-oxidant activity with capacity to extend lifespan (Chem. Comm. 2001, 841).
Naughton has demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of bioreductives (2 patent applications, 1998/9) and has developed bioreductive-conjugates for drug delivery to hypoxic tissues [3]. Targeted drugs include PARP inhibitors, corticosteroids and calcium channel blockers (to prevent active drug efflux) for anti-cancer and anti-arthritic therapy. Bioreductives have been radically redesigned to remove toxicity [by self-alkylation] in a drug-targeting programme leading to five patent applications (Naughton; 1998/9). Moghimi [1-4] has utilised novel strategies for site-specific nanoparticle delivery to selected macrophage sub-populations for cancer therapy and imaging. The immuno-toxicity of these delivery systems is under preliminary investigation with the US Walter-Reed Navy Institute.
Cragg, with Allen [4], has synthesised an artificial transmembrane sodium ion channel inducer and demonstrated its activity in cell culture (Leverhulme Trust, EPSRC), potentially offering entirely new therapeutic approaches. The paper was featured in New Scientist (10^th April, 1999). Gallacher has developed immunogenic molecules to generate catalytic antibodies [2,4], currently for hydrolysis of cocaine analogues to treat drug overdose ([3]; Wellcome Trust). Recent funding has been attracted to develop catalytic antibodies for selective inactivation (peptide cleavage) of key biological targets (Gallacher, Wellcome Trust).

Microbiology: Three academic staff (Denyer, Hanlon, Lloyd), 2 PDRA/PGRA and 9 PGRS currently pursue applied microbiology research with strong clinical and biomedical industry relevance in areas of microbiological control, microbial biotransformations, rapid diagnostics, and biomedical implant infections. Output: original papers, 28; patents/patents pending, 3; research sponsorship, industry, EU, MAFF, BBSRC.

Highlights: A major UK/US multi-industry sponsored programme (Reckitt-Benckiser, Procter & Gamble, Sauflon, Sterilox, Unilever Research) studying the mechanisms of action and cross-resistance of disinfectant biocides (Denyer, Hanlon, Lloyd) is providing leads to performance-enhancing strategies for antimicrobial control (eg. Int.Biodet.Biodeg., 1998, 41,261). Denyer and Hanlon have investigated biocide efficacy against E. coli 0157 biofilms (MAFF). Hanlon, with the School of the Environment, is participating in an EU programme studying the environmental prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci and the survival of toxigenic E. coli in natural water sources. Hanlon’s [3] investigation of ophthalmic preservative performance has triggered the revision of national DoH guidance on eye-drop usage in hospitals.

Denyer ([3]; 2 patents granted (1997/8), 1 pending) has developed a rapid phage amplification-based pathogen detection test with Nottingham University; this is currently undergoing world-wide trials as a TB diagnostic (EU CRAFT). Hanlon and Denyer are evaluating bacteriophage for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant Ps. aeruginosa infections associated with CF, a possibility brought closer by their recent discovery of a phage-associated enzyme degrading protective pseudomonad biofilm polysaccharide (Appl.Env.Microbiol., 2001, 67, in press). Collaborating with local hospitals, this work has been extended to include Acinetobacter colonisation in burns patients. Hanlon [1,2] and Lloyd [1] have achieved microbial chiral inversions of the anti-inflammatory 2-arylpropionic acids (profens) to produce enantiomerically pure compounds of reduced toxicity.

Bacterial colonisation of biomedical implants (Denyer [1,2], Hanlon [4], Lloyd) has been characterised for dialysis catheters, orthopaedic pins, ureteral stents and ocular devices, complementing the activities of the Biomedical Materials group. Denyer and Hanlon [4] have designed a comprehensive in vivo-reflective model of peritonitis in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis which integrates physiological parameters influencing the pathogen phenotype. Hanlon has recently received BBSRC ROPA funding to study bacterial biofilm behaviour on surfaces in real time using advanced QCRS technology.

Biomedical Materials: Five academic staff (Denyer, Faragher, Hanlon, Lloyd, Mikhalovsky), 6 PDRA/PGRA and 15 PGRS study interfacial phenomena between indwelling materials and the biological host, modifying bulk material and surface chemistry to achieve biocompatibility in clinical application. Output: original papers, 32; patent applications, 3; research sponsorship, BBSRC, EPSRC, Wellcome Trust, DTI, EU, industry, TCS.
Highlights: Biocompatible coatings derived from betaine-based copolymers (Lloyd [3], Hanlon, Faragher; BBSRC), bioactive osteointegrative phospholipids for orthopaedic implants (Lloyd, Denyer; 1 patent application (1999); EU BRITE EuRAM), and glassy carbon for cardiovascular stents (Mikhalovsky, Lloyd, Denyer; EPSRC IMI 1) are recent promising developments. Novel bulk materials have been created as osteointegrative biodegradable scaffolds for bone regeneration (Lloyd, Denyer; EPSRC). Active carbon filtration has been used as a means of recycling haemofiltrate following renal failure offering leads to novel adsorbents for the removal of cytokines during the treatment of sepsis (Mikhalovsky, Lloyd; MRC, Wellcome Trust). This work has signalled a broader use of activated carbon haemoadsorbents for the removal of poisons and toxins in other critical treatment procedures (Mikhalovsky, Lloyd; EPSRC IMI 2); engineered carbon supports show promising catalytic capabilities (Mikhalovsky [1]). Denyer's research [4] has increased understanding of factors affecting device functionality (EU BRITE EuRAM). Two patent applications have been filed (Denyer, 2000/01) for a novel urethral anaesthetic delivery device and electrically-transparent biocompatible coatings enabling non-linear dielectric spectroscopy sensors to be used in biological systems (Woodward et al. Biochem., 2000, 51,13).
A substantial reputation has been established in ophthalmic biomaterials (recognised by extensive international links and by industry through 3 TCS programmes). Two major DTI/LINK funded research projects have produced a novel biomimetic intraocular lens with improved biocompatibility (Mikhalovsky [3]) and a novel glaucoma filtration device (Lloyd [2]). Research has also delivered novel biocompatible coatings and materials to enhance tissue integration of keratoprostheses (Faragher, Lloyd [4]; BBSRC) and an understanding of the influence of ocular cell ageing and senescence on biomaterial integration (Faragher [4]); additionally this has led to the first reference strain of human ocular keratocytes (Mikhalovsky [2]). Through strategic investment the School has collaborated with the East Grinstead Eye Bank to establish a repository of research material.
1.3 Other Units of Assessment

Three ecobiologists (Waite, Allison, Metcalfe) have been included in the University's Geography submission and two staff (Sosabowski, Olivier) are submitted under Education for their work in learning technologies, taking the overall number of submitted staff in the School to 23.
1.4 Research Culture
The RSG has adopted an integrated strategy to promote high quality research in a stimulating and active research culture. Five specific policies support staff development (section 2.1): (i) peer-review resource targeting, to promote and enhance nationally and internationally excellent research; (ii) establishment of career-track research appointments to allow outstanding young researchers to develop their independent research to an internationally competitive level (section 2.2); (iii) exploitation of research expertise through industrial and end-user links (section 1.8), encouraged by explicit University reward strategies. This culture has stimulated a joint venture partnership, intellectual property protection, spin-off companies and research-focused consultancies; (iv) proactive support for interdisciplinary research encouraging external collaborations with leading laboratories worldwide (section 1.7); (v) strategic recruitment for research track record and biomedical science fit. Examples include: I.Green, diabetes; M.Green, free radicals; Moghimi, drug targeting; Naughton, molecular design and free radicals; Yeoman, neurobiology of ageing; the permanent appointment of Mikhalovsky (biomaterials) and Cunningham (diabetes).
Two non-returned staff have significant roles in research support: Davies, a joint NHS appointment and designated academic director of the pharmacy practice teaching unit, provides clinical links to NHS hospital services. Olliff, Research Student Division Leader (a new role in the University meeting strategic training objectives; section 3.1), leads postgraduate student pastoral care and training support (section 1.6).
1.5 Research Infrastructure
Core facilities include state-of-the-art instrumentation for automated analytical and quantitative chromatography (eg. GC, HPLC, CZE), CHN analysis and spectroscopy (UV, FT-IR). A dedicated image/surface analysis suite houses electron, confocal, optical and atomic force microscopes plus 3 quartz crystal resonance sensors and other electroanalytical equipment. The analytical equipment base also includes a GC-mass spectrometer, a 360MHz NMR and molecular modelling work stations. School support facilities include general/electronic workshops, a GMP-accredited pharmaceutical manufacturing suite, a newly commissioned containment level 3 microbiology laboratory, a dedicated animal facility, an electrophysiology laboratory, a radiation suite, and three category II tissue culture rooms. Recent (2000) equipment acquisitions include: a Nicolet FT-IR/FT-Raman spectrophotometer, a Wallac gamma-counter, a Malvern Zetamaster and a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. A total of £1.2m has been spent on laboratory re-equipment/ refurbishment since 1996; equipment donations over the period are valued at £220k.
1.6 Research Students
The School's Research Student Division (leader-Olliff) is responsible for the recruitment, admission, training, support and monitoring of research students. Our current training programme, emphasizing transferable and multidisciplinary skills and including elements from the University Certificate in Research Methodologies, when allied with research supervisor training workshops and an effective monitoring process, has ensured a 100% 4-year completion rate. Research students also gain teaching and demonstrating experience following successful completion of a Certificate on Facilitating Learning in HE. The quality of University research training support has been commended in a QAA Continuation Audit (2000) and was recognised recently by the award of HEFCE-funds to develop an enhanced international PhD Programme; Brighton is the only new university in a consortium of 10 UK universities chosen for this pilot initiative and the only one offering biomedical sciences. This "New Route" programme will provide the School with an estimated 10 extra students per year.
1.7 Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research
Our integration of chemistry, biology and pharmacy strongly encourages interdisciplinary biomedical research, an approach advocated by the Joint Action Group of the Chemistry and Health & Life Sciences Foresight Panels (1999). We have 52 active international collaborative links in 24 countries. Senior research staff routinely foster links between their established external collaborators and new/junior staff; new appointees are actively encouraged to maintain their existing external research links and the Business Services Office further assists with developing industrial collaborations. Highly productive external links have been established through these policies (see RA6).

Laboratory Based Human Movement and Functional Analysis Group
Established researchers in this group include Moore who with a research team has done much to develop valid and reliable methods of lumbar spine measurement including a range of motion measures and imaging techniques. The team is also developing new methods of measuring peripheral nerve motion. Other established researchers are Burden (EMG applications) and Maxwell (muscle physiology and performance) who have been concerned with the testing and refinement of methodological parameters and experimental design in exercise and health sciences and together with Folland a developing researcher (muscle overload and genotypes) and Wragg, a novice researcher (reliability and validity of field tests of repeated sprint ability) ensure that the scientific analysis of movement has been increasingly applied to sport and health issues with implications for a wide range of subjects, patients and clients. They have gained national recognition for their work in this area. Haas’s work on sway (balance performance reliability and validity; Ashworth scale reliability) and spasticity measurements has attracted much academic and public interest. His current innovative work in Parkinson’s disease and exercise has received funding from the Parkinson’s Disease Society. Petty is a developing researcher, whose work on the effects of lumbar spine postero anterior mobilisation techniques in collaboration with colleagues from Lidcombe University (Australia) and on the grading of manual therapy techniques is contributing to the scientific underpinning of manual therapy concepts.

1.1 Food and Water Safety.
In view of his other responsibilities in establishing the LPSMH, Aggett has initially concentrated on building research in Food Safety, utilising Taylor’s extensive experience in the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach. Taylor and Aggett, in collaboration with other University Departments and the Public Health Laboratory Services (PHLS), have established research projects closely-aligned to their postgraduate programmes (Food Safety; Food Safety Management; Food Microbiology) which deploy the increased research capability engendered by these programmes. Barriers to the effective implementation of HACCP are being investigated in:
· “Difficulties for small businesses in implementing HACCP” (funded by MAFF £105,000, which also supports a PhD student).
· “Changes in practice following HACCP training of meat managers” (funded by the Meat Livestock Commission £25,000) and “butchers” (funded by DoH £35,000), conducted by Ms Gilling (research assistant).
· “Improved adherence to guidelines on use of eggs in the catering industry”.
Evaluation of HACCP efficacy also forms the basis of work-based projects being undertaken by four part-time MPhil/PhD students, with support from their employers, including, for example, a student from Reading Scientific Services Ltd, the Lord Zuckerman Research Centre, Reading. The Journal of Food Protection, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Food Science & Technology Today have accepted papers arising from these projects.
Other projects being conducted by Aggett in this area are:
· “Epidemiological and clinical studies of Cryptosporidiosis in Wales and the NW Region” (with Goodacre and Prof Hunter (PHLS), funded by the NHS Executive, PHLS, NW CDC and NW Water , £70,000).
· “Food chain microbiological hazards” (PHLS funded, £60,000).

1.2. Nutrition.
Aggett’s research on trace element metabolism in infants, and on zinc deficiency and its impact on protein turnover, has continued since he left the Institute of Food Research. His work on placental transfer of trace elements (funded by Phoenix Medical, £30,000) is being established here with Dr Lea (Biological Sciences, who has been returned in UoA14), and complements work with Dr Lowe (Biological Sciences) on metabolism of trace elements and other nutrients using stable isotopes and metabolic modelling.

2. Bioethics
Research continues to be built upon the foundations described in the 1996 return and is focused on genetic screening and genetically-modified foods. This work combines empirical research with ethical analysis orientated towards the formation of European policy in the field of biotechnology. Specific funded projects in the period of review are as follows:
· Levitt, Chadwick and Häyry have collaborated on:
1. Euroscreen 2, “Genetic screening: Community policy on insurance, commercialisation and public awareness”, funded (480,000 ECUS) under BIOMED 2, which developed key themes from previous work, funded under BIOMED 1 and conducted by a multinational, interdisciplinary team including colleagues from the Universities of Helsinki, Finland; Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Genoa, Italy; Aarhus, Denmark; and Vienna, Austria; together with colleagues from the Federation Française des Sociétés d’Assurances, SmithKline Beecham and the Genetic Interest Group. The grant funded a Gene Shop at Manchester Airport to provide a genetics information service, in collaboration with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. The Shop was visited by over 10,000 people and led to media discussions on human cloning and commercialisation of screening tests.
2. Biocult, “Cultural and social objections to biotechnology, with special reference to the views of young people”, funded (58,000 ECUS) under BIOTECH and involving collaboration between four EU countries. This project, which demonstrated that children could express ethically sophisticated arguments, was replicated with the support of the team in Japan and New Zealand, under the local supervision of Prof D. Macer (Tsukuba, Japan).
· Levitt is working on the EMPIRE project “Empirical methods in bioethics” (FP5-funded, 450,000 EUROS) to review the contribution of empirical data to bioethics.
· Levitt, Horner and Chadwick collaborated in a workshop on “Management of waiting lists for organ transplants” (EC-funded 11,800 EUROS).
· Chadwick participated in “Xenotransplantation: ethical, social, economical and legal aspects” (EC-funded 20,000 EUROS); “Vaccine policies in research and public health” (EC-funded 50,600 EUROS); “Banking of genetic material and data in Europe: Legal, ethical and social issues” (EC-funded, 35,000 EUROS); “Sequencing the human genome” and “Ethical Issues in research and technology” (to enable MEPs to evaluate ethical aspects of FP5) both funded by the European Parliament’s STOA programme.
· Chadwick chaired and Levitt participated in the Novel Foods working group of the Food Ethics Council, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to review developments and policy in food and agriculture within a framework of practical ethics.
· Chadwick and Horner collaborated with the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester in an “Evaluation of training needs of Local Research Ethics Committees” (Liverpool, Manchester and Preston Ethics Training (LiMPET) funded by NHS Executive NW, total £144,000).
· Häyry was awarded funding by the Academy of Finland for projects on “Ethical, Legal and Sociocultural Aspects of Bio-scientific Research” (333,000 ECUS), “European Moral Philosophy and the Possibility of Consensus in the regulation of Genetic Engineering” (143,000 ECUS), and “Biotechnology, Liberty and Responsibility” (134,000 ECUS). Publications from these projects have provided detailed analyses of the ethical issues surrounding genetic engineering, and the role of ethics committees and philosophers in bioethical research programmes.

3. Chronic Disease and Rehabilitation (CD&R)
Goodacre, since joining the University in 1998, has established the CD&R programme by engaging University staff with relevant skills and interests in this field together with colleagues in the University’s partner NHS Trusts, Primary Care Groups (PCGs) and the PHLS. The CD&R IDRTG encompasses multiple specialties and disciplines and possesses generic skills in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, clinical trials design, statistics, health psychology, sociology and biomedical science. Funding has been obtained to appoint two postdoctoral researchers, both of whom are actively involved in project development and supervision, organisation of weekly journal clubs and research meetings. Work is focused on two main topics:

3.1. Novel approaches for health professionals to clinical assessment and care.

Patient perspectives are being characterised and incorporated into work aimed at:

· Developing new clinical outcome measures.
· Improving design and utilisation of assistive devices in chronic diseases.
· Translating knowledge of the psychological, social and cultural determinants of health behaviour into clinical settings.
Results from these studies will enable health professionals to target new healthcare and educational initiatives and resources more selectively and effectively to different subgroups of patients. Current projects being supervised by Goodacre and undertaken by occupational therapists, physiotherapists and nurses include:
· “Development of a new patient-centred functional measure in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)”, which will be validated internationally in collaboration with groups in Europe, USA and Japan, and a closely-related project conducted by a rheumatology nurse in the Burnley NHS Trust to develop such a measure in ethnic populations. These projects are conducted and supervised by a postdoctoral occupational therapist, supported by a research fellowship from AstraZeneca (£126,000).
· “Health needs and NHS use by SLE patients from ethnic minority populations” (conducted by a research nurse in the Blackburn NHS Trust and supported by an NHS R&D project grant, total £120,000) and “Musculoskeletal disability in ethnic communities in Preston” (with K Patel, Ethnicity and Health Unit (returned in UoA41)).
· “Effects of adverse early life experiences in chronic diseases in adulthood” and “Employment strategies for young adults with chronic arthritis” (with Prof Wattam, Dept Social Work (returned in UoA41)), and “Health behaviour in ankylosing spondylitis” (with Dr Smith, Dept of Psychology).
· “Parenting and arthritis: design needs of assistive equipment”, which is an occupational therapist’s PhD project and arises from a major new programme on the theme of “Design and Evaluation of Assistive Technologies in Chronic Disabilities” in collaboration with Dept Engineering and Product Design.
Four abstracts based on the early work from these studies will be presented at the forthcoming British Society for Rheumatology Annual Meeting.

3.2. Immunological mechanisms of chronic diseases.
In his previous post Goodacre set up and led a laboratory group which achieved a strong record of biomedical research in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of autoimmune disease, and which received over £330,000 funding from the ARC between 1995-98.
· His established projects on T cell autoimmunity in RA (with Prof Glant, Rush University, Chicago; Prof Cawston, University of Newcastle) will be completed in 2001, as will his ARC-funded work on group A streptococcal immunopathogenicity (with Prof Kehoe, University of Newcastle, and Prof Dougan, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) upon which the publications cited in this return are based.
· He is continuing to study bacteria in chronic disease immunopathogenesis, now using two models arising from existing clinical and scientific interests in Lancashire:
1. He has set up a large interdisciplinary collaboration to investigate post-Campylobacter autoimmune sequelae in Lancashire, utilising internationally-renowned Campylobacter surveillance expertise in PHLS Preston (Prof Bolton, returned in UoA14). Epidemiological studies are being conducted by a postdoctoral clinical scientist, funded (£28,000) jointly by the Preston / Chorley NHS Trust, PHLS and ARC, to provide a basis for future biomedical projects. The collaboration involves the PHLS, the Preston and Chorley NHS Trust [Microbiology, Clinical Immunology, Neurology], six rheumatologists, ten general practices, and Prof Leirisalo-Repo (University of Helsinki).
2. In collaboration with Ormerod, he is investigating TB and asthma concurrence in ethnic populations in East Lancashire, utilising the former’s strong expertise in TB and his own in T cell biology.

Research Culture Members of staff in this Unit have organised a substantial number of international, national and professional conferences which have enhanced the Unit’s external recognition. These have included conferences on “Consensus in Bioethics” (1996), “Genetic information: acquisition, access and control” (1997), “Genetic screening: implications for health care professionals” (1997) and “Food for the Future? The impact of genetically-engineered food” (1999), as well as Lancashire & South Cumbria Interdisciplinary Research and Education symposia (three to date have been on Arthritis (1999), Refractory Angina (2000), and Asthma (2001) respectively). The Unit has developed a network of Visiting Fellows from the UK and abroad including Dr. Kalokerinou, University of Cyprus; Dr Siurana, University of Valencia, and Dr Blazquez-Ruiz, University of Navarra. The research seminar programme has brought the following eminent external speakers to the University: Prof Dieppe (MRC Health Services Research Unit, University of Bristol), Prof Holgate (MRC Professor of Immunopharmacology, University of Southampton), Prof Coggon (MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton), Prof Panayi (ARC Professor in Rheumatology, University of London), Prof Lewkonia (Dept. Medicine, University of Calgary), Prof Haimes (Dept. Social Policy, University of Newcastle), Prof Scott (School of Health, University of East Anglia), Prof Gylling (Dept. Philosophy, University of Helsinki), Prof Davis (Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago), and Prof Kleinig (City University, New York). The Canadian Society for International Health funded two six-month visiting internships (K. Petrie and J. Marshall) 1997-98, and a Marie Curie fellow, Dr A. Marturano, 2000.

Postgraduate research students The Unit currently accommodates 10 research students (an increase from 3 in 1996) several of whom are jointly-supervised by CPE and LPSMH staff. Supervisory arrangements for research students involve a regular schedule of progress monitoring meetings timetabled at the beginning of each academic year, and an expectation that students will attend and contribute to the research seminar series. In addition, each student is expected to complete a programme of associated studies, which includes compulsory attendance at appropriate research methods modules on Departmental and Faculty masters’ programmes. New students attend a University-wide induction event, managed by senior research supervisors representative of all disciplines and designed to ensure that students become familiar with the principles and processes of achieving a higher degree. Students have access to dedicated facilities, including networked computers, personal desks and storage space.

Other initiatives to enhance interdisciplinary research The research ethos of the Unit enables staff to benefit from access to wider knowledge and collaboration, as result of which one (Taylor) has already achieved promotion to a Research Chair. Aggett serves on several international and national committees that determine and advise on interdisciplinary research priorities, and he and Goodacre sit on R&D Committees of several NHS Trusts and PCGs. Two NHS Trusts (Preston and Chorley; and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh) are working in partnership with Goodacre to set up Clinical Studies Centres (CSCs) to support, amongst other things, research physiological, metabolic and pharmacological and clinical trials, closely-linked with the Industrial sector. CSCs will provide further opportunities to form stable research partnerships with the NHS Trusts. Members of the Unit contribute towards general development of NHS R&D capability in Lancashire and South Cumbria by advising on study design and methodologies for AHPs and other NHS staff, and by co-organising R&D meetings with NHS Trusts.

Relationships with industry and research users The Unit’s relationships with the NHS are determined by the latter’s needs for enhanced research skills and capability to conduct R&D and to fulfil requirements of clinical and research governance. The Unit’s relationships with industry are closely aligned to the priorities of relevant regional, national and European policy-making and funding bodies, including HEFCE, DoH, OST, DTI, research councils and charities, EU Framework programmes, Foresight panels, and the North West Development Agency.

Staffing Policy
All new members of staff must have recognised research experience and expertise as a condition of appointment so that they can contribute to the continuing development of established research groups. The Unit includes several post-doctoral research staff who are developing research careers with support and guidance of senior staff in the expectation that they will be returned in the next RAE. These include Dr L. Goodacre (postdoctoral occupational therapist) and Dr S. Zia (postdoctoral clinical scientist), both of whom are conducting projects as members of the CD&R IDRTG (see 3.1 and 3.2 above), and Dr Powell, Dr Eliah and Dr Judd, all recently appointed to posts within the F&H IDRTG (see below). Health service staff from all sectors, including clinicians, doctors, AHPs, and managerial and laboratory, staff, can apply for honorary appointments, which are negotiated with employers and line managers to agree jointly the job plans and appraisal. The Category C members of staff included in this return (Ormerod and Horner) hold honorary appointments and as such have key roles in the Unit’s research and teaching developments. Chadwick left the CPE in September 2000 to take up the post of Professor of Bioethics at Lancaster University. Her replacement, Häyry, took up post in March 2001 and has the necessary background both to maintain and extend activities in philosophical and applied work. Taylor left the LPSMH to take up a Research Chair in Food Safety at the University of Salford in January 2001. Dr Powell, her replacement, possesses established expertise in Food Safety and will start from a higher level of research culture and ethos than was initially available to Taylor.

Prevention and management of falls and injuries in older people: Lamb has completed a systematic review of fall prevention with the Cochrane collaboration (Gillespie et al., 2000 - see RA2). The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has commissioned two reviews from the group; an effectiveness bulletin for clinicians and a response to the National Service Frameworks for Older People. We have submitted a £700,000 grant application for a multi-centred trial of fall prevention in primary care to the Medical Research Council. We are also working with statisticians at the University of Oxford to improve estimates of fall risk, and clinical methods of screening. We have fostered good collaborative links with the Yale Fall Prevention Group in the USA (Professor Tinetti), and the National Institute of Aging (Dr Guralnik) to further the transfer and development of knowledge concerning fall prevention in the UK. Dr Gough has strong links with falls prevention researchers in Finland and Greece, and has made significant contributions to researching and improving fall prevention services in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. We have been successful in establishing a special interest group in falls prevention research comprising clinicians, public health professionals and academics from Coventry, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire to enhance collaboration and user relevance of research. We have published a number of studies concerning the management of hip fracture (some submitted in RA2), and are developing a research strategy to address this neglected area. Dr Ward has been involved in a large randomised trial of different surgical methods in hip fracture, published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2001.

There are currently six research students in the group, who benefit from strong links with the Psychosocial Research Centre, and MSc in manipulative therapy and acupuncture. Lamb was an external supervisor to two additional students, who successfully completed their studies during the census period. As in the Psychosocial Research Centre, many research students are experienced health care professionals, often studying part-time.

The management of research resides with heads of subject groups, designated research leads and directors of research centres. The overall research strategy is agreed at School Board level, and is developed and monitored by the School Research Sub-Committee and Research Degrees Sub-Committee. The School Research Sub-Committee is chaired by Professor Wallace (submitted UoA13), and is concerned with implementing research policies and strategy agreed by the Central University Research Committee, monitoring progress and the award of internal research funds via a competitive process. The Research Degrees Sub-committee is chaired by Professor Barlow, and oversees the management, development and training of post-graduate research students, review of proposals for PhD research, annual monitoring of progress and review of examination arrangements.

8. Comparison with plans in RAE 1996
The Psychosocial Research Centre has achieved its main aim of broadening its research scope to include chronic conditions other than arthritis and to strengthen its link with national priorities. For example, self-management featured in the recent White Paper, Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, and led to the establishment of the Expert Patients' Task Force. Consequently, the Centre has extended its work on arthritis to encompass interventions for people with other chronic conditions (e.g. endometriosis, haemophilia, polio, depression, liver disease, diabetes). New research areas have been established on risk perception with projects in breast cancer screening, sports injuries and post-traumatic stress following childbirth. In addition, the accumulation of skills within the Centre led to development and evaluation of a touch therapy programme for parents of children with disabilities. The core of researchers based solely within the Centre has increased and a total of five are entered for the RAE, 3 recently appointed researchers are not submitted. In the 1996 RAE, development of clinical research, and lecturer-practitioner posts were identified as strategic aims. This has been consolidated in the last year, and we feel we have made good progress in this respect. In the 1996 RAE, none of the current staff in the subject groups of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and health sciences were returned. We now have a flourishing post-graduate student community, and are submitting grants to major research councils, with some success. The group is working closely with local NHS providers to develop a research and clinical effectiveness network that is responsive to local and national research agendas, and encourages collaboration with clinical colleagues. We are developing a culture that balances research and lecturing roles, and has proven successful in facilitating the development of younger researchers. The Group has a growing record of publication in peer-reviewed journals, some of which are co-authored with researchers in the Psychosocial Research Centre.

Research management within the Department
Each research grouping elects a representative to the Research Committee which also has a representative postgraduate student and is chaired by the Research Advisor (Scott) who also represents the Faculty of Science and Health on the Academic Board Research Committee (RA5c). The Departmental Research Committee co-ordinates planning, encourages active researchers, supports grant applications, monitors recruitment and progress of PhD students and ensures effective communication with minutes of each meeting circulated electronically. It also promotes and channels funds for presentations at international conferences to disseminate our findings to target audiences likely to implement those findings. Research projects are managed by individual staff with the support of the Graduate School (RA5c) and of the Research Advisor.

Research Groupings, activities and achievements.
Names key : Active researchers, Research assistants, Visiting professors, Non research-active staff.

Ø Human Motor Performance Group (HMPG - established in 1994)
Prime activities: Exploring how human physical activity and therapeutic intervention impact function and mitigate effects of disease and trauma, this group has concentrated on: 1) gaining external research funding and subsequent publications, 2) increasing international and national collaboration, and 3) ensuring completion of PhD submissions while 4) combining physiological, bio-mechanical and clinical techniques in studying integrated function with associated neuromuscular control systems. Scott and Bateman, with experienced clinicians Culpan and Dawes, completed a three year grant funded multi-centered study of aerobic training in head injured patients. With her own external funding from 1997, Cramp, supported by Scott, has focused on methodologies to study changes in muscles and neural control mechanisms underlying stroke laying foundation for new work on exercise training of stroke patients in leisure centres (RA2). These combined studies of physiological and clinical measures of function have resulted in advances in the understanding of motor control and the beneficial effects of physical intervention early after head injury and stroke.

Hooper (1996-99) an internally funded postdoctoral bioengineer from Iowa, whose expertise and enthusiasm underpinned the movement analysis laboratory and the work of grant funded young researchers, worked with Coutts and Morrissey in investigating trauma and recovery following knee injury. Coutts is continuing to focus on motion analysis following hip replacement and with Cramp looks at effects of training on walking patterns after stroke. Morrissey with Goodwin (1998-2000), Man (1998-2000), Perry (1999-2000) and Klarenta (2000) worked on knee training after injury, transferring to King’s in December 2000; Drechsler worked with Morrissey and has remained at UEL sustaining work on knees with Hudson.

The group has support from Visiting Professors including: Cywinski, Switzerland, Greenwood, RNRU, Homerton Hospital, Rothwell, Institute for Neurology, Queen Square and Vrbová, UCL and clinical links with Medical Consultants Greenwood & Lethman, Homerton Hospital (Scott, Cramp, Bateman, Culpan), Gill, Newham General Hospital (Cramp, Scott), Wade, Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre, (Scott, Bateman, Culpan, Dawes), McAuliffe, Whipps Cross Hospital (Morrissey, Coutts) and King, Royal London Hospital, (Morrissey). Each institution provides accommodation and support for clinically based research and researchers, enabling us to work closely with clinical colleagues.

Achievements (1996-2000) include
i. Funding from North Thames Regional Health Authority, £530k, charities (Action Research & The Stroke Association), £230k and 12 Nuffield and Wellcome studentships (RA5c).
ii. International and national recognition, through refereed publications, 14 invited presentations, 5 international and numerous UK based presentations.
iii. A major achievement, the culmination of extensive research networking and led by Scott, was a conference at UEL, 21-25 July 1998, with 250 delegates from a variety of countries including scientists and therapists of international eminence, to explore underlying issues in 'Human Motor Performance - Interaction between Science and Therapy'. A two day scientific conference preceded two days of clinical seminars with researchers presenting key advances in their own research and discussing therapeutic implications with colleagues.
iv. Supporting and encouraging young researchers with 3 members awarded PhD's (Bateman, Cramp, Dawes) and 5 registered since 1996 (Coutts @ Strathclyde, Culpan & Drechsler @ UEL, Goodwin & Man now @ King’s) complemented by 42 MSc projects completed, 18 student external publications and 16 postgraduates known to have gone on to doctoral research.

Ø Practice Development Research Grouping (PDRG - established in 1996)
Prime activities: The aims of this group are to influence development of professional practice through 1) furthering an understanding of the nature of expert knowledge (Beeston, Bithell) and clinical reasoning (Bithell, Minns Lowe, Ryan) 2) fostering work-based learning at all levels of professional development (Baldry Currens, Beeston, Rastall, Ryan, Stubbs, 3) investigating issues arising from the workplace which affect health care delivery and enhance patient care (Armstrong, Rastall). Recognising the need to harness experience and research both at international and national level within the professional groups, one of the key strategies of this group has been to form strategic links with key experts and researchers (RA6 Beeston, Bithell & Ryan) and the appointment of Higgs, University of Sydney to UEL as a Visiting Professor.

This group has built on work done in the area of clinical reasoning, exploration of expert knowledge and of perceptions held by learners at all levels of professional practice. Facilitated respectively by grants from the Chartered Societies of Physiotherapy (CSP) and Occupational Therapy (COT) and using focussed student projects, Bithell and Ryan employed qualitative methodologies to explore the nature of expert knowledge and clinical reasoning. Publications (RA2) and presentations at international and national professional conferences (RA6) provided insight into professional knowledge associated with physiotherapy diagnosis (King & Bithell), musculo-skeletal physiotherapy (Minns-Lowe & Bithell), and paediatric occupational therapy (Ryan). Much of their work has been co-authored with practising therapists leading to increased research links with the workplace.

Collaboration with, and education of NHS managers and clinicians has been enhanced through action research exploring new models of clinical education (Baldry Currens, Bithell), funded by two education consortia (South Essex and South East London). Dissemination of findings has been through local and national presentation and publication (RA2), and has been extended recently with additional funding to facilitate widespread implementation. Recent funding from City and East London Education Consortium (CELEC) (RA4) is for assessing education and training needs of professionals allied to medicine in evidence-based practice (Beeston, Rastall, Ryan). Minns-Lowe returned to act as research assistant on this work.

Ø Applied Sport and Exercise Grouping (ASEG - established in 2000)
Prime activities: Following two years of strategic appointments of staff with active research profiles, this grouping has research experience in exercise physiology and psychology, and its relationship to health. They are mostly based on the Barking Campus with immediate access to recreational and sports facilities. Activities have been largely developmental at this stage. This group’s main achievement since formation has been to further collaborative work internationally and nationally (RA6a, Carpenter, Garbutt, Lopes, Trenberth); to redesign the undergraduate programmes building on their research activity, to consolidate links with the local community and public sector research bodies (Garbutt RA5c); and to continue to publish their research findings (RA2).

Ø Health Studies and Promotion Grouping (HSPG - established in 1997)
Prime Activities: In 1996, appointment of sociologists Rickard and Lane as key researchers was strategic. This research grouping has investigated the social/cultural/historical perspectives on health and well-being, particularly in relation to sexuality, health promotion and life history, genetics, and indigenous rights.

Funded projects completed by Rickard include: 'HIV/AIDS Testimonies: the positive impact and lasting legacy', a collection of life-histories from people with HIV/AIDS (1995-2000) and 'The Oral History of Prostitution' recording a social history of prostitution (1997-2000) both with the British Library National Sound Archive. In "Life Testimonies and Health promotion", with the Health Education Authority, life histories were drawn from individuals with experience of being homeless, refugees or young people 'looked after' in care, (1999-2000). The "Newham Gay Men's Survey" was commissioned by East London and the City Health Authority and the London Borough of Newham to undertake a needs assessment of gay men's health promotion. This included an analysis of demographic characteristics, the issues of transience, social class analysis, sexual practices and sexual health needs (1999-2001).

Research Groupings: Our strategic plan continues to be to prioritise and focus on the development of research in the areas noted above and to rationalise existing and new material and human resources in such a way that interdisciplinary and co-operative research occurs across SAM. We achieve our research goals as a result of natural synergies that exist between the research groupings (see below), and well qualified research active academic staff. This also enables us to cover molecular biology, physiology, biochemistry and bio-analysis, in an integrated fashion. A synopsis of the activities of the research groups is given below. Research themes overlap between groups making use of interdisciplinary skills especially in molecular diagnostics, chemical analysis, as well as where common skills are required eg molecular biology. This synergy is evidenced by the increasing number of shared author journal articles by different group members.

Nutrition and Food, Group A: Prof. Westby leads Food and Nutrition research. The group's activities are centred on food and nutrition in developing countries and food safety, considered within the wider context of contributing to the sustainable livelihoods of poor people. The group has collaborative projects with UK and EU Universities, but the major emphasis is on international collaboration involving more than 50 countries, especially African and Asian, since 1996.

The group addresses practical problems in developing countries and has attracted significant funding from the UK DFID, FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the EU. The international dimension of the group's research is enhanced by secondment of staff to senior management positions in international organisations. These include: the International Foundation for Science as Head of Programme (1995-2002), the World Health Organisation (1996-1999) to work on the WHO Programme of Food Safety and Food Aid and as Chief of Operations at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, as the West Africa Co-ordinator of the DFID Crop Post-Harvest Research Programme.

Members of the group shared responsibility with NRI staff for the award in 2000 of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. Their work was said to be of "international renown". The citation states that the "practical projects together with its educational and training programmes have brought huge benefit, making a real difference to the lives of thousands of people". A medal was also received for its project "Food Security for the 21st Century" which registered in the Projects Around the World category of Expo 2000. The group was also a part of a project that won 'The World Vision Award for Development Initiative' at the 1997 Worldaware Business Awards.

Academic members of this research group include:

Prof. Westby and Dr. Bainbridge whose main research interests are in post-harvest aspects of tropical root crops. They have developed an understanding of the major mechanisms of cyanogen reduction during cassava processing. Using these findings they have adapted and tested improved processing techniques to benefit the nutrition of poor people in Africa. They have published an authoritative guide to the quality assessment of food crops (ISBN 0-85954-400-1), and an innovative distance learning guide for extending research on cassava processing (ISBN 0-85954-456-7). Models for the optimisation of legume germination to maximise nuritional quality have also been developed. Prof. Westby played a lead role in the FAO/IFAD initiative to develop a "Global Strategy for Cassava Development". Since 1996 he has won research projects valued at over £1.88 million which included the extension and successful execution of a DFID Regional Africa Project (1993-1996; 1996-1998) valued at £1.02 million.

Dr. Myhara (Senior Scientist) joined the University from the Sultan Qaboos University, Oman in 1999. His main research interest is the optimisation of food processing operations. He has designed and validated an artificial neural intelligence model to predict the stability of foods based upon chemical composition and moisture control that optimises retention of vitamins, and prevents microbial and oxidative degradation. He has also investigated the chemical and sensory changes occurring during maturation of tropical fruits. In addition to peer reviewed publications, this has resulted in the publication of an authoritative guide to the quality improvement of dates. A new area of work has been developed to investigate and optimise (using isothermal calorimetry and NMR imaging) the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters associated with the osmotic drying of foods.

Molecular Biology/Medical Technology, Group B: This group, led by Prof. Bruce, has expanded significantly since the last RAE, due in part to the merger of the separate Molecular Sciences and Medical Technology research groups which existed previously. It continues to have a wide range of research interests involving process engineers, biochemists, molecular biologists, geneticists, microbiologists, software engineers and statisticians within and outside the University. There are also researchers and secondees from academic and industrial centres in the UK and abroad visiting or working with individuals in the Group. Current research concentrates upon: (i) the genetics and biochemistry of halogenated aromatic herbicide and pesticide dissimilation by B. cepacia, (ii) methods and product development for molecular biology/diagnostics, (iii) magnetisable solid phase supports (iv) DNA/RNA modification chemistries, (v) biosensors for mycotoxins (vi) bioanalysis for mycotoxins using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, (vii) Bacillus spp, (viii) medical NMR and mass spectrometry (MS).

The group has attracted significant, >£2 million, BBSRC, EPSRC, DTI and Industrial funding over the last 5 years, and this has continued to include LINK, ROPA, EPSRC and TCS grants. Most recently the group has started to attract EU funding (FP5-RTD 5.207 million Euro). Many of the grants have specifically been for process and hardware innovations in the general area of molecular biology and diagnostics. These have, and will have, a significant impact in health and medicine diagnostic processes. Major collaborations and research grants are held with other academic, government agencies and companies including; Hercules Limited, AKZO (Organon Teknika), Whatman Plc Hybaid Ltd, Techne (Cambridge) Ltd, the Central Public Health Laboratories (London), the Food Research Association Laboratory ([FRA] Leatherhead), and the Forensic Science Service ([FSS] DNA profiling laboratories, Birmingham). International collaborations include the Instituto Zooprofilattico (Perugia, Italy), Universita di Urbino (Italy), Proligo GmbH (Hamburg, Germany), MIRA Diagnostica GmbH (Leverkusen, Germany), Savyon Diagnostics Ltd (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Bar-Ilan University (Tel Aviv, Israel).

Academic members of this research group include;

Prof. Bruce, Drs. Hurst (Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology) and Davies (Senior Lecturer in Bio-organic Chemistry) who form a sub-grouping with interests in areas (i) to (iv) above. Dr. Davies' work also overlaps with that of the pharmacology/neurobiology group. Since 1996 these individuals have successfully supervised 6 PhD students and an MPhil student to completion. Specific areas of collaboration and research can be highlighted by the following:

FSS: development of hybrid capture silica-magnetite based materials for sperm head enrichment for DNA isolation and profiling in rape and sexual assault cases using antibodies provided by Prof. Harry Moore, University of Sheffield.

CPHLS: have recently awarded 5 joint PhD studentships to the group for: (i) development and application of Helicobacter pylori surveillance to improve antimicrobial treatment; (ii) molecular epidemiology of human cryptosporidiosis with particular reference to the identification of Cryptosporidium infectious to humans in farm animals and the environment; (iii) sensitive salivary assays using PCR-amplified detection methods: application to the monitoring of measles, mumps and rubella vaccination programmes; (iv) development of novel molecular methods for the detection and characterisation of human gastrointestinal pathogens; and (v) developing a strategy for the in vitro detection of VTs by means of their N-glycosidase activity.

Universita di Urbino: joint masters in biotechnology with EU and British Council funding for staff exchange.
Istituto Zooprofilattico: transfer and establishment of diagnostic methods and materials and help in setting up regional laboratories for GMO testing and development of hybrid capture silica-magnetite based materials for Brucella, Listeria and Mycobacterium detection in milk (DNA based).

Dr. Bishop, (Senior Lecturer in Microbiology) with special interests in Bacillus spp. classification and method development for spore DNA extraction. This has been with particular reference to the use of wild type or enhanced Bacillus thuringiensis strains as pesticides in the third world and more recently the identification and discrimination of Bacillus species involved in food poisoning. This work has received funding from DFID and more recently a collaborative link with the CPHLS has been formed with respect to food poisoning Bacillus species. This latter work is also relevant to that of the Nutrition and Food Research Group.

Dr. Smith (Reader in Microbial Biochemistry), whose principal interests lie in enzymes that degrade xenobiotic compounds (notably 2,4-dichlorophenol hydroxylase, EC 1.14.13.20), the outer membrane proteins of the cell walls of phytophathogens (Pseudomonas syringae and Erwinia amylovora), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) side-chain and extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) structure in relation to disease. The work on LPS resulted in the characterisation of the structure of the Pseudomonas common antigen. His collaborations include PHLS-CAMR (Porton Down), East Malling Research Station, INRA - Angers (France), and Dr. J-P Cabral of University of Porto (Portugal). Most recently he has been developing research in the extra-cellular polysaccharide and lipopolysaccharide of Pseudomonas strains isolated from cystic fibrosis patients in order to see if these are involved in gel formation in pulmonary fluid and thereby can lead to an increase in mucus secretions viscosity. He currently supervises a Post-Doctoral Fellow and 2 PhD research students one of which received funding from the Perry Foundation (£40,000).

Dr. Howells (Senior Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry) is an interdisciplinary researcher with interests in tumour classification and response to therapy by NMR both in vivo and in vitro in conjunction with ex-colleagues at St. George’s Hospital (London). In addition she has concentrated on analytical NMR and capillary electrophoretic approaches to biological fluids analysis particularly lipids profiling in plasma and defining patterns for urine and using these in disease diagnosis. Dr. Howells will be responsible for the new NMR facility and a research technician to support its work.

Dr. Evans (Reader in Molecular Genetics), and Prof. Coker (Professor of Food Safety), form a sub-grouping with overlapping interests in the development of methods for the control of food contaminants, which are deleterious to public health in both developed and developing countries. Prof. Coker has been particularly involved in the control of mycotoxins for some twenty four years and has led the development of a variety of analytical and detoxification procedures. This sub-grouping's current interests include the development of bioassays, using genetically modified microorganisms, for the study of the toxicity of mycotoxins, and other toxins; and the development of an immunosensor for the determination of mycotoxins. Their work is funded by DFID and the EU and overlaps with the Nutrition and Food group.

All of the above staff are classed as category A. The final member of this group is Prof. Mallet who is classed as category C. Prof. Mallet left Kings College School of Medicine ([KCL] London) and moved his facility of 3 mass spectrometers to the University of Greenwich as a result of its reorganisation. This has caused the development of a Centre for Mass Spectrometry at the University which is funded by the British Heart Foundation. Prof. Mallet interacts with many Research Centre members providing a mass spectrometric analysis service. Recently a Hewlett Packard capillary electrophorisis system has been purchased for Dr. Howells which will be mounted on one of the mass spectrometers to further develop aspects of biological mass spectrometry of body fluids. Prof. Mallet continues his collaborations with ex-colleagues at KCL and this is reflected in the significant numbers of journal papers in which he is co-author.

Pharmacology/Neurobiology, Group C: This group is headed jointly by Drs. Harbige (Reader in Nutrition and Immunology), who joined the University in 1996 from St. Thomas' Hospital, London and Leach (Reader in Pharmacology and Drug Development). Specifically Dr. Harbige's interests are in fatty acids, and related lipids, and their role and significance in immune system function and immune-mediated disorders of the CNS. Dr. Leach's interests centre around the use of neuroprotective drugs and surrogate markers of cerebral ischaemic damage with respect to cerebral trauma, stroke and epilepsy. Research is supported by grants from the Henry Smith Charity, Scotia Pharmaceuticals Plc, CeNeS Ltd, Glaxo Smith Klein and Quest Pharmaceuticals.

The third member of this group is Dr. Habtemariam (Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences), who has recently joined Greenwich from the University of Strathclyde where he held a Glaxo-JAC lectureship. His area of research is natural products chemistry/drug discovery, with particular interests in plant extracts as anti-inflammatory agents, integrin mediated cell adhesion and immune cell function and its modulation. Dr. Habtemariam has collaborations with the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan (CICY), Mexico and Southern Cross University, Australia.

Exercise/ Sports Science, Group D: This is a relatively small group with currently only one research active, academic staff member Dr. Price, a Senior Lecturer in Sports Science, appointed in 1997. The group is rapidly developing and a number of other academic staff members are being supported to attain 'research active' status. Dr. Price's interests are in thermo-regulation of disabled athletes and significant investment has been made by the University (in excess of £300,000) into new laboratories and equipment for the development of both research and teaching in this general area. Dr. Price is an accredited member of British Association for Sports and Exercise Science, ([BASES] research) and is currently working towards the accreditation of the sports science laboratories by that organisation. This group is involved with the 'Greater London Cycling Sports Science Support Project' and 4 international athletes (throwing and sprinting) use the Sports Science facility for performance assessment and enhancement. His research is currently supported by 2 MSc students and it is likely that further postgraduate students will be recruited to this area.

Relevance of SAM research: It continues to be the case that almost all of the research of the SAM group is relevant to areas highlighted in Foresight 2015 as areas of national and international importance. Specifically the areas of (i) 'Ageing Population', (ii) 'Chemicals', (iii) 'Crime Prevention', (iv) 'Health Care' and (v) 'Food Chain and Crops for Industry' (Foresight.gov.uk).

· Research activity has increased
· Establishment of research groups and centres
· Integration of studentships and Research Assistants
· Successful research collaboration
· Establishment of the Centre for Community Research
· Establishment of MA in Counselling Enquiry

2. Research Structure and Environment

2.1 Research Groups

Research within this area is divided into two sections which reflect the two Departments from which this submission is made, with further division of research groupings:

Department of Art & Arts Therapies: Faculty of Art & Design
Department of Social Care: Faculty of Health & Human Sciences

The Research Groups are:

Art Therapy and Learning Disabilities including Autism
Dance and Therapy
Loss, Trauma and the Arts Therapies Research Centre
Eating Disorders

Each group has developed a coherent focus and strategy while sharing common aims and objectives across the two Faculties. Cross-collaboration is encouraged, as is collaboration, both national and international, with other institutions. An outline of each area is given below.
2.2 Art Therapy and Learning Disabilities including Autism

Postdoctoral research further developing the ‘Art Therapy with Children who have Autism’ project conducted by Dubowski & Evans. This work is partly applied research in reference to the methods of therapeutic intervention and partly pure research related to an understanding of symbolic functioning. Dr. Dubowski is also developing work into the relationship between symbolic thinking and imagination in children with autism. A paper outlining this work, Transitional Objects, Autistic Objects & Imagination, was given at the 1999 ‘Arts Therapies in Learning Disabilities and Autism’ conference.

Within the focus on Efficacy Research in Arts Therapies and Learning Disabilities, the work in this area, begun in 1998, will be completed in 2002, involving the analysis of existing hospital records filed by Arts Therapists. (A PhD Scholarship was awarded to Helen Quenet to work alongside Dr. Dubowski on this project). Phase two (2002 – 2006) will develop a method of record-keeping using this data, accessible to text and statistical analysis, to be piloted by approximately 100 practitioners nation wide. It is planned that this will eventually lead to the development of a central facility enabling a regular national audit of outcome measures with this client group. Dr. Dubowski delivered a paper outlining this project to the 1999 ECArTE Conference (European Consortium for Arts Therapies Education).

Collaboration with the Horizon NHS Trust has included a 1998 national conference on the theme of Efficacy Measures in the Arts Therapies, and in 1999 on the theme of Clinical Assessment in Arts Therapies, (Published in 2000). Both conferences were hosted by the University of Hertfordshire. The national Learning Disabilities and Autism: The Creative Dimension conference (1999) held in London will have proceedings published by Jessica Kingsley. (Edited by Dr J. Dubowski, anticipated publication date in 2001). The second conference, The Challenge to Create will take place in April 2001 again in collaboration with Horizon NHS Trust.

2.3 Dance and Therapy

The Arts Therapies focus within the Counselling Group has as its central theme an interest in psychological and therapeutic issues relating to the body-mind relationship. Our principal achievements in this area are the publication of Julia Buckroyd's book, The Student Dancer, which incorporates and develops much of her research since 1986. Helen Payne's extension of her interests in dance therapy into authentic and creative movement has brought her international recognition resulting in the publication of her book on the subject in Italian, Danzeterapia e Movimento Creativo. Maggie Turp’s work argues for full consideration to be given to a client’s use or abuse of physicality within the context of verbal psychotherapy.

2.4 Loss, Trauma and the Arts Therapies Research Centre

This newly established centre has a focus on bereavement, work with refugees, poverty and social exclusion including anthropological contributions, trauma including PTSD, and working with the terminally ill.

The work of the centre includes a collaborative project with Addenbrooks NHS Trust, Cambridge that has been in place since 1997 and will continue until 2001. Preliminary findings have been delivered during the EXILES conference (1998) and in several publications. (D. Dokter 1997. 1998. Dr A. Gersie. 1997). S. R. Johnsons work into the relationships between the Arts Therapies and Medical Anthropology relate to this focus, as has the research and publications into the Therapeutic use of Story-telling led by A. Gersie. Helen Payne’s book, Leave No Stone Unturned and Eileen Smith’s book, Integrity and Change both concern themselves with the welfare of vulnerable and excluded groups.

2.5 Eating Disorders

Julia Buckroyd continues to lead this area, which has expanded into an ongoing project working in the community with women who eat compulsively. A bid has been made to West Herts. Health Authority to fund a specialist clinic for adolescents with bulimia and anorexia. This will provide a research, as well as treatment, environment in the area of primary and community care.

2.6 Research Facilities

The Research Facility within the Faculty of Art & Design provides well-equipped accommodation for both staff and research students. The excellent computer facilities include the availability of a wide range of specialist software. Staff have access to a number of established centres of health research within the University, these include HRDSU (Health Research and Development Support Unit) and CRIPACC. (Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care). In 2000 the Dept. of Health & Social Care established the CRC (Centre for Research in the Community) with representatives from Counselling, Social Work, Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Learning Disability. Start-up funding has been provided by the University together with physical and administrative resources. Both Julia Buckroyd and Maggie Turp are members involved in projects related to the treatment of eating disorders and self-harm.

3. Staffing Policy

All contracted staff have time allocated for research and self-managed study. In addition, research-active staff with registered research projects are further supported with remission against teaching where appropriate. The Faculty research budgets are managed by research co-ordinators monitored by the Faculty Research Policy Committee. A regular series of research seminars provides opportunities to share progress on projects with the research community. In addition, the Faculty provides a seminar series for research students that also includes an element of supervisor training. There has been an increase in overall research activity. Philippa Brown’s work has a focus on the understanding of Group Art Therapy processes. Other changes include the appointment of Michèle Wood who has contributed greatly to the Loss, Trauma and the Arts Therapies Group.

4. Research Strategy

4.1 Introduction

Both Faculties continues to develop and support graduate education by the introduction of new courses at Masters level and an increase in the research student population. In the Faculty of Art and Design the achievement of 'Excellent' (22) at Subject Review in 2000 partly reflects the strategy of fostering links between research and teaching across the Faculty. Staff have also submitted to UoA 64 and 65 for the 2001 RAE. In the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences staff have benefited from the very strong health sciences research culture. In both Faculties our research strategy provides opportunities for collaboration and sharing of expertise and good practice across the diversity of our work:
· A thriving research culture with regular research forums
· A strong and developing infrastructure for research
· Incorporation of research into teaching
· Support for staff to register for research degrees
· Excellent training opportunities for new research supervisors

4.2 Aims and Objectives

Our focus on clinical excellence and measurement of efficacy has lead to specific aims and objectives that rely on research partnership and collaboration with service providers. To these ends we have established partnerships and collaborative projects with local NHS funders as well as other national and overseas clinics. This specific policy has also led to the recruitment of overseas research students based both in Europe and the USA. Specific aims and objectives within this area at the local level include an anorexia and bulimia clinic based in St. Albans to be funded by West Herts, Health Authority. We will continue to develop our work with compulsive eaters and seek funding from Eastern Region NHS. We will continue our partnerships with the Horizon NHS Trust and Cambridge Heath Authority. The areas of work that we span include counselling and psychotherapy as well as the arts therapies. These disciplines have traditionally relied on methodologies based on reflective practice with a particular focus on case studies. Whilst embracing these established modes of enquiry, we have also been at the forefront of developing a diverse methodological framework that relies on both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Current outcomes included in this submission reflect these trends. Whilst opportunities for external funding for research within these areas have been minimal, we anticipate that this is likely to change significantly in the next RAE period. Our aim to support staff research includes providing opportunities for registering for research degrees and for the provision of remission against teaching for specific projects registered with the Faculty.

4.3 Research Management and Monitoring

University Level

The University Research Policy Committee is responsible for co-ordinating research efforts across the institution including the monitoring of research funds, infrastructure and policy. The Research Degrees Committee is responsible for the registration and support of research students within the University Strategic Plan for Research. This work is supported by University Generic Research Methodology Courses and the Masters by Research and M.Res schemes instigated by the University in 1997. A wide range of required training prepares and updates staff with responsibility for supervising research.

Since 1998, the University has established a Graduate School and Graduate Board of Studies, which has responsibility for cross-faculty co-ordination, infrastructure and support for research students. Each Faculty is represented by an Associate Dean for Research who encourages cross/multi-disciplinary research efforts. Since 1998 the University has benefited from its new Learning Resource Centre which offers excellent support for research including super/JANET facilities, an extensive range of research journals in both electronic and hard copy and extensive computing facilities.

Faculty / Departmental Level.

(a) Faculty of Art & Design
The Faculty of Art & Design’s Associate Dean for Research is responsible for chairing the Faculty Research Policy Committee (FRPC) and representing the Faculty at central committees. The FRC is also responsible for the Faculty Strategic Plan for Research and regularly reports to both the Faculty Board and Faculty Academic Quality Committee. The Faculty Research Degrees Committee (FRDC) chaired by the Faculty Research Tutor has responsibility for registration, support and monitoring of research students as well as the formulation and implementation of a Faculty Strategic Policy for research student support. Research infrastructure has been greatly enhanced since our 1996 RAE submission following our move, in 1998, to the current new purpose built Faculty of Art & Design site on the main campus of the University.

(b) Faculty of Health and Human Sciences

The research committee’s structure follows the same pattern as the Faculty of Art & Design. Research is managed by the Faculty Research Policy Committee responsible for strategic planning and management. The Research Degrees Committee is responsible for research student academic quality and welfare. The Research Leader for Counselling sits on both these committees. In developing research ideas and projects, staff have access to HRDSU and CRIPACC for methodological and statistical support. The faculty has a specialist subject ethics committee which considers research proposals submitted by staff and students. In 2000 the Dept. of Health & Social Care established the ‘Centre for Research in the Community’ with representatives from Counselling, Social Work, Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Learning Disability. Start-up funding has been provided by the University together with physical and administrative resources. Both Julia Buckroyd and Maggie Turp are members.

5. Dissemination and Communication

5.1 Faculty / Departmental Level

The Faculty of Art & Design runs a weekly Research Seminar Programme. Within Counselling the Counselling Research Group and the Staff Development Group meet monthly. A new cross-Faculty Eating Disorders Forum has been established with links to the NHS. The Centre for Community Research also offers a monthly seminar programme.

5.2 Local Level

The Primary Care Research Network for Hertfordshire (Hertnet), based at the University, provides a forum for debate in the areas of primary and community care. The arts therapies area is a member of The Hertfordshire Arts Therapies Development Consortium and has hosted two annual research conferences. We maintain close links with the Horizon NHS Trust with whom we have collaborative projects. Counselling sponsored the Talkback (a county wide network of mental health professionals) conference in 2000.

5.3 International/National Level

We are active in three areas:
· The Creative Dimensions : Arts Therapies in Learning Disabilities and Autism

This provides a national conference framework for people involved with these client groups, details can be obtained from the web-site at: www.creativedimension.co.uk
· The Art Therapy and Autism Group

Formed by Kathy Evans, which now provides a national forum for practitioners with regular meetings and seminars.
· Exile Conference Network

Brings together an international network of practitioners and researchers working with refugees and migrants. This follows the highly successful international conference in collaboration with The Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture (UK) and the Pharos Foundation for Refugee Healthcare (The Netherlands) organised and hosted by the University in 1998.

5.4 Links between Research and Teaching

Within the Faculty of Health & Human Sciences group, the newly validated MA in Counselling Enquiry includes specialist modules in research methodologies. A new MA in Eating Disorders is currently being developed. Within the Faculty of Art & Design the MA in Art Therapy, MA in Dramatherapy and MA in Dance Movement Therapy all have methodology modules incorporated into the curriculum.

At the level of clinical training in both Counselling and the Arts Therapies research methodology related to evaluation and efficacy are provided. Research students are encouraged to contribute to theory seminars providing a useful avenue for dissemination of findings to trainee therapists.

5.5 Resources

Following RAE 1996 our UoA 11 submission scored 2 (with the Arts Therapies flagged) as a result, as well as the Dev. R support, the Arts Therapies Area has received a University Grant of 20K per annum. The University has funded full-time PhD scholarships for the periods 1996 - 1999 and 1999 - 2002. Since 1996 the area has employed a number of part-time Research Assistants as well as providing staff cover for research active staff. The Counselling group used a University research grant of £20,000 to employ Maggie Turp as an Independent Investigator working alongside Julia Buckroyd. In October 1999 Ms Buckroyd was awarded a European Social Fund grant of £2,500 to carry out research on the assessment of clients for counselling. The first of three papers resulting from this project has now been submitted for publication. In January 2000 she was awarded an ESF Grant of £6,500 (with matching University Funding) for an investigation into treatment for women who eat compulsively. The project was completed in June 2000 and the data is currently being analysed prior to submission for publication. Ms Buckroyd has been awarded a further grant of £1,800 to continue this work.

6. Research Outputs

The establishment of the Arts Therapies Research Library, a collaborative project between the University of Hertfordshire and Jessica Kingsley Publications, provides a new peer reviewed vehicle for research dissemination. Between 1997 – 1999 Phil Jones established the infrastructure for the Journal. He was the acting editor for the library until the appointment of Vicky Karkou in 2001. Vols. I and II, Resistance, Destructiveness and Refusal are to be published in 2001. Vols. III, IV, and V are in preparation.

We have contributed to established events such as to the International ECArTE Conferences as well as hosting specialised events ourselves. These include the formation of Creative Dimensions – The Arts Therapies in Learning Disabilities and Autism in partnership with the Horizon NHS Trust. The first conference Research and Innovation held in November 1999 included contributions from Prof. Ann Cattanach and Prof. Tony Wigram and a 9-chapter book based on the proceedings is currently being prepared. A second conference will be taking place in April 2001 under the title of The Challenge to Create. Other important events we have contributed to include the International Innovations in Psychiatry conference, the Pan American Congress of Psychosocial and Behavioural Oncology and the International Congress of Group Psychotherapy. Julia Buckroyd has twice presented papers at the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (1997, 1999). She has also presented a paper to the International Organisation for the Transition of Professional Dancers (1998) and to the Not Just Anybody conference held simultaneously in The Hague and Toronto (2000).

Staff have also contributed to established journals such as Inscape, Dramatherapy, the Japanese Bulletin of Arts Therapy and other specialised peer reviewed journals such as the British Medical Anthropology Review, the Journal of Contemporary Health, and the European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling and Health.

7. Research Studentships

Kathy Evans was awarded her PhD in 1998, and produced a number of joint publications with Dr J. Dubowski over the period of her research. She has been a member of the joint working party for the establishment of the 'Resources for Autism' clinic in North London and in 2000 she was appointed as the Clinical Director for the Centre. She has co-authored with Marijka Rutten-Saris, who progressed from MPhil to PhD in 2000 and will be submitting her thesis for examination in 2001. In 1998 Helen Quenet was appointed to a University Studentship to work with Dr J. Dubowski. Some initial findings were included in the Key Note Paper presented by Dr J. Dubowski to the 5^th. ECArTE Conference in 1999 and some joint publications have been submitted for publication. Dr A. Gersie was awarded a PhD by Published Work in 2000. Phil Jones has now submitted his portfolio of publications for examination in 2001. Maggie Turp registered for this degree in 2000.

8. Continuity from 1996

In our 96 RAE submission we identified a number of areas that have continued to develop. In the areas of learning disabilities and autism, as well as several publications and a successful PhD, we have hosted a major national conference (November 1999). We have continued to support the development of the Autism Resource Centre. Efficacy research into learning disabilities is now very well developed. Collaboration with Addenbrooks Hospital continues. Research into the application of Art Therapy in Palliative Care has been another continuing focus.

The Eating Disorders Research Focus moved from an Arts Therapies bias towards Counselling. Since 1996 Julia Buckroyd has focused her investigations on eating disorders in professional dance trainees Progress in this area continues with her work on compulsive eaters. Maggie Turp has extended this work into the area of body consciousness relating eating disorders to the larger framework of psychosomatics.

Maggie Turp has been commissioned to write a book for MacMillan, Psychosomatic Health, (estimated date of publication, March 2001), and has a number of papers at various stages of development, continuing her existing themes. She plans work on the relationship between touch/movement and well-being in the elderly population. Ms Turp is also involved with staff at the Tavistock Clinic/UEL with a view to an edited book entitled ‘The Physicality of the Self’.

9.6 Encouraging new researchers within the Department

Maggie Turp is a new active researcher. She was recruited as a .5 researcher for 3 years in September 1996 and at the same time for .2 with the money from the last RAE. This major commitment from UH has facilitated both Maggie's own development and the development of a research culture in Counselling. Eileen Smith has been integrated within the Counselling research team from the Counselling Service and has become an active researcher.

Within the Arts Therapies area we have been encouraging other staff in the Department to conduct research and have their findings either published or presented at conferences. Subsequently a new research group has been formed under the leadership of Michèle Wood including Philippa Brown and Richard Lanham. This 'Art Therapy process analysis group' plans to conduct research into a number of related areas including the study of the evolution and change of imagery within the art therapy context and the effect of group process on image construction. Richard Lanham has published two articles in INSCAPE, the Journal of the British Association for Art Therapy.

Mechanisms and Practices for Promoting Research
100% of CollR research funding is allocated at the discretion of the two departments. Funding helps support infrastructure with a Faculty Health Research Co-ordinator and a Faculty Health Statistician. The strong infrastructure fosters collaboration across disciplines and promotes a vibrant research environment. CollR also supports research assistants for promising new projects. At departmental level there is support for: sabbaticals, conference attendance, research expenses, and Ph.D completion.
Nature and Quality of the Research Infrastructure
The University Research Policy Committee is responsible for strategy and allocation of RAE and University funds to support promising projects. At Faculty level, the Associate Dean (Research) chairs the Research Degrees Committee which is responsible for research student academic quality, welfare and the quality of MPhils and PhDs. Ethical approval for research involving human subjects is considered by the joint Radiography and Physiotherapy Ethics Committee. Facilities for research students include access to the Internet, databases and library services. Students have access to a dedicated research student common room supported by a special HEFCE initiative. The Faculty Research Student Forum organised by and for students meets monthly. Students attend a Generic Training in Research Skills course and may also attend parts of taught MSc schemes and statistics and information technology workshops for specific skills.
Supporting Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research
Radiography has long standing links with the Departments of Psychology, Education and Continuing Education. Physiotherapy has a long history of collaborative work with medical and other health care professionals. Dr. Tim Watson has formed a promising international collaboration with Dr Shinichi Shindo from Japan, a physiotherapy postdoctoral overseas visiting research fellow, investigating education and quality assurance.

Younger and Newer Researchers
Aspiring researchers are assigned a research active mentor. New staff are encouraged to initiate new research or join existing projects. Staff are encouraged to study for research degrees, free for staff registered at UH. Currently 3 staff members are registered for doctorates at UH and 4 are registered elsewhere. It is envisaged that several young researchers will, in the next 5 years, generate projects as part of the departmental strategies, and become fully research active. These are: S. Murray and M. Vosper in radiography; and A. Baily-Metcalfe, Dr. Jill Higgins, V. Sparkes and C.Mason in physiotherapy.

During the current assessment period the quality and quantity of research conducted by the Group has been considerably enhanced by:
· consolidating research activity in three key sub-areas (below)
· appointing senior staff with excellent track records in research
· recruiting younger researchers with strong research potential.

Evidence of the improvements include:
· a major increase in research outputs in high quality peer-reviewed journals
· a significant rise in research student numbers and completion rates
· a fifty-fold increase in external research income (now in excess of £1 million)
· strengthened links with the health sector, industry, and international researchers.

Davies and Jones provide joint strategic leadership for the BPSRG, and Davies is the research
co-ordinator. The recruitment of Jones in 1998 from King's College London (KCL) resulted in the merger of the original BSRG with a group of pharmaceutical scientists to give the existing research team. Another major development was the joint investment by KU and SGHMS in 1999 that established a laboratory (the Joint Laboratory) on the St. George's site, for research in the area of haematology and oncology. The current BPSRG comprises five professors, five readers, 14 additional Category A staff, two more Category C staff, four postdoctoral workers, over 30 research students, and support staff. The team aims to contribute substantially to knowledge of non-infectious and infectious diseases in humans and animal models, and applies the molecular understanding of organic chemistry to these processes and their treatment.

Research sub-areas within the BPSRG
The research strengths of the BPSRG in Therapy, Parasitology and Pharmaceutical Sciences form the basis of the interactive and complementary sub-areas:

A. THERAPY – H. Ahmed, [ ], [ ] (C), Fielder, Garrod, [ ], Jewell, [ ], McGuckin, [ ], [ ] (C), Opara, Palmer, [ ] and [ ]

This sub-area has 15 members, five of whom (H. Ahmed, [ ], Garrod, [ ], Opara) hold joint KU/SGHMS appointments (see RA1). Research in this sub-area is focused into four main themes, with collaboration between members of themes (i) and (iii), and with the Parasitology and Pharmaceutical Sciences sub-areas. [ ] leads the Therapy sub-area. Her research concerns the biology of haemopoietic stem cells, the investigation of cellular and sub-cellular events to improve lymphoma diagnosis and treatment, and the role of viruses in lymphoma. Treatment of HIV-related and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are among her main research interests and she is currently principal investigator in seven international clinical trials. She uses her expertise to conduct collaborative work with a number of external researchers, and with colleagues in the Joint Laboratory and SGHMS.

(i) Haematology and immunology - [ ], [ ], Jewell, McGuckin, [ ] and [ ]. [ ] works closely with McGuckin, supervising three research students and a postdoctoral worker in the Joint Laboratory. Their research, which also involves the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, entails the selection of rare populations of haematopoietic progenitor cells for clinical use. McGuckin has played a major role in establishing the Joint Laboratory at SGHMS and acts as its research director. His work in haematology concentrates on developing protocols for acquiring stem cells through labelling and imaging techniques. Since the Joint Laboratory was established, [ ] and McGuckin have also enlisted the experience of Davies (Parasitology sub-area) in immuno-ultrastructural aspects of their research programme, which has led to conference presentations and published abstracts (URL http://www.kingston.ac.uk/bpsrg). [ ] and [ ] are concerned with mechanisms of autoimmune rheumatic disease, and the role of N-acetylglucosamine and galactose components of antigens in the aetiology of the disease processes. [ ] has funding from the South Thames Regional Health Authority, Oxford Glycosciences, the British Medical Association, Lupus UK, and the European Union (EU), and his investigations of neuropsychiatric lupus using MR spectroscopy have demonstrated clinical utility, which will be the subject of a multi-centre trial. [ ]’s reputation in immunochemistry has led to involvement in joint research with workers in Vancouver, Brest, Birmingham and University College London (UCL). Jewell investigates induction of apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. His work with researchers from the Departments of Immunology and Haematology at UCL is funded by the Leukaemia Research Fund, the Nuffield Foundation and a number of pharmaceutical companies. [ ]’s research focuses on colorectal cancer cell metastases and thymus innervation in immunodeficient mouse models. He has productive collaborations in histopathology with workers at the universities of Southampton and Hamburg.

(ii) Respiratory function, fatigue and exercise - Garrod, Palmer and [ ]
[ ], the leading researcher within this theme, is recognised for his work on human bio-energetics and gas exchange in health and disease, with special reference to exercise intolerance. He has established that exercise stoke volume, one of the major determinants of cardiovascular function, can be estimated non-invasively. [ ] also studies coupling between high-energy phosphate metabolism in skeletal muscle, using whole-body Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and parameters of muscle and pulmonary gas exchange. His work is done in collaboration with researchers in Glasgow, Spain and Japan, and Griffiths (SGHMS UoA 03), with whom he holds grants from the MRC, and the Wellcome Trust. Palmer’s research, funded by GlaxoSmithKline, also involves exercise testing, but uses sports-specific methods to determine factors affecting athletic performance under laboratory-controlled conditions. Information obtained in these experiments is used to optimise exercise performance. Garrod's work includes strategies for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, such as respiratory muscle training and pulmonary rehabilitation.

(iii) Alimentary tract, gut flora and nutrition – H. Ahmed, Fielder, [ ] and Opara
[ ] has a Joint Falk award to study alcoholic liver disease and has funding approved from the Department of Health (DoH) to study hepatitis C in drug users with Drummond and Abou-Saleh (SGHMS UoA02). He has common research interests with [ ] (theme (i) above) on the role of glycosylation in inflammatory bowel disease. [ ] also collaborates with H. Ahmed, who investigates cholesterol and phospholipid transport in relation to cholesterol gallstone disease and examines gastric mucosal hydrophobicity in the presence of Helicobacter pylori infection. In addition to their joint research, [ ] and H.Ahmed work with clinicians from SGHMS, in particular, [ ] (SGHMS UoA 01). Fielder has a background in medical microbiology. His research has centred on the epidemiology and role of enteric bacteria in rheumatic disease, and more recently, mechanisms involved in the immunisation of gut mucosal surfaces. He is developing a series of screens to assess the antibiotic properties of novel compounds with Storey and S. Ahmed (Pharmaceutical Sciences sub-area). They jointly supervise a postdoctoral researcher working on this project. Opara is a biochemical nutritionist. She investigates properties of foods that confer allergenicity, and also examines the toxicological effects of foods and the safety of Chinese herbal remedies. This work is funded by the Food Standards Agency in collaboration with the Central Science Laboratory, York, and the Government Chemist in Hong Kong.

(iv) Medical physics - Briers, [ ] and [ ]
[ ]’s research concerns imaging techniques for medical investigations. He has established methods to identify and correct patient motion in nuclear cardiology and is now developing a gamma camera collimator for high-energy imaging, and a method to optimise injection of contrast agents for magnetic resonance angioplasty. [ ]’s research involves the improvement of magnetic resonance, ultrasound and Doppler techniques for medical imaging. His work has been funded by the EU and the British Technology Group plc, and he has a recent grant from DoH for joint research with the Institute of Cancer Research and the National Physical Laboratory. Briers, who recently retired, has published papers concerning the use of low-powered lasers for monitoring of subcutaneous blood flow, and Augousti is an emerging researcher contributing to this theme (see RA6c). Medical Physics has many clinical links with cardiac, vascular and stroke groups returned in SGHMS UoA03.

In addition to three postdoctoral researchers, there are currently 16 research students within Therapy with a further 11 having completed during the assessment period. Since RAE 1996 members of the sub-group have produced over 140 refereed papers, 116 poster/paper conference presentations, and 27 invited lectures.

B. PARASITOLOGY- Daszak (C), Davies, Kirk, Pittilo, Smit and Walker.

This sub-area has six members, one of whom (Pittilo) has a joint KU/SGHMS appointment (see RA1). The sub-area is led by Davies. She has several long-established national and international research links, and is much respected for her research on blood and tissue-infecting protozoa. In recognition of her work on apicomplexans, a parasite was recently named in her honour (see RA6a), and over the last two RAE periods Davies has been sole or senior author on three substantial articles in the highly regarded Advances in Parasitology. Her research has been recently funded by Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia, Madeira, The Zoological Society of London, The Canon Collins Educational Trust for Southern Africa, The Royal Society and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. Davies has been instrumental in the development of this sub-area, which has two main themes of research.

Research Infrastructure
Specialist equipment and facilities for Research
The Joint Laboratory at SGHMS allows BPSRG workers and their research students access to microscopy, cell and molecular biology facilities. Confocal microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) systems that include real-time PCR, flow-cytometry, and a fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) with full sterile capabilities are available. Other SGHMS and SGH staff within the BPSRG are housed in a research block with access to imaging (TEM, SEM, further laser scanning confocal microscopy and conventional light microscopy, all with digital imaging and data transfer systems), cell sorting, cell culture and functional genomics facilities. Individual staff at SGHMS and SGH also have their own specialist equipment. For example, [ ] currently has the only equipment, world-wide, capable of simultaneously determining profiles of breath-to-breath gas exchange throughout the exercise transient. [ ] and [ ] have instruments for imaging gamma radiation, X-rays, ultrasound and allowing Doppler measurements.

SELF-ASSESSMENT
This joint submission is evidence that KU and SGHMS are firmly committed to the BPSRG and have supported it strongly through internal funding, provision of research space (including the Joint Laboratory), equipment, library and IT provision. Acting upon the plans outlined in RA5 for the 1996 RAE, the BPSRG (formerly the BSRG) has met or exceeded its objectives and all the indicators show a strong upward trend. The Group has grown substantially in size (10.6 to 23) and substance during its evolution. Young researchers of outstanding potential have been recruited, so that the age profile of the Group shows an excellent spread (29 - 64), with a mean age of 44. All 104 outputs cited in this present submission (RA2), are in journals with rigorous refereeing standards and above average impact factors. Numbers of postgraduate research students within the Group vastly exceed those during the period up to 1996, and research degrees awarded have risen from one, in the previous submission, to 25 (not including the completions of Jones at KCL). The research expertise of the Group has led to strong collaborations with other institutions and with industry, both within the UK, and overseas. Research income has undergone a fifty-fold increase since the 1996 submission, with considerable amounts having been derived from UK government bodies, UK industry and commerce, and the EU. The BPSRG has undergone a major transformation in the last five years. We believe it is well positioned with its unique blend of medicine, life sciences and organic chemistry to become one of the leading research groups in this area in the UK.

Research Groups
Three major research groups are identified within this submission. They are listed below together with the senior scientists associated with each group and a brief description of their major research interests. There is considerable crossover in research activity between the groups.
Cancer and Drug Metabolism : The primary focus of this group is cancer – including detection, regulation, development of natural anticancer compounds and the design and synthesis of novel anticancer drugs, with an emphasis on pro-drugs that are activated through metabolism in cancer cells. A second focus is drug metabolism, particularly those aspects that relate to cancer, including the activities of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. Burke, who was appointed Head of the School of Pharmacy in late 1995, has invented a range of fluorimetric assays for CYPs, e.g. the ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) assay, that are used world-wide in industry and academia. This work has continued at DMU with new assay substrates, e.g. alkoxyquinolines. Burke and colleagues also discovered that the cytochrome P450 form, CYP1B1, is highly over-expressed in human cancer cells relative to normal cells. At DMU CYP1B1 is being pursued as a tumour marker and a method has been developed, with Stanley, for detecting cancer cells by immunohistochemically visualising their expressed CYP1B1, using anti-CYP1B1 monoclonal antibodies generated here. Stanley has a research background in the differential expression of N-acetyl transferase (NAT) enzymes in cancer relative to healthy tissue, and this is being exploited to improve the cancer detection methodology by adding NAT as a second immunohistochemical target. Burke is co-holder of a Framework 4 grant (supplying expertise on CYP) based in DMU and associated with laboratories in Holland, Spain and Germany set up to investigate the use of plant cell cultures to synthesise complex alkaloids such as podophyllotoxin which may serve as precursors for the production of anti-cancer drugs. Potter is an experienced cancer medicinal chemist who was responsible for the design and synthesis of two important anticancer drugs: abiraterone acetate (Prosterol; licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim), currently in phase II clinical trial for treating prostate cancer; and idoxifene (licensed to GlaxoSmithKline), currently in phase III clinical trial for treating breast cancer and osteoporosis. Moreover, Potter‘s original published proposal that the breast cancer drug, tamoxifen, causes secondary cancers via an alpha-hydroxylation carcinogenic metabolic activation process is now widely accepted. Since arriving at DMU Potter has pursued CYP1B1 as a tumour treatment target by designing and synthesising novel compounds intended to be anticancer prodrugs that are selectively activated through metabolism in cancer cells by CYP1B1. The group’s current drug metabolism research interests also encompass the cancer-preventative properties of natural dietary compounds. Potter has recently discovered that the cancer-preventative properties of the red wine constituent, resveratrol, may be due to its metabolism by CYP1B1 to a known cytostatic compound. Orr, who (under the name Wrigley) has a background of research into benzothiazole anticancer drugs, is currently studying the role of curcumin (turmeric spice) metabolism in this compound’s cancer preventative abilities in collaboration with Professor Gescher of Leicester University. Chaudhuri is a molecular biologist who has developed a cell-based functional genomics technology for identifying novel "anti-apoptotic" genes from any tumour tissue of choice. He has found a specific small molecule inhibitor of Cdk4 that behaves like p16 (the Cdk4-specific inhibitory protein in human cells) in inducing both senescence and apoptosis in tumour cells and which has efficacy in tumour models (J Natl Cancer Inst, in press). Chaudhuri also discovered a novel gene that is highly induced in two astrocytomas; since joining DMU he has shown that this gene is brain-specific and is induced in diverse glioblastomas. Chaudhuri is currently using a yeast system to discover ways in which apoptotic processes can be induced therapeutically in cancer cells. The work of the Cancer and Drug Metabolism group is supported by 2 post-doctoral fellows and 11 graduate research students.
Cellular Mechanisms : Boarder was recently appointed as the new head of Biological Sciences and is also head of the Cell Signalling Laboratory. Together with Webb, they investigate signal transduction of G protein-coupled nucleotide receptors (P2Y receptors) in human vascular proliferative disease, particularly associated with transplantation and balloon angioplasty. This Wellcome Trust funded work, part of a long term collaboration with clinicians in the Departments of Medicine and Surgery at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, involves studying the regulation of proliferative mechanisms in cells grown out from explants taken during bypass surgery. They have just published the exciting finding of a novel antiproliferative response to certain P2Y receptors: PDGF stimulation of both DNA synthesis and cell number are reduced by UTP acting on certain P2Y receptors. Further Wellcome Trust funded studies investigate control of hepatocytes: work to date shows that coexisting subtypes of P2Y receptors exert differential control over signal transduction pathways in hepatocytes, and the next thrust is to understand how this is translated into differential control of glycogen phosphorylase. Webb, who was responsible for the first cloning of P2Y receptors (P2Y₁), has developed within the Cell Signalling Laboratory a quantitative RT-PCR method for P2Y receptor mRNA expression, and leads a new initiative on structure-function relationships within these receptors. Piacentini has a record of achievement in the regulation of cardiac muscle cells by G-protein coupled receptors, including cell proliferation in the heart, and is currently studying the role of myocardial fibroblasts in the remodelling which follows an ischaemic episode. Haris employs biophysical techniques for structural analysis of ion-channel proteins; in particular he has studied how peptides and proteins interact with membranes and thereby attain their 3-dimensional structure. Recent published achievements have been on K⁺ channels and membrane perturbing proteins. Ion channels are also the interest of Cuthbert, who is internationally recognised for his work on epithelial ion channel dysfunction associated with cystic fibrosis. Having recently retired as Head of the Pharmacology Department at Cambridge University, Professor Cuthbert now divides his time between De Montfort University and Cambridge University. His current work at DMU involves studying ways of manipulating the ion channels of transporting epithelia to provide an adjunct or alternative treatment to gene therapy for cystic fibrosis. Hobart applies molecular biology skills to issues of relevance to the cell/molecular biology of disease. His publications have made major contributions to the field of the structure, evolution and defects of the terminal complement components, and he is now working on the application of novel PCR techniques to breakpoints in cancer cells. The control of the cellular mechanisms of immunosuppression is important for organ transplantation and Whiting, using both cell lines and renal tissue, is examining the synergistic and cytotoxic effects of combining novel immunosuppressive drugs. Oldroyd focusses on nephrotoxicity, particularly that associated with radiocontrast media. His principal interest lies with the inhibition of renal fibrosis and is focussed on the use of cytokines and growth factors to inhibit pro-fibrotic cell types. The Cellular Mechanisms group is supported by 3 post doctoral fellows and 18 graduate research students.

Interdisciplinary Research and Collaborative Research with Industry and Other Institutions
Several interdisciplinary research collaborations exist among the staff submitted here, and also between them and staff in the Department of Chemistry. Through the Faculty, in association with the Department of Chemistry, a wide range of sophisticated chemical and physical analytical instrumentation is provided, plus the relevant skilled operating technicians and expert academics.

2. FOOD HYGIENE AND CHEMISTRY: The environmental factors operating on membranes & health. Food Chemistry: (Professor Michael Crawford and Doyle). Data on food composition is essential for the study of nutrition in pregnancy or disease. UK data is available from MAFF via the Royal Society for Chemistry (RSC) but fatty acid data is minimal. Our goal is to provide it for all saturated, monounsaturated, cis/trans, positional isomers, parent and long chain, essential fatty acids (EFA) and we developed the software (FOODBASE 2001) for the data base which incorporates all nutrients available from the RSC and our fatty acid data. We included ethnic foods and are adding toxic heavy metals and other elements.
Chronic Disease China: (Crawford with Yiqun Wang, Xi’an Lipid Research Center, China, who has now joined us to study for a PhD). Much of the aetiology of atherosclerosis and some cancers is lipid dependent. We applied FOODBASE and analytical technology to the Lifestyle and Disease Study of 65 Counties in China originally done with Sir Richard Peto. The result was evidence of a protective nature of sea foods and red cell membrane DHA for many chronic diseases as reported for Western countries.

3. MEMBRANE LIPIDS The plasma membrane is where external factors first influence the cell.
A new precursor for Brain Cholesterol Synthesis: (Professor Steven Cunnane, Crawford, with Tom Brenna, Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, and Suzuki) Formula manufacturers claimed there is no need to add DHA to formulae as "-linolenic acid can be converted to it. Cholesterol is a vital for brain structures. It is synthesised in situ and its inhibition stops brain growth. Using 13C"-linolenic acid we found it is a precursor for brain cholesterol and palmitate, 40-50 times more so than for DHA which is preferentially used for synaptosomes. Hence "-linolenic acid, an EFA, has a role in neurogenesis which is different to DHA. Human milk contains DHA and we concluded "-linolenic acid would not provide sufficient DHA during early growth. This has a profound implication for infant feeds.
Prenatal programming: (Crawford, Ghebremeskel, Dr Ken White, Professor Ephraim Yavin, with Professor Lucilla Poston and Professor Clara Lowy, St. Thomas's Medical School). Our goal was to test if endocrine and diet effects, which depress EFA metabolism, alter vascular development. A high maternal saturated fat diet reduced vascular relaxation and membrane AA and DHA. These abnormalities persisted into adulthood and were exacerbated by diabetes. In human gestational diabetes (GDM) we found similar defects. Thus a thrombo- and atherogenic vascular distortion is transmitted from one generation to the next, without genetic predisposition but due to an abnormal intrauterine milieu. This demonstrates dietary, prenatal programming with implications for atherosclerosis and diabetes.
Membrane lipids and immune regulation: (Dr Cherelyn Vella, White, Crawford, with Dr Lawrence Harbige, University of Greenwich, and Dr Spindler Benade, MRC, South Africa) Lipid mediators play a pivotal role in infection and inflammation. Derivatives, mainly from AA, govern cell-cell interactions, leukocyte traffic and are intracellular mediators of key signal transduction pathways. The research characterised a novel tissue culture system based on Herpes virus saimiri immortalised T-lymphocytes (HVS T-cells) to improve the isolation rate of M-tropic HIV. We found immortalisation selects for the sub-population of T-cells targeted by HIV in vivo. They also express HIV coreceptors required with CD4, for cell entry. Consequently HVS T-cells are highly permissive to M-tropic (and T-tropic) HIV. Isolation rates from asymptomatic individuals are considerably higher than those obtained in PBMC, do not have an altered phenotype, have a longer life span and are thus superior to PBMCs for the isolation and propagation of M-tropic HIV. We created the Archbishop Tutu Fellowship for the study of nutrition, receptors and immunity. This work is to be applied to nutrition and vertical transmission of HIV-1 with Dr. S Benade, Programme Director, MRC, South Africa.
Genomics: (White, Yavin with Reifen). The aim is to understand regulation of mRNA expression at the level of nucleo-cytoplasmic export. Human T-cell leukaemic virus type I was used as a model. We established the critical role introns play in efficient expression of mRNAs. We described the first expression of recombinant ceruloplasmin, the copper serum feroxidase, cloned and expressed the gene for keratin 13. We also discovered new activities for genes in cellular iron homeostasis, which involve nuclear regulation of mRNA expression. This work links closely to immunity and programming. Could membrane alteration alleviate Sickle Cell Anaemia? (Ghebremeskel). Recent evidence indicates that the painful crises in sickle cell patients are unrelated to the number of sickled red cells but to cell adhesion and vascular occlusion. Membrane fluidity and adhesion is affected by fatty acid composition. Our aim was to see if membrane composition could be changed beneficially. A pilot study showed that fish oil (rich in DHA and EPA) reduced adhesion, and ameliorated crises. We are now collaborating with Dr Iheanyi Okpala (Haematology, UMDS) and Harbige (Immunology) to investigate this effect on down regulation of adhesion molecules, fluidity in red cells, platelets and neutrophils in crises and remission.
DHA is unique in Neural Signalling: (Crawford, Dr Annie Bligh, Cunnane). DHA (C22:63) accounts for over 50% of the fatty acids in the photoreceptor and nearly that in the synapse. The more readily made precursors (C22:53) or EPA (C20:53) have not been used throughout evolution. To investigate this phenomenon, we are collaborating with Professor Myer Bloom, Physics (UBC, Vancouver), Drs Leigh Broadhurst and Walter Schmidt (NMR Facility USDA) and Professor Ivano Bertini (PARABIO Paramedical NMR Centre, University of Florence), Holm Holmsen (Molecular Biology, Bergen) and B Klösgen, Electrophysiology (Max Planck, Berlin). In Bloom’s Enrico Fermi lecture, we presented evidence that there was no compelling reason for this selectivity in either mechanics, metabolic selectivity or fluidity. Molecular modelling and electron behaviour suggests the six double bond sequence may act as a quantum device. The mystery was discussed at a MEMBRANE-PHYSICS workshop and is scheduled for the Danish Academy of Sciences, Copenhagen, September 2001.

Promoting and Sustaining Research. We have: 1. Appointed Profesor Cunnane as International Research Director. He develops further a North American link and international collaboration. 2. Opened a clinic in East London for community research and to interface laboratory, community workers and mothers. 3. Won a place in the EU, Trondheim Biological Marine Research Station. Their facilities include: super computers, analytical equipment, aquaculture and ocean research vessels. 4. Formed two interactive consortia: (i) Led by Norway with France, Belgium and Cyprus on membrane lipid domains and cell function. (ii) Led by us with Crete, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, South Africa and Slovenia for nutrition, birth outcome and gene expression. 5. Held two international conferences, attended by prominent scientists. 6. Invested £150, 000 for a new PhD programme.

Research Infrastructure, Facilities, Training and Support for Students. Laboratory and office space: 6 laboratories, 3 offices, seminar, various rooms for staff, students and specialised equipment. Instrumentation: Equipment for chemistry, immunology, microbiology and biochemistry: 3 FID Gas Chromatographs, 2 GC-MS, 6 High Performance Liquid Chromatographs, 2 High Speed Centrifuges, 2 Micro Ultracentrifuge, 2 Fluorometers, 2 Infrared and 2 Atomic Absorption spectrometers, Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, UV Microscope, Graphite Furnace, X-Ray Diffractometer, BodPod, PCs. Students: are trained on experimental design and if appropriate, are co-supervised by an external scientist. This provides interaction and access to facilities not available locally. We hold regular seminars with students and invited speakers and finance students to present at conferences, e.g. Lyon and Paris (5 students); Japan-Korea (1 student); Brussels (2); Spain (1); Glasgow (5); Edinburgh (2); Brighton (2) and London (3).

Supporting Interdisciplinary or Collaborative Research (see also Links between C staff). The submission is, by the nature of its research, multi-disciplinary and collaborative (see ‘Research Activities’ & ‘Promoting Research’ above). To extend this strength we have employed new staff with diverse backgrounds: Dr. Angela Madden (metabolism), Dr. Kan Kwok (immunology) and Bax (thrombosis) joined the UNL too recently to be included in this RAE. Dr Helen Crawley has been contributing statistical support to the group. Dr Gail Rees is a State Registered Dietician. Dr Ivan Golfetto from Venezuela, is medically qualified as is Ms Zoe Brooks who is a registered nurse. Golfetto and Ms Yoeju Min, a student from the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will become Research Fellows in 2001. To this, Sutherland adds the microbiological interface with extensive European collaboration. Thus we have a group qualified to interact with clinicians. The international team combines nutritional manipulation of gene expression by White, Reifen and Yavin which links to prenatal vascular programming, prematurity, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and brain growth with Poston and Djahanbakhch. Then Lange-Küttner adds a cognitive assessment dimension for pediatric work with Greenough. Prof. Andrew Nicolaides, Director of the Institute of Genetics and Neurology, Cyprus and leader of the International Union of Angiology Multi-Centre Study contributes vascular expertise for the comparisons of heart disease in Northern and Southern Europe. The vascular, immune and cell signalling aspect is linked to studies on how diet/disease affects the membrane rafts and caveolae and their function by Holmsen and Ghebremeskel. This dovetails with the membrane physics of Bloom, Schmidt, Klösgen and Crawford, with Holmsen, Cunnane and Bligh contributing the NMR. Suzuki works with us on 3 fatty acids, cognition, and the sub cellular and synaptic distribution of DHA. Professor J Parkington, Archaeology, Capetown, Crawford and Broadhurst are participating in a study of nutrition and human evolution. Benade is intervention project leader for the MRC, South Africa and provides for out reach and level 3 containment facilities for Vella’s work on nutrition, immunity and vertical transmission of HIV.

Research Groups
Ten researchers with claims to national/international excellence in Subjects Allied to Medicine are presented for review (names in bold); five other staff whose activities re-inforce this research are described in RA6c. Biomedical Sciences research contains a balance of strategic and applied work, much being collaborative and some being interdisciplinary in nature, and is grouped under two headings: Cell Biology and Pathology and Pharmacology and Toxicology.

B. Pharmacology and Toxicology
MG Darlison, a molecular neurobiologist, is currently re-establishing his group at NTU. He is internationally known for his work on the cloning and expression of g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)- and glutamate-gated ion channels from both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Research on vertebrate GABA type A (GABA_A) receptors, which are the major targets of anxiolytic drugs, has included the characterisation of a novel subunit (g4). Heterologous expression studies (collaboration with Drs JA Benson and IC Forster, University of Zürich) have demonstrated that this polypeptide confers unusual benzodiazepine and zinc sensitivity to receptors also containing a and b subunits. As a result of collaboration with Dr MES Bailey and Prof KJ Johnson (University of Glasgow), a model has been developed that explains how the multiplicity of human GABA_A receptor genes evolved (paper 4). Prof Darlison has also studied the evolution and pharmacologies of the G-protein coupled opioid and corticotropin-releasing factor receptors, by cloning and functionally expressing complementary DNAs from teleost fish (eg paper 2), and the structures and pharmacologies of molluscan glutamate-gated cation channels (collaboration with Drs I Bermudez, Oxford Brookes University, and J van Minnen, Free University Amsterdam; eg paper 1). Prof Darlison anticipates extensive interaction with Billett and Hargreaves on monoamine oxidases and neurotoxicity, with Dickenson on G-protein coupled receptors and with Rees and Griffin on neurological cancers and cell adhesion, respectively.

Research Infrastructure
The Department of Life Sciences has modern laboratory accommodation with instrumentation for analytical, cellular, ultra-structural and molecular research and is serviced by containment level 2 laboratories and Faculty-based facilities (including NMR, GCMS, radioisotope, EM suite, workshop and audiovisual). The equipment is continually upgraded and recent acquisitions include a confocal laser microscope, an electrospray tandem mass spectrometer, a capillary gel electrophoretic system, a flow cytometer, a bench ultra-centrifuge and plate readers. A replacement scanning electron microscope is in the process of being purchased by the Faculty. University funding (ca. £250K) has recently been made available for equipment and staff in support of the appointment of Prof Darlison.

Major achievements since RAE 1996 include: Evidence of „base flipping“ by a type I DNA methyltransferase (Mernagh, Kneale). Identification of the interaction of a viral DNA binding protein with G-quadruplexes (Kneale). Identification of the minimal DNA binding domain of the transcription factor AreA (Kneale). Determination of the 3D molecular structure of a retroviral matrix protein by NMR (Conte) . Structural analysis of an RNA binding protein involved in viral RNA translation (Conte). Structure determination of the HMG domains of Sox-5 (Read, Crane-Robinson). Thermodynamics of the interaction of HMG domains with DNA (Crane-Robinson, Read). Developing a new structural model for A + T rich DNA (the U-structure) (McClellan). Showing that DNA gyrase plays a role in the instability of CNG repeats (McClellan). Discovering that Parechovirus 1 utilises integrins avb1 and avb3 as receptors (Triantafilou). Elucidating the molecular interactions between human MHC antigens (Triantafilou)

Genes and Development: (Guille, Crane-Robinson, Thorne, Chandler, Sharpe, Hebbes).

This group has arisen from the increasingly close interaction between chromatin research and molecular embryology, and new appointments that have been made to bridge these two fields. These areas of research are closely linked by a common interest in understanding the molecular events that control the expression of genes, both during development and in the mature organism, and in the application of such knowledge to medical science. There are strong links with the Biomolecular Structure group through a common interest in the structure of DNA-binding proteins and their complexes.

A major goal is to identify the role of specific genes that are important in the embryo, and how these genes are regulated at various stages of development to give rise to tissues and organ systems in the adult. A major research theme concerns the molecular mechanisms that underlie the regulation of transcription factor activity in embryos, currently focussing on the control of GATA–2 and its role in blood formation (Guille). We have recently expanded our molecular embryology research by the recruitment of Dr Sharpe from the University of Cambridge. Dr Sharpe is studying the control mechanisms underlying primary neurone formation in developing embryos and the signalling pathways involved. The appointment of Dr Chandler, from the NIH Laboratory of Molecular Embryology, Bethesda (USA) strengthens existing links between the chromatin and molecular embryology laboratories.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the structure of chromatin (and its modulation at specific gene loci) is a vital component of the cell's transcriptional machinery, with profound effects on the expression of specific genes. Current work in this area concerns the role of histone acetylation in gene expression (Thorne, Crane-Robinson, Hebbes), the role of DNA methylation and methylated DNA binding proteins (Chandler), the interaction of nucleosomes with transcription factors (Thorne), and the structure and role of HMG proteins in chromatin (Crane-Robinson). Work of direct clinical relevance includes the development of molecular methods for identifying metastases in the lymph nodes of breast cancer patients (Crane-Robinson), in collaboration with local hospitals.

Major achievements since RAE 1996 include: Identification of an RNA-binding protein as a component of a transcription factor and the role of RNA binding in its regulation during development (Guille); Identification of NAP-1 as a regulator of blood and neural formation (Guille, Thorne, Sharpe); Establishing the key role of retinoic acid signalling in primary neurone formation in the embryo (Sharpe). Discovering an inverse correlation between DNA methylation and histone acetylation in the genome (Thorne). Identification of two novel histone acetyltransferases (Hebbes). Demonstrating that methyl CpG binding proteins can recognise chromatin (Chandler). Mapping histone acetylation within genes (Thorne, Crane-Robinson). Production of a human genomic DNA library highly enriched in active gene sequences (Thorne, Crane-Robinson). The use of mammaglobin mRNA as a molecular marker for micrometastases in breast cancer patients (Crane-Robinson).

Biotechnology: (Ford, Firman, G.Mills, Whitley, Dutta).

Biotechnology underpins many areas of biomedical science, and the interaction with industrial research laboratories, the health service and other public bodies ensures the relevance of applied research in the biosciences. Research of direct clinical interest includes the analysis of body fluids for complex metabolites, and the relationship between metabolic profiles and genetic disorders (Mills). In collaboration with Imperial College Medical School, this group is pioneering the use of high-field NMR spectroscopy for the identification of biological substances in complex mixtures. QSAR methods are used and developed to identify relationships between molecular structure, drug activity and biological toxicity, in collaboration with major pharmaceutical companies such as Glaxo-Wellcome, SmithKline Beecham, Astra Zeneca and Bayer (Ford, Whitley). Advanced mathematical methods are being developed for the analysis of chemical and biological databases (Whitley, Ford).

The Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences has become the focus of considerable strategic investment of research funds by the University. A £10m purpose built extension to the Biosciences block, including state-of-the art research laboratories, has enabled the research groups to be brought together in one site. Funds were provided to support the infrastructure of the Institute with an allocation of £3m over 5 years. This currently supports a variety of researchers (Research Lectureships, Senior Experimental Officers, Research Studentships) and core facilities in the Institute (such as the Atomic Force Microscope, 600MHz and 400MHz NMR spectrometers, mass spectrometer, BIAcore, and extensive molecular graphics and computational facilities).

Self-Assessment

The major strengths of research in the BMRC are (a) the determination of cellular and molecular responses in CIDDs (e.g. arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases endometrial disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, ion channelopathies) especially those involving mediation by cytokines, proteases and other inflammatory mediators and the actions of therapeutic agents, and (b) the application of modern chemical analytical technologies (e.g. Maldi-ToF, LC-MS methods) and chemical synthesis designed to enable development of new therapeutic approaches for treatment and the diagnosis of CIDD's based on knowledge of their pathogenesis derived from studies in the BMRC. Noteworthy contributions to the published literature include (a) the roles of cytokines (including chemokines) and metalloproteinases in the cellular pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (by Woodroofe’s group), joint manifestations in arthritic diseases (by Bunning and colleagues), endometrial inflammation (by Laird’s group) and the immunogenetics of autoimmune conditions (by Blakemore and colleagues); (b) elucidation of the genetic abnormalities in muscular dystrophy and their molecular genetics (see also Gene Therapy, 1999, 6: 1331-5) and the molecular properties of potassium-ion channels (by Strong and colleagues); (c) variations in eicosanoid metabolism in the pathogenesis of gastro-intestinal ulceration from NSAIDs and other ulcerogens and NSAID effects on cartilage integrity (Rainsford’s group); (d) proteases invoved in neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson and colleagues); (e) role of nicotine and smoking in reproductive disorders (Smith, Laird and colleagues); (f) development of novel bioanalytical techniques for determination of nitric oxide metabolites, pharmaceuticals and environmental contaminants (Clench, Tetler and colleagues); and (g) development of novel synthetic routes for preparing new anti-inflammatory drugs (Hewson and colleagues).

5a.3 No other units of assessment to which related work has been submitted.
5a.4 Mechanisms and practices for promoting research and sustaining vital research culture. Research funding for support of projects from HEFCE is allocated on an anonymous peer-review basis. Staff apply to the BMRC for support for specific projects, equipment and consumables. This support is primarily intended for pilot or "pump-priming" projects so enabling demonstration of initial "proof of principle" for a particular hypothesis or concept and to obtain data for applications for grants to peer-review agencies or industry, or for presentations at international and national conferences. This process enables objective assessment, on the basis that the work should (a) meet national and international standards of excellence and research, (b) show potential for external peer-review funding, and (c) enable assessment of industrial potential or any intellectual property or patent considerations. This review process is intended to be positive so that advice can be provided on development of the project.
A weekly programme of seminars and journal clubs (averaging 40/yr) is supported by and organised by the BMRC to which lectures are given by leading national and international authorities. The weekly journal clubs at which both graduate students and staff contribute topical papers for discussion are an important element in maintaining the group stimulation. The Research Groups also have at least weekly laboratory meetings according to specialist interests and have meetings (1-2/yr) with external advisors from the Research and Policy Advisory Committee.
5a.5 Research Infrastructure, Training and Support for Research Students
Training support and administration of post-graduate research students is the responsibility of the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Graduate School. SET was established three years ago to enhance the quality of training of post-graduate students. All postgraduate students are required to pass courses on Research Methods and Research Studies (that are designed to equip students with basic and generic research skills) before transfer from MPhil to PhD. Additionally, each student has a tailored programme of recommended reading, together with a portfolio of contributions to overseas and national conferences. There is annual quality monitoring of all reports and progress reviews of students.
The research laboratories in the BMRC include fully equipped cell culture and molecular biological facilities which as detailed in Section 5a2.3.4 have been recently upgraded. Recently, £85,000 was spent to obtain core laboratory equipment (cell culture cabinets and incubators, PCR, electrophoresis, quantitative light microscopy) to meet the needs of increased numbers of research students and new research activities.
5a.6 Support of Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Research
There is strong emphasis on interdisciplinary and collaborative research in the BMRC and this is supported by 8 of the total of all publications being co-authored among the colleagues within the Centre. There has also been extensive collaboration with medicinal and analytical chemists in the Division of Chemistry which has been invaluable in developing enabling science to set the basis for the discovery and development of new anti-inflammatory drugs with entirely novel structures derived from natural products, as well as synthetic compounds which are directed to newly evolving therapeutic targets (see RA6c and RA6d.1).
An extensive network of regional collaboration exists (resulting in a considerable number of joint publications) with colleagues at the Northern General, Royal Hallamshire and Jessop Hospitals (Drs P Watson, M Hadjivassiliou & S Howell) by Woodroofe (time devoted 20 d/yr); the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Department of Human Metabolism and Clinical Biochemistry by Bunning (20 d/yr) with Dr David Buttle (both jointly received £105,715 from the Arthritis & Rheumatism Council to Sheffield University) and Prof Graham Russell; the Northern General Hospital by Blakemore (16 d/yr) with Professor Richard Eastell, Bone Metabolism Research Unit), the Jessop Hospital for Women by Laird (45 d/yr) with Mr T C Li, Senior Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynecology (who jointly received £66,005 in 1996-2000 to Jessop Hospital for Women from the Special Trustees of the United Sheffield Hospitals), Department of Biomedical Science, Sheffield University by Parkinson (15 d/yr) working on Alzheimer’s and related dementias with Prof Carl Pearson (who jointly received £163,000 from the Wellcome Trust to Sheffield University during this RAE). Strong is part of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign on Myotonic Dystrophy Group with Dr Peter Baxter, consultant in paediatric neurology, Sheffield Children's Hospital and Dr Andrew Gibson, Consultant in Neurology at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Sheffield University Medical School. Collaborations have also been supported by MPhil/PhD research studentships (jointly funded by both Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Universities, 6 of which were awarded during this RAE to BMRC staff. Rainsford (10 d/yr) collaborates with Dr KD Bardhan, Rotherham District General Hospital on the regulation of eicosanoid metabolism in gastrointestinal diseases. Bunning (15 d/yr) and Rainsford (15d/yr) have collaborations with Mr Chris Ruddlesden FRCS (Barnsley District Hospital) investigating the effects of novel and established anti-inflammatory and cartilage protective agents on cartilage and synovial metabolism in vitro in osteoarthritis. Thus, BMRC scientists have contributed substantially to the breadth of basic biomedical research in CIDDs being investigated in the South Yorkshire region.

National collaborations include those by Woodroofe (1-2 wk/yr) involving studies on the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis with Prof. Cuzner (Institute of Neurology, University of London (1-2 wk/yr)); Smith (1-2 wk/yr) in collaboration with colleagues at the Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford on the role of smoking and other factors involved in the development of complications during pregnancy; Parkinson (3 wk/yr) with colleagues at the Institute of Animal Health, Pirbright, Surrey, on the abnormal processing of prion proteins in dementias; and Rainsford (2 wk/yr) with Dr Brian Callingham, Pharmacology Department, University of Cambridge on the role of amine oxidase derived oxyradicals in tissue damage in inflammatory conditions.
Long-term International collaborations have been developed including:
Strong’s collaborations with the National University of Singapore (10 wk/yr; include joint grants to that university amounting to £110,000 for 1998-2001), as well as the University of Göttingen, Germany (2 wk/yr) on studies on the mechanisms of the neuro-muscular actions of novel scorpion toxins on K+ ion channel functions. Woodroofe’s post-doc, Dr Julie Simpson, worked for 6 months during 2000 at the Albert Einstein Research Institute in New York on the functions of chemokines and T-cells in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Parkinson has collaborations with Professor Feinstein at Harvard University Medical School (Boston, MA, USA; 2 wk/yr) investigating mechanisms involved in amyloid processing in Alzheimer’s disease.
Rainsford has collaborations with Prof. Richard Hunt at McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (3-4 wk/yr) investigating the mechanisms of action of gastro-ulcerogenic agents in humans (for which grants totalling £80,000 have been received by Prof. Hunt); Dr Michael Whitehouse, Professors Nicholas Bellamy and Michael Roberts at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (2-3 wk/yr) in studies on the actions of novel and established anti-inflammatory drugs in controlling chronic inflammation and pain in vivo; and, Dr Ausma Kumerova, Medical Academy of Latvia, Riga, Latvia investigating trace metal imbalance and oxidant pathology in Chernobyl workers (see Biol. Trace Met. Res. 2000;77:1-12).
Grants obtained from peer-review agencies to outside collaborators which have been granted directly with staff of the BMRC have totalled £524,720.
5a.7 Relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the U.K. and overseas include:
Research funding obtained by Rainsford for basic and clinically-related research from Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and Merckle GmbH, Germany, The Procter & Gamble Company, USA, American Home Products Inc, USA, Whitehall-Robins, USA, Wyeth Laboratories Inc, USA, Helsinn Healthcare, SA, Switzerland, Boots Healthcare International, Nottingham, Glyzinc Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Bellara Medical Products Ltd, Australia) totalling £264,642 to purchase consumables, HPLC equipment and salaries for 4 research assistants. Additionally, there has been support for 2 PhD students. Studies by Rainsford on the regulation of lipoxygenase activity in controlling joint destruction (J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 1996, 48: 46-52) and in contributing to the pathogenesis of NSAID induced gastrointestinal injury (J. Gastroent. Hepat., 1996, 11: 922-7; J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 1999, 51: 331-9) have lead to collaborations with Procter & Gamble (USA) and Merckle (Germany) for development of novel cyclo-oxygenase/lipoxygenase inhibitory NSAIDs. Collaborations with companies have involved exchanges of reagents or publications including those by Woodroofe with British Biotechnology Ltd, UK, and Rainsford with GD Searle & Co, USA; Whitehall Robins, The Procter & Gamble Co, USA, Boots Healthcare International, Nottingham, Helsinn Healthcare SA & BMA Biomedicals AG, Switzerland, and Beagle International Ltd, Australia. Clench obtained gifts for BMRC research of a MALDI-ToF mass spectrometer valued at £150,000 from Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd (UK) and a Micromass Trio 2000 Quadrupole mass spectrometer valued at £80,000 from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Horsham, Surrey, which are being used for proteomics studies and analysis of prion-like organisms in collaboration with Parkinson. Blakemore obtained £43,100 from Knoll Pharmaceuticals (UK) for studies on leptins in inflammatory diseases with funding for this from Pfizer Ltd (UK) totalling £17,000 and £5,027 for other analytical research. Tetler (deceased 13 December 2000) was involved with Astra-Zeneca (Macclesfield) on development of capillary electrophoresis and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of prostaglandins and other small molecules involved in inflammatory diseases and assay methods for drugs (e.g. the H-2 receptor antagonist, cimetidine). He also obtained £4,000 from Castrol plc and £2,000 from HSL for related work. Bunning obtained funding of £4,930 from The European Ceramics Industry Association for studies on the interactions of industrially-important fibres with inflammatory cells.
Since 1998 Parkinson has been the co-ordinator with regional bodies in the South Yorkshire Bioscience Enterprise Network (SYBEN), an Objective 1 EU funded project developing industry to promote job creation in bioscience industries in South Yorkshire in 2000-2007 (see RA6d.3). With funding from the EDRF totalling £22,527 for 1998-2000.
Total direct industry funding for research amounted to £570,699 representing 61% of the total income to the BMRC.

5a2 Staffing Policy
5a2.1 The University is committed to staff development in the broadest sense and procedures for reviewing the activities and performance of its staff. An Investors in People (IiP) award was recently granted to the School of Science and Mathematics (which includes the BMRC) reflecting this commitment. In recognition of extensive teaching commitments of BMRC staff (student/staff ratio 33) he University's Strategic Development Fund gave £210k for 4 part-time temporary lecturers to relieve teaching for researchers and for research in other institutions
5a2.2 Arrangements for Developing Research Young/New Researchers
New staff (e.g. Jordan, Strong) have been supported by mentoring and team development with cognate groups. Newly recruited academic staff or post-doctoral fellows are strongly encouraged to acquire professional and teaching skills and to undertake courses, e.g. PGCE.
5a2.3 Staff Recruitment
Strong, a leading international expert on ion channelopathies and the molecular and cellular aspects of myelopathies, was recruited from Imperial College, London in 1998 enabling a new research focus to be developed in the regulation of ion channels in myopathies and CIDDs. Dr Nikki Jordan an expert on gastro-intestinal mucosal protection was appointed Senior Lecturer from the University of Bradford in 1998. Dr Donna Sellars, a vascular cell biologist and physiologist, was recruited as a Lecturer in December 2000 from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sheffield University. Three further lecturer/senior lecturer appointments are being made during mid-2001.
5a2.4 Self-Assessment
There has been major expansion of all research outputs and activities during this RAE with increase in all outputs including a 3-4 fold increase in research (grants and industrial funding) while the numbers of graduating PhD's has more than doubled.
5a2.4.1 Income for Research
In the period of this RAE the total income for research from peer-review granting agencies and industry has totalled £679,818 and that from all other sources was £254.600 giving a total income of £934,418. Given that nine A and one A* researchers are submitted for this RAE, the average income for research per staff member is £93,442. BMRC staff also undertook research funded by grants to outside collaborators totalling £524,720. Overall, research income to staff of the BMRC including that from external participation from all sources has totalled £1,459,138. Income was also obtained from overseas government grants (£14,000 from the Saudi government to Laird; £44,000 from the Egyptian government to Blakemore), consultancies and bespoke or short courses totalling £95,600. The yearly total of research income has also increased from £238,871 in 1997-8 to £512,218 in 1999-2000 thus reflecting both increased research activity and spread of financial support.

5a2.4.2 Publications
During the period of RAE2001 a total of 109 original research publications in peer-review journals, 20 chapters or reviews, 6 books and 61 abstracts have been published by all staff in this submission. This averages 8.3 journal articles, 1.5 chapters or reviews and 4.7 abstracts per staff member. The output of all peer-reviewed articles increased 4 fold since the beginning of this RAE. BMRC Staff were invited to give 22 oral presentations at international or major national meetings and contributed 65 papers thus averaging 6.7 presentations per staff member.
5a2.4.3 Research Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows
Currently, there are 21 M.Phil./Ph.D. research students registered and 5 post-doctoral fellows working in the BMRC. The numbers of post-graduate students has quadrupled since the beginning of this RAE and has doubled in the past two years from grants and University investment (see below).
5a2.4.4 University Investment
Investment in development of the BMRC included expansion of the laboratory area by 460 m² with construction of a multi-purpose molecular biology/biochemical laboratory costing £38,000 for Strong’s Ion Channels group and £12,000 for a new cell culture facilities in 1998-9. In addition to new staff appointments (see 5a2.3) in 1999, a further investment of £212,000 was made from the University's Strategic Development Fund in 1999-2000 for short-term work in outside institutions, appointment of 2 post-doctoral fellows, 3 PhD students and part-time teaching staff. Building refurbishment has also commenced for new laboratories for the BMRC (502 m², £1.2 million) and the associated Chemistry Research and Teaching Laboratories (504 m², £1.0 million), both of which will be ready by November 2001.

The Postgraduate Institute For Health (PGIH) was established within the SOH in September 2000 to allow us to focus more sharply on R&D activities, to increase research capacity, within the School and in wider health and social care contexts, and underpin our postgraduate provision. The PGIH has subsumed the activities of the former Centre for Health & Medical Research (CHMR), established 1996, that was funded primarily with a grant of £560,000 over 3 years from Tees Health Authority [Holmes, Kelly] with additional funding of £20,000 per annum from Northern & Yorkshire R&D Directorate [Gray, Howe, Kelly]. Key priorities of the PGIH have been the setting up of a Research Support Team (RST) to encourage, support and develop research activity, and the provision of physical resources to support this strategy. The range of services offered by the RST provide the necessary infrastructure to support an active R&D profile, from information about possible sources of funding, to financial administration of awards and the submission of final reports. The RST personnel are experienced staff with relevant backgrounds in both qualitative and quantitative methods and the management and administration of research. An active PGIH intranet site promotes R&D activity and information and includes an electronic notice board and newsletter to facilitate dissemination and sharing of ideas.

The PGIH has invested substantially in human resources including the appointment of a Director (Howe), a professor, a reader and three principal lecturer posts, in addition to R&D support staff including two medical statisticians, a health economist, a research support officer, a generic research assistant and administrative staff. Physical resources include a dedicated suite of offices for the RST that includes a meeting/training room, photocopying facilities, and a resource room stocked with specialist books and journals and PCs. The latter provides a ‘hot desking’ facility for short term contract staff, research active staff from across the School, and a number of clinical colleagues working on collaborative projects. All full time staff, including research assistants and research students are provided with individual PCs with full internet access and specialist software. Many of the offices of our key research active staff are in close proximity to the RST as is a postgraduate student room This dedicated space with refreshment facilities, PCs, notice boards and a seating area provides an environment for peer support and cross-pollination of ideas. In combination, these human and physical resources provide a vibrant research environment.

A clinically based Rehabilitation Research Unit (RRU) was established in 1998 jointly between the University and a local NHS Trust. It is now part of the Postgraduate Institute for Health and promotes and supports multidisciplinary research among practitioners and academics in the area of rehabilitation at local, national and international levels. A further objective is to provide access for evaluation of therapeutic interventions, analysis of functional performance and development of clinical measurements. It also provides opportunities for research training in rehabilitation, and is also a focus for the review and dissemination of evidence relating to rehabilitation, informing and influencing clinical practice for clinical audit and clinical governance. The physical location of the Unit within an NHS Trust and the collaboration with the clinical departments are central to strengthening the relationship with service delivery in rehabilitation and capitalising on the multidisciplinary nature of PAMs R&D. The Unit is provided with specialist state of the art equipment valued at over £140 K, including video capture and 3D motion analysis, a range of electrogoniometers, torsiometers, and accelerometers, a pressure sensitive walkway, a portable force platform (Kistler), emg systems, ambulatory heart rate monitors, motorised inclination treadmill and cycle ergometer, MULE (Biometrics), grip dynamometers and functional assessment tasks. In addition to many in house custom built devices, a specialist test library consisting of standardised test-batteries for occupational therapy and rehabilitation has been set up (£12 K). A network of high specification PCs with specialist data acquisition and data analysis software are available for all equipment located within the Unit in addition to word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, statistical, graphics, video editing, computer programming and web publishing packages. Further evidence of investment is the provision of a full time dedicated research support technician, as a permanent post.

To address the current priorities of the NHS and other health related policy making bodies, the PAMs Group has secured a high level agreement between the University, Tees Health Authority to underpin a new collaboration between research and development in public health and health inequalities. Consequently, much of the research activity involves multiple agencies, with a strong focus on patients, families and carers, for example the Leeds Drug Project.

Our philosophy of developing R&D capacity internally and among the NHS and social care workforce is further demonstrated by a project commissioned by Northern & Yorkshire R&D Directorate, ‘Evaluating R&D training needs of the NHS workforce’ in collaboration with the Nuffield Institute of Health, University of Leeds [Gray, Howe, McDonald]. In addition the PGIH has been Commissioned to provide R&D training to NHS staff within our sub-region, a direct consequence of our investment in R&D support staff and infrastructure.

RESEARCH GROUPS AND ACTIVITY
Our major areas of research activity demonstrate an integrated philosophy spanning the key areas of Rehabilitation and Health Promotion. Each key area has a number of stands within it. Rehabilitation includes measurement, neuromuscular, interventions and psychosocial; and health promotion includes nutrition and physical activity, sexual health and women’s health.

Rehabilitation
The University’s submission under UoA 11 in the 1996 RAE included rehabilitation research as a targeted area of development. Rehabilitation research continues to be strong in Teesside with four main strands to our activity: measurement in clinical settings, optimising muscle rehabilitation, evaluation of therapeutic interventions and psychological aspects of rehabilitation. The RRU is the focal point of much of this activity.

i) Measurement in clinical settings:
The RRU focuses in different ways upon issues of measurement through theory to the development of clinical measures and includes collaboration with clinical staff from Middlesbrough, Durham and Newcastle. Rome’s work in the field of podiatric biomechanics focuses on the foot and ankle and its implication in clinical practice. This has led to the development and evaluation of a measurement system for heel pad thickness and stiffness [with Howe]. Rome is currently collaborating with groups from the University of Salford investigating foot orthotics. Previous work includes vertical ground reaction forces in subjects with unilateral plantar heel pain [Rome & Howe]. More theoretical issues in the area of orthopaedic rehabilitation are explored by Spears & Nabhani (both submitted in UoA26). Spears' important work in the field of hip biomechanics following arthroplasty. He is the sole UK researcher on a project funded by the German Research Council. This project involves dynamic modelling of gait, jogging and other sporting activities to address problems associated with hip-replacement patients and combines the expertise of two of the leading biomechanics institutes in Europe (Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Germany and A-O Davos Research Institute, Switzerland). Nabhani’s novel work in joint modelling of the knee, ankle and spine has led to the development of new prosthetic designs in clinical practice. He is currently working with Adidas, Nike and Middlesbrough FC to design and manufacture an orthopaedically correct soccer shin pad. Bettany-Saltikov has a record of research focussing on the spinal and postural aspects of rehabilitation, including work with the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. Bettany-Saltikov and van Schaik in collaboration with staff in the Teesside Medical Computing Centre (submitted UoA 25) have developed a portable device to assess back shape. Van Schaik has published important work on human-computer interaction and his recent work on spinal problems has led to the development of software to evaluate the psychological stress levels in people with spinal deformities. Howe has developed a portable motion analyser with Liverpool John Moores University and Alder Hey Childrens’ Hospital, Liverpool for use in laboratories, clinical settings and the home. Internal pump priming money is funding a study investigating the output characteristics of TENS units in collaboration with staff from the School of Science and Technology. Shah’s international research with groups in Italy, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Australia has focused on neuromuscular and adaptive recovery measures and outcomes. The measures relate to the improved qualities of functional measurements used in rehabilitation evaluation and research. The outcomes have specifically addressed prediction, stroke and brain trauma rehabilitation efficiency and effectiveness, stroke epidemiology, measurement and improved quality of life. Shah’s work on hand oedema, a major complication following stroke, adds to this area of research.

ii) Optimising muscle rehabilitation
A major thrust of the RRU team’s work is the investigation of muscle activation as an indicator of functional performance [Howe and Barnes]. Collaborative work with the University of Manchester has investigated methods of assessment of muscle function and applied this to the evaluation of patterned neuromuscular stimulation in rehabilitation. Two PhD studentships have been funded internally to investigate the activation of the quadriceps during therapeutic exercises in various knee pathologies using electromyographic analysis. Additional studies are ongoing in the post-processing of EMG signals. Further work pursues a link between muscle activation and hand kinematics in the normal, rheumatoid and traumatised hand, in carrying out a range of everyday tasks [Barnes]. A goniometric glove to capture the activity of the intrinsic muscles has been developed in collaboration with the University of Sheffield. The RRU team are involved in a major collaboration with the Manchester School of Physiotherapy and University of Manchester in a prestigious NHS-E Health Technology Assessment project of £200,000 (an RCT comparing interventions in knee osteoarthritis), including Health Economics at York University.

iii) Evaluation of therapeutic interventions
This area of the group's work [Howe and Turner] is central to the modernisation agenda of the NHS and the development of evidence based practice. A programme of research with amputees and claudicants has been funded in collaboration with a local NHS Trust providing two one-year secondments to a research physiotherapy post under the supervision of the RRU. A project evaluating the Bobath concept of physiotherapeutic intervention for patients suffering from neurological insults has been awarded funding of £19,000 (2001) and is in collaboration with two practising physiotherapists. Both these initiatives result from our philosophy of R&D capacity building among the local workforce. Interventions with Parkinson’s Disease patients have been carried out in collaboration with the Manchester School of Physiotherapy and the University of Manchester. Further work has examined the reliability of shoulder joint diagnosis in primary care using Cyriax procedures.

iv) Psychological aspects of rehabilitation
This group [Skilbeck, Shah, Morrissey, Martin & Johnstone] has taken a holistic approach to improving the quality of life for clients by examining the multifaceted issues affecting their performance and include international authorities in neuroscience assessment and rehabilitation. Shah and Skilbeck have focussed on neuroscience issues as they impact on persons with stroke and traumatic brain injury. The group has been instrumental in developing the application of microcomputers in cognitive retraining. Current research has focussed on acute subarachnoid hemorrhage events and cognitive functioning pre and post operatively. The use of the Rey Auditory Learning test in clinical neuropsychology, and the implications and development of a database as a regional resource, will further facilitate focused research for clinical neuropsychology. Shah has recently focussed on cognitive outcomes following traumatic brain injury in collaboration with the University of Durham. Morrissey’s current work concentrates on stress, anxiety, fatigue and coping mechanisms and strategies following one or more significant events in life. Her work has examined assessment of how individuals prepare themselves for an adverse event/s. The psychosocial aspect of care has been approached differently by Martin. He has emphasised the need to empower dying patients and examination of the barriers to empowerment by interpreting health care workers' reflective diaries. He has further developed the subject by evaluating the effects of rituals and routines and how these impact on the work of health care workers with dying patients. Johnstone has investigated the length of hospitalization for those with mental illness and has undertaken a systematic review with a group in Oxford on the effectiveness of planned short hospital stays for mental health.

Health Promotion
The PAMs Health Promotion (HP) research team focuses on key lifestyle behaviours (nutrition and physical activity, sexual health) and women’s health. The group often work collaboratively across professional boundaries and occasionally outside the main themes. It aims to deliver a programme of research activity that improves important aspects of the health of individuals and populations at a holistic level. This is achieved by nurturing seam-free and flexible research teams working to one outcome. The regional importance of this area of work is demonstrated by commissions to provide underpinning research and evaluation for the Teesside Health Action Zone and Education Action Zone projects.

i) Nutrition and physical activity
Energy intake and physical activity are the primary factors that affect body weight. Obesity is a global, national and regional public health problem of epidemic scale, and is the focus of much of the research activity of the HP research team [Barnes, Batterham, Chinn, Holmes, Summerbell & Turner]. The team is viewed as a national authority on obesity and has an international reputation in conducting systematic reviews of interventions to prevent and treat obesity in both adults and children. It is currently involved in eleven systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials for the Cochrane Collaboration and all of these reviews are in collaboration with a number of other key researchers in the UK, USA and Australia. The funding for these reviews has come from a number of sources, and a significant contribution [20K] was secured through the British Dietetic Association research funds for capacity building for dietitians in this important area of research methodology.

The HP research team have also addressed the prevention and treatment of obesity through primary research and randomised controlled trials [Summerbell & Chinn]. Ongoing collaboration with Newcastle University in a NHS-E Northern &Yorkshire Regional R&D funded cluster involves a randomised controlled trial (46 clusters) in the North of England which is designed to assess the effectiveness of a brief training programme in obesity management for primary care teams. A further collaborative project with the University of Newcastle is a FSA [£25K] funded review of methods of estimation of non-milk extrinsic sugars.

In terms of preventing adults' obesity, a study funded from the DoH/MRC nutrition programme [£54K] with the Institute of Child Health, London, has carried out a systematic review of observational studies which assessed childhood characteristics of adult obesity. This review clearly showed that energy intake and physical activity in childhood are important predictors of obesity in adults. Dietary, particularly energy intake, and physical activity in children have been assessed in detail by the HP research team [Holmes, Summerbell, Turner]. Furthermore, Barnes, Batterham & Chinn, have addressed the important issue of barriers to increasing physical activity levels, an area of focus which is much strengthened by the multi-professional nature and approach of the team, which includes dietitians, physiotherapists, epidemiologists and physiologists.

The HP research team is also involved in other nutrition research studies that attempt to address local and regional health care priorities, and by necessity involve important collaborations across multiple agencies and professions. Collaborative research with NHS Trusts within the region is extremely strong, and a number of important research studies are in progress including a systematic review on the effectiveness of feeding patients in ITU. Further collaborations exist with the recently established Nutrition and Food Policy Group within the University (submitted elsewhere).

ii) Sexual Health
The focus on health promotion research on sexual health is firmly embedded within the HP Group. Those members of the Group that contribute to this research area include Ankomah, Atkinson, and Jamieson. These members provide representation from epidemiology, public health and nursing. These staff have led international multi-centre collaborative studies in the area of reproductive and sexual health, including HIV/AIDS in Botswana. Innovative work on male sex workers has also been conducted in collaboration with groups in Australia [Jamieson]; the group has recently been awarded a grant from the University Research Fund [1.7k] to develop this area further. This focused research group is particularly mindful of the need for a multi-professional and multi-agency approach to research on sexual health. The group [with Summerbell] has recently been involved with a HAZ Fellowship project on crime, drugs and food which involved the Leeds Drug Project. Other work has included costing NHS services for the care and treatment of people infected by HIV, the evaluation of district nursing services for HIV/AIDS patients and an evaluation of ‘Enhanced HIV Testing’ services.

iii) Womens Health
The area of womens health has developed over the last assessment period, and is an important part of the forward plan of the PAMs Group. Those members of the Group who contribute to this research area include Chinn, Gray, McDonald, Odber, Turner, and van Wersch. These members provide respresentation from across the PAMs and other health related disciplines: physiotherapy, health psychology, nursing, epidemiology and medical statistics. Key areas of work include breast cancer, osteoporosis, PMT and pregnancy. Work of McDonald, Gray and van Wersch is associated with breast cancer care including users' views and professionals' perceptions of screening for breast cancer, breast care guidelines, the effect of early discharge, and evaluation of specialist services [22k] of urgent referral clinics (with Breast Screening & Assessment Centre, Gateshead). The activities of Chinn and Turner include important work on screening for osteoporosis in collaboration with Birmingham Childrens’ Hospital and the role of physical activity in the prevention of osteoporosis. Odber has published important work on pre-menstrual syndrome as a physiological model for major depression. A major new area of work includes a number of projects around pregnancy [McDonald], including Tees Health Action Zone funded projects, ‘Taking the Drama out of Teenage Pregnancy’ [134k] and ‘Quit smoking for young pregnant women: training the trainers’ [108k]. A recent award has been secured from Head Teachers from ten Middlesbrough Comprehensive Schools to evaluate the effectiveness of drama for getting across the message about Teenage Pregnancy [6k].

The Director of Biosciences Graduate Centre is responsible for ensuring the quality of research student supervision, training and facilities. The Graduate Centre undertakes an annual audit, including supervisors’ reports and supervision logs, of all research students. Each research student has two academic supervisors. A ‘rapporteur’, independent of the supervisory team, is appointed by Graduate School Board to receive advice and to report back at all key stages of every student’s progress (initial registration, MPhil/PhD transfer, appointment of external examiners). The research student welfare and development is catered for by the comprehensive University system run by the Graduate School Board. All research students within the School of Biosciences are provided with desk space and computers with access to CD-ROM, on-line journals, Internet and E-mail. The Graduate Centre in Biosciences runs courses annually to familiarise students with ‘Laboratory Safety’ and ‘The role of demonstrators in practical classes’‘ with biannual courses in ‘Writing a thesis’, ‘Undergoing a viva’. ‘Writing research papers’ and ‘Preparation of research posters’. All research students participate in a ‘Postgraduate Fair’ each year with oral and poster presentations of their research. Furthermore research students are encouraged to attend at least one Conference during the life of their projects.
SUPPORT FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
The majority of the declared output in RA2 has involved collaborations of the newly recruited staff with colleagues at their previous Institutions. The BMSRG as a whole has maintained these collaborations as most of the staff are given teaching remission equivalent to at least one day a week. Groups national and international current collaborations include the University of Leiden, National Institute of Health USA, Panam Institute Copenhagan, University of Bristol, (Institute of Urology, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, Eastman Dental Institute, Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, Centre for Rheumatology (UCL), Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM), School of Pharmacy (University of London), Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF). These collaborations are strengthened by the fact that Prof.Chowdrey, Dr.Gordge and Dr. Madgwick hold honorary Lecturerships at UCL and in addition Prof. Chowdrey is an honorary Lecturer at University of Bristol.
Dr Eastwood’s current collaborators include Prof. Sir M. Yacoub, Dr S. Allen, National Heart and lung Institute, Dr G. Coulton ICSM, Prof. DA McGrouther and Dr R. Brown, UCL, Prof. C Black and Dr D. Abraham, Royal Free Hospital, and Prof. A. El-Haj, Keele University. Overseas collaborations include Prof. Ioannis Yannas from the MIT Boston, Prof. J.J Tomasek from Oklahoma University Health Science Centre, and Dr D. Herbage University of Lyon.
Prof. Sumar’s ongoing National and International collaborations include; Imperial College, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, St. Helier Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and Guys Hospital, Sheffield University, Royal Holloway College (University of London), Institutions and governments of Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Qatar, Brunei, Kuwait, Ghana, Malaysia, Thailand and Syria.
Relationships with Industry and Commerce
The Foresight Programme has emphasised the importance of the competitiveness of British industry and in particular the prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how academic knowledge and know-how can be transferred to increase competitiveness. In this regard Prof. Chowdrey has a current DTI-Teaching Company Scheme award with an SME (Intersep Ltd). Prof. Sumar had held a DTI-Teaching Company scheme previously with Sam Pam Foods. Academics have developed collaborations with hospital service laboratories, initially through MSc part time students who carry out a substantial research project.
STAFFING POLICY

1. The Microbiology and Infection Unit consists of 3 academic staff (Dr R. Cooper, Dr N. Burton, Dr S. Hicks), one M.Phil. research student and two research technicians. Dr Cooper, who heads this Unit, has continued her research into the bacteriology of chronic wounds as outlined in the 1996 RAE submission. Since March 2000, an externally funded research technician has been appointed to investigate the bacterial loading of chronic wounds. This is a joint project between UWIC, the Wound Healing Research Unit, University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM) and Smith & Nephew. This area of research has been further developed to investigate the therapeutic value of treating chronically infected wounds with honey. This project has generated considerable interest both nationally and internationally, resulting in collaborative links with Wound Healing Research Unit, UWCM and the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Recently, a grant of £9,000 was secured from the European Wound Management Association to fund one M.Phil. student. Dr.Cooper also collaborates on an intra-school, multidisciplinary project with the Food Research and Consultancy Unit (FRCU) to assess the efficacy of hospital cleaning regimes. This project is funded partly by a grant from the Chief Medical Officer, Welsh Office (£3,250). Dr N. Burton, a part-time lecturer, has continued to pursue his research investigating the identification and distribution of Burkolderia cepcia in the environment. This research has resulted in the successful completion of a Ph.D. in July 1999 and the publication of 3 research papers. Dr S.Hicks, a senior research fellow, is investigating the role of mucins in infection. This project has collaborative links with the Department of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol and has resulted in a number of high-impact factor research publications.

2a. The Immunology Research Group, headed by Dr K. Jones, has continued its investigation into the role of pulmonary surfactant in immuno-regulation in the lung, as outlined in the 1996 RAE submission. This research area has been extremely successful, resulting in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, The Department of Medicine (UWCM), and the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University. The group received a quantity of the pulmonary surfactant drug Xosurf (Glaxo Wellcome) worth £2,000 to study the immuno-regulatory properties of this compound within the alveolar space of the lung. Currently, there are 5 individuals studying full-time for Ph.D.s in this research area and of these, three will be examined in 2001. One of the individuals, Mr K Morris is a member of academic staff who is undertaking a part-time Ph.D. A full-time dedicated research technician also supports the Unit. A new area of research within the group is in the field of allergy, in particular, nut and latex allergy. Recently, a Ph.D student has commenced an investigation into the molecular mechanisms involved in salicylate allergy. Expertise in this area has also led to the creation of the Allergy Consultancy Unit. This enterprise initiative has generated external funding totalling £14,500 , which has been used to underpin research programmes within the Immunology Research Group. To date projects have been set up with industry, the NHS and two housing authorities in the UK. Recently, the Unit has been awarded a SMART Welsh Assembly Award of £58,700 over 12 months to develop a specific allergy testing device. This grant will commence in March 2001 and employ a research technician.

The research groups studying diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer represent novel research areas within the Faculty of BMS. These programmes have been initiated since the last RAE and have resulted in the recruitment of new research active staff.

2b. The Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Research Group. Within this group there are 3 full-time members of academic staff (Dr A. Thomas, Dr R. Adams and Dr S-A Evans ) and 4 research students (2 full-time and 2 part-time). The group has a strong publication track record and numerous collaborative links with research departments in (UWCM) and various other institutions including Cardiff University. These associations are beneficial in providing access to human clinical samples, patient-based studies and animal tissue. Dr A. Thomas’ main research interests lie in the field of type 2 diabetes. He has initiated a number of partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, for example, one of the Ph.D. programmes is studying the anti-inflammatory effects of thiozolidinediones (TZDs), an insulin sensitising drug, marketed by Glaxo Wellcome. That Ph.D. student is funded by internal UWIC funds. Other similar studies involving anti-lipid drugs pravastatin and lovastatin (Bayer Pharmaceuticals) are also in progress. A reagent grant of £1000 has been received from Bayer Pharmaceuticals and support obtained from the UWIC Research Opportunity (URO, £2,900) fund to pump-prime this growing area of innovative research.
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Dr. R. Adams and Dr. S-A Evans also form part of the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Research Group, and their interests lie within two main fields of vascular biology: (1) measurement of blood cell flow and mechanics (2) leukocyte activation, adhesion and interaction with the vascular endothelium. This work also includes studies of erythrocyte and leukocyte mechanics and adhesiveness in both health and disease, and also the identification of markers of leukocyte activation and endothelial damage in inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular disease. Two Ph.D. students are currently being supervised in these areas of research, one part time, funded jointly by UWIC and the Wales Office of Research & Development for Health and Social care (WORDHS, £5,000), and one full time, funded by the Kuwaiti Government. In 1999, Dr. Adams received an undergraduate research bursary from The Nuffield Foundation (£1,400) for studies on erythrocyte deformability. Current research includes a number of projects which are being carried out in collaboration with other institutions. One involves investigation of the role of soluble adhesion molecules in modulating adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular endothelium during ischaemia and reperfusion. Other collaborations include the investigations of blood rheology with the Department of Physiology, University of Birmingham, and an ongoing association with the Department. of Vascular Surgery at UWCM.

2c. The Cancer and Cell Cycle Research Group. This group is headed by Dr M. Edwards and contains 3 research students (2 full-time and 1 part-time). The group has just secured a three-year research grant from Cancer Research Wales totalling £41,000. The grant commenced on 1^st December 2000 and partly funds one of the full-time MPhil/PhD students. The project, which involves two research students, will investigate the role of the ATM gene in the genetic predisposition to malignant disease. It involves a team of collaborators which includes Professor AMR Taylor, Cancer Research Campaign Institute, University of Birmingham, Dr J. Court, Department of Medical Oncology, Velindre Hospital, Cardiff, Prof. V. Thomas, Department of Medicine, UWCM, Cardiff and Professor I D Bowen, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University. The research is of international importance and involves investigations into the predisposition of various ethnic groups in Middle Eastern populations to malignant disease. Professor M. Hannan, Dept. of Radiation Biology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Saudi Arabia, who is a Honorary Visiting Professor at UWIC, is collaborating on this project. These studies will culminate in the development of a screening programme to identify individuals predisposed to malignant disease. Other research in this group focuses on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the initiation of human autoimmune diseases. The latter research involves collaborations with the Department of Medicine, UWCM and University Hospital Qatar.

Research-led teaching is desirable and necessary for accreditation of degree schemes by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. Current policy involves rationalisation of the teaching programme in biomedical sciences, in order to increase efficiency of delivery of courses. This will thus alleviate the teaching demands on research-active staff enabling them to devote more time to R & E activities.

With the research infrastructure and resources now in place, there is also more opportunity for encouraging staff to engage in research and enterprise in an innovative and supportive environment. The focusing of research and research-support towards areas of strength will minimise the previous deficiency in agreed policy for research & enterprise in the department. Staff can now pledge their expertise to the achievements of the group research objectives, whilst developing both the collective group profile and their individual research profile.

5.1. Sustaining research culture
Two chief elements sustain the research culture in the Department. The first is the high rate of applications to funding bodies to ensure continuing success in attracting research grants and contracts in the Department’s strategic research domains. The second is the policy of employing postdoctoral researchers, who also act as facilitators of postgraduate student research. In addition to the 4 current postdoctoral posts in the Department, a further 7 postdoctoral researchers were employed on previous projects during the RAE period. Day-to-day research culture is sustained by a journals club, and by the well-established Departmental weekly research seminars led by internal and external researchers, held throughout the academic year for staff, postgraduate and senior undergraduate students.

9. Relationships with Government Policy

1.3 Defined Research Themes
The Physical Therapy Research Area is primarily composed of four specific research foci in which we have an established track record and experienced staff. These are Pain, Musculoskeletal, Neurology and Exercise Science. These themes were established following the 1996 RAE in order to focus our research on areas of strength. New staff or staff becoming research active have been encouraged to link with these established topics. All 4 themes have strong internal and external collaborative links. A number of projects draw on the expertise of more than one theme for example "Conservative treatment for patellofemoral pain syndrome" (Musculoskeletal & Pain) or " Treatment of shoulder pain in stroke" (Neurology & Pain). The management strategy is designed to produce focused research themes with a specified research niche and which are capable of developing into internationally recognised research groups. For the purposes of RAE2001, 11 of the staff have been declared research active based on their track record of international journal publication, research student supervision and externally funded research. However the majority of the remaining staff (14 out of 22) are currently engaged in research (i.e. studying for their own research degree, publishing research and/or supervising an externally funded project). They also contribute to the work of the 4 groups but have not met the research active status set for inclusion in this RAE2001 submission and hence are not classified as research active. Staff usually belong to one research foci but may contribute expertise to others or collaborate on joint projects. On average the groups consist of 7 academic staff of which 3 have been declared research active for RAE2001.
· Pain
(Active: Martin, Steedman, Weir Engaged: Palmer, Kirk, Jones)
The primary focus of the pain group is to provide a multifaceted approach to the theory, assessment and management of pain. The group completed 2 PhDs in this RAE period and are currently supervising 8 PhD students. Over the last two years the group have been highly successful in attracting external funding (£891121 of research investment). They have received, in partnership with the Pain Association Scotland, a major grant (£177388) from the National Lottery Board to investigate Pain management in the community (QMUC share £85000). Further the group have been awarded a prestigious Scottish Higher Education Funding Council research development grant of £717000 over three years in collaboration with the University of Stirling and Glasgow Caledonian University (QMUC share £320,000) to establish a Scottish Network for Chronic Pain Research.
· Musculo-skeletal
(Active: Rowe, Frost, Kirby, Carline Engaged: McMillan, Van Herp, Forsyth, Ellis, MacSween, Thomson) The primary focus of the musculoskeletal group is to investigate the effects of damage to, or disease of, the human musculo-skeletal system on the physical capacity of the individual and to explore the efficacy of the therapeutic interventions associated with these conditions. The group completed 3 PhDs in this RAE period and are currently supervising 6 PhD students. In this RAE period the group have been grantholders on 11 projects totalling over 1 million pounds of research funding (£1,195,356) of which £141,423 was administered by QMUC. The group have recently been awarded an EPSRC EQUAL grant in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow School of Art and Design of £321,880 to research inclusive design for the older adult.
· Neurology
(Active: Durward, Baer, Rowe Engaged: Van Wijck, Hooper, Stephenson)
The primary focus of the neurology group is the use of movement analysis techniques to investigate the nature of disability in neurology, to investigate the efficacy of neurological treatment intervention and to assist functional independence in neurology clients. The group completed 1 PhD in this RAE period and are currently supervising 4 PhD students. The group have obtained three externally funded projects in this RAE (QMUC share £18,466). Finally the group have edited a major research related book with international contributors called "Functional Human Movement" which explores the research literature and available methodology related to motion analysis of functional human activity.
· Exercise Science
(Active: Donaghy, Fulton, Engaged: Payne, MacSween, Gill, Looke)
The primary focus of the exercise science group is to use physiological measurement and other exercise science techniques to investigate the nature of disability in cardio-respiratory illness, patterns of physical activity in different populations and the effects of specific exercise interventions on psychological & physiological well being. In addition they have interests in Alcohol misuse and Cancer care. The group completed 1 PhD in this RAE period and are currently supervising 3 PhD students. The group have obtained three externally funded projects in this RAE (QMUC share £23,000).

1.4 Promoting Research Culture
Clear recognition of the importance of research activities is given to staff by the inclusion of personal research plans and research targets in the career review and staff development process leading to planned research activity. The group recognise the value of external research collaboration and staff are encourage to attend and contribute to national and international conferences, to visit other research active centres and to participate in external research committees and grant awarding bodies. The group actively support research development for PAMs within the NHS and have introduced a number of initiatives to facilitate this. These include jointly funded PhD studentships with NHS Trusts (2 to date), co-applications for funding (6 to date) and our own research development grants employing local clinicians (3 to date). The staff in the area take an active interest in the training of research students and in the support of both students and supervisors. The research culture is supported by regular and ad-hoc research meetings including presentations by staff and research students, visiting researchers and the area research co-ordinator.

1.8 Coherence with Government Policy
The research of the group and our plans for future development have been constructed with reference to government policy. The UK strategy for science, innovation, technology and design (Foresight) is focused on improving quality of life and identifies "Healthcare", "The ageing population" and "Education, Skills & Training" as key issues all of which are directly related to the work of this group. The SHEFC policy document "University Research in Scotland" indicates that institutions should identify areas of research strength and prioritise, organise and monitor them. Institutions should also motivate staff, foster collaboration and partnership, manage research effectively and seek new income streams for research. These are core objectives of both the QMUC and the Physical Therapy Area research strategies. Finally the Scottish Executives research policy for the NHS in Scotland encourages collaboration between trusts & university departments and identifies many priority areas to which work undertaken by this group has contributed including mental health, coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, alcohol abuse, improving health, primary care, reshaping hospital services and fostering research skills. The government objectives listed here are central to our research strategy and encourage us to believe that we can maintain and expand our research portfolio.

A regular series of research seminars are organised within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Care. These comprise a mix of internal speakers discussing on-going or recently completed research projects, such as "Overseas recruitment of nurses: a policy research study" and external speakers on specific research topics, such as "Successful ageing: from certainty to uncertainty", and methodologies, such as "Focus groups: rhetoric versus reality" and "Exploring the complexity of collaborative research". This year we have focused on the policy making process, and speakers are attending from the Scottish Office, local authorities and campaigning and voluntary sector organisations. All staff and research students within the Faculty are invited to these seminars. Invitations are also extended to external academics and health professionals.

The seminar series is complemented by research interest meetings, organised by smaller groups of staff and research students, to discuss specific pieces of work. Recent examples include workshops on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and the Scottish Breast Cancer Campaign. This allows individual staff to discuss research ideas and possibilities for funding in an informal environment prior to generating full proposals and pursuing specific research interests. The Centre for International Health Studies additionally arranges a postgraduate research seminar series each spring. Such research seminars provide excellent networking opportunities for ‘new’ researchers.

· Food choice and Public Health Nutrition
Research in this group comprises fundamental and applied research which attempts to elucidate the underlying determinants of food choice in order to understand how food choice behaviour can be improved. The applied research is concerned with developing and evaluating practical methodologies and strategies suitable for use in public health nutrition. Membership of this strand comprises de Looy, Drummond and Kirk (selected research staff), 4 non selected staff , 9 PhD students (3 external) and 5 contract staff during this assessment period.
A main focus (Kirk) is investigating the barriers and facilitators determining healthy food choice decisions and attempting to identify effective strategies for obesity prevention. This has produced a substantial body of evidence that increasing carbohydrate intake results in sustainable dietary fat reduction and improved body weight control. It has also demonstrated that a pattern of frequent eating improves appetite control and appears to work synergistically with physical activity in helping to prevent obesity (Drummond).

Community-based intervention studies are on-going to identify effective approaches to increasing consumption of starchy food in adolescent school boys (PhD) and to evaluate the impact of introducing breakfast clubs on diet quality, cognitive performance and growth in primary school children (PhD). Collaborative work on the childhood origins of obesity, the aetiology and prevention of iron deficiency in post weaning children (with Department of Child, Life and Health, Edinburgh, PhD), the suitability of criteria for assessing obesity in children (PhD) is also on-going. A 3-centred trial has been completed which investigated the role of sucrose containing foods in adherence to low fat, energy restricted diets where dietary restraint and quality of life was also assessed (de Looy and Drummond).

This group have developed a unique capability in carrying out long term intervention studies in community and workplace settings. This puts the group in a prime position to spearhead research in public health nutrition. SHEFC funding supported the initial salaries of 5 contract staff. This combined research has generated £400,000 in industrial funding and current collaboration with two international centres, five academic nutrition departments and various work place settings is on-going (see section 1.5).

· Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism

This research group comprises basic science research attempting to elucidate the effects of dietary (ingested) components on the development of specific diseases and applied research with the aim of developing nutritional strategies to reduce risk and the progression of existing disease. Membership of this strand comprises (Armstrong, Davidson, McBean, McKenzie & Richardson, 2 non selected staff) and 12 PhD students (2 external), 1 senior technical officer and 3 research assistants. There are three key areas of investigation in this group, firstly, investigation of the effect of different dietary fatty acids on cells (platelets, leucocytes) and pathways integral to the pathology of cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases (Armstrong). Secondly, assessment of alterations in gastrointestinal sensory mechanisms eliciting changes in ingestive behaviour, energy intake and nutritional status in disease (Davidson & Richardson) which is complemented by research on amino acid metabolism in relation to amino acid and protein needs (Mackenzie). Thirdly assessing long-term consequences of ecstasy abuse on cerebral function (glucose utilisation) and cerebral blood flow in the brain (McBean). This work is complemented by de Looy investigating nutritional status of long term drug users (CSO grant).

Significant achievements of this group relate to the diversity of funding secured. These include the EC (3 centre trial with the University of Edinburgh) and BHF (PhD) for novel research into the implications of dietary trans polyunsaturates in cardiovascular disease. In addition significant funding (£176,524) through the Teaching Company Scheme has been secured (Armstrong). Industrial sponsorship is also provided by Bioforce (PhD) Nutricia (£32,500 externally administered), Allergan and Scotia Pharmaceuticals. A collaborative Wellcome grant (£166,000) administered by partners at the Western General, Edinburgh has also been secured (McBean). Totalling £968,457 in research income. Collaboration is key to all researchers in this group and currently four international centres and departments from six NHS Trusts are involved in various joint research projects (see section 1.5).

· Microbiology and Immunology

This group evaluates the anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties of natural products and investigates the interactions of food pathogens with food. Membership of this strand comprises Fyfe (selected research staff), 1 non-selected, two contract researchers and 4 PhD students.

The ability of natural products, such as plant oils and spices, to reduce the number and attenuate bacterial pathogens is being investigated. Fyfe is also studying the effect of the food environment on the expression and biological properties of pathogenic factors of bacterial food pathogens (PhD). The anti-inflammatory properties of dietary components are also being investigated (PhD) with the structure and bioactivity of bacterial molecules (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and immune cells of particular interest. This group works closely with the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh.

Significant achievements of this group have been realised from the research undertaken which has resulted in an international patent and has initiated the first spin-off company (Bactokil, Ltd) at QMUC. The research has progressed and commercialisation is being undertaken with the support of the Scottish Office and has been recognised in the form of a SMART (1) award. Funding is currently being sought from SMART (2) venture capitalists and industry. This group are also investigating the possibility of developing private laboratories at Roslin.

1.3 Promoting and Sustaining an active and vital Research Culture

Research is given a high priority by the University College, as evidenced by its mission statement. This is manifested by selected relief from teaching for research active staff to enable them to pursue their research targets as determined by the staff development and career review process. All new staff are recruited on the basis of their research profile to enhance the research capability of the defined research groups. Existing staff are encouraged to become research active by collaborating with experienced research staff (e.g. through joint supervision of PhD students), by encouraging them to undertake higher degrees and by facilitating appropriate collaborative links for making joint applications for funding of research projects. The CNFR provides support for research design and statistical analysis of data as well as providing a regular seminar programme to encourage systematic and critical investigatory skills to be developed. Visiting international and national speakers are invited to speak at the research seminars. Research students, final year undergraduates and staff all regularly attend these. A key feature is the use made of these seminars for staff and postgraduate students to present their own work thus adding to the research dissemination and enabling collaboration between the research groups. In addition, the nutrition group has been active in professional activities, which strengthen the research culture and increase peer esteem, e.g. membership of learned societies, editorial work, refereeing for research journals and grant awarding bodies and PhD examining (see RA6).

In 1998 Dr Lockhart joined the Department and began to work with existing staff while retaining his links with the University of Glasgow. This led to the establishment of the Neurovascular Inflammation Group (NIG) and began a collaborative venture between Paisley and the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases (CRD) in the Department of Medicine at the University of Glasgow. It has a primary focus on neurovascular regulatory mechanisms, their disturbance during disease processes such as rheumatoid arthritis and the development and evaluation of anti-inflammatory drugs. Dr Cardosi was integrated into the group for his expertise in electrochemical biosensors, this being relevant for measurement of nitric oxide as a pro-inflammatory mediator.

Dr Cardosi is a Reader who supervises 2 research students and is currently developing electrochemical methods for measuring NO₂ and NO₃ levels in tissue fluids. He has produced and is now validating a real-time electrochemical system for measuring nitric oxide generation. Drs McLean and Hettle provide the molecular expertise for the research. Dr McLean co-supervises 3 PhD students and adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the evaluation of novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategies, including the investigation of differential cyclooxygenase expression in arthritis. Dr Lockhart supervises 2 PhD students and as a Vascular Physiologist has expertise in assessing the hyperaemic component of joint inflammation using advanced laser Doppler imaging technology.

Ø Dr Robin Plevin (University of Strathclyde) and Prof Bob Ramage (University of Edinburgh) – elucidation of the putative role of novel pro-inflammatory mechanisms in joint inflammation.
Ø Dr Judy Pratt (University of Strathclyde) – investigation of cannabinoids (anti-inflammatory); jointly held prestigious AJ Clark PhD studentship from the British Pharmacological Society.
Ø Dr Valerie Speirs (University of Leeds) – investigation of hormonal control of angiogenesis in cancer using immortalised cells.

International links include Dr Hamid Najafipour (University of Kerman, Iran) and Dr Francis Lam (Chinese University of Hong Kong), both of whom have visited Scotland and worked with the group.

Dr Lockhart and Dr Ferrell jointly manage NIG and hold monthly journal club meetings and regular collaborative meetings with CRD. Research students are expected to make annual presentations of their research and the group contributes to a formal seminar programme within Biological Sciences. The doctoral students submitted from this group are all internally funded, demonstrating the University’s commitment to biomedical research. All undergo a mandatory induction course at the start of their research programme, and transfer to the degree of PhD by means of a formal oral exam at the end of their first year. Their programme includes regular presentations to the Division, and each year the University organises a poster competition for the students to present their results. Students are also financially supported to present papers at national and international conferences.

Research Culture

The strategy outlined above has been extremely successful in developing researchers of high calibre, some of whom were not research active when they were recruited. These staff all became research active whilst in the Department, their achievements allowing them to take appointments at other institutions during the period of this RAE, (Dr Simmons to the University of Glasgow; Dr Saunders to the University of Ulster, Dr Woods to the Schepens Eye Institute of Harvard Medical School, Dr Knox to the University of Liverpool). While these staff cannot be included in this RAE return, they developed their current research profile substantially during their time in Vision Sciences at GCU. The effect of these departures upon Departmental research has been minimised by the research group structure and a number of new key appointments. Further staff have been promoted to senior positions within this institution, at least in part because of their current research output, (Dr McCulloch, Dr Walsh, and Dr Gray to senior lecturer).

Research Infrastructure

Biomedicine Research Group (BRG)(http://www.lifesciences.napier.ac.uk/research/Biomedicine/bimedres.htm)

General
Professor Ken Donaldson, as Director of the BRG, has overall responsibility for the strategy and quality of research. The group comprises 8 academics, 2 post-doctoral scientists employed on externally-funded projects, one University-funded research technician and 10 PhD students in December 2000. The research of the group is primarily focused on particle-induced lung disease.

In the census period for RAE2001 the BRG has produced more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, and 30 book chapters and Proceedings papers; 12 PhD students have graduated and significant funding has been secured in research funding from various bodies. Major grants secured, either solely or collaboratively with the ELEGI research group, have included funding from MRC, 5th European Framework, Colt Foundation, DETR and British Lung Foundation.

In addition to the staff listed as research active in RA1, Drs L. Proudfoot, J. MacCallum, P.H. Beswick and C.G. Mitchell supervise PhD students, make a significant contribution to research and have together published about 20 peer-reviewed papers since RAE 1996. However, the majority of their time is currently taken up with teaching and administration, and for this reason they are not named in RA1. However, their activities are essential to the BRG, for example, in ensuring that teaching is delivered in a well-organised fashion, and in a research-informed environment.

Operation of the group.
Professor Donaldson and Dr Keith Guy (Depute Director) both have more than 20 years experience of research. They have extensive experience of supervision of postgraduate students. Dr Guy has responsibility for day to day running of the BRG Laboratory. Professor Donaldson and Dr Guy have management meetings every few weeks to discuss the direction of the group and progress of research and of students. The members of the research group meet for seminars and discussions every 2 weeks throughout the year and every academic member of staff meets with his or her PhD students at least every 1-2 weeks. The two experienced postdoctoral scientists are an additional source of help and advice for students.

Staffing.
The University has given us full support to employ academic researchers whose expertise complements and extends that of the group. Of 3 new appointments since RAE1996, Dr Guy (now a Reader) joined the BRG when appointed to a Senior Lectureship at Napier University in 1997, having previously worked for 5 years in a permanent position as a lecturer in the 5*-rated Department of Immunology at the University of Strathclyde. Dr Stone, now a lecturer (appointed 1999) was initially employed as a post-doctoral scientist on a Colt grant. Dr Clouter (appointed 1997) previously worked as a scientist in the prestigious MRC Toxicology Unit, Leicester, on particle toxicology.

Environment.

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS AND INCOME:
· approximately 250 research publications;
· £2.97M in external research income; £1.31M research expenditure;
· 43 PhD studentships and successful graduation of 18 PhD students.
ADVANCES IN RESEARCH:
· Brain Imaging: first to show with MEG that area V1 is dysfunctional in human amblyopia; first to use fMRI to study second-order motion and spatio-temporal tuning in retinotopic cortex;
· Epilepsy: developed field-specific VEP to assess visual field defects associated with Vigabatrin;
· Epilepsy - surgery: developed visual, auditory and sensory-motor localisation paradigms for pre-surgical evaluation in children;
· Brain – gut axis: first to develop paradigms for cortical localisation of visceral sensation;
· Higher order processes: first to show independence of complex 2-D motion mechanisms;
· Visual cognition: showed scale invariant superiority of foveal vision in perceptual categorisation;
· Glaucoma: identified regional variations in autoregulation of ocular blood flow;
· Myopia: identified putative link between myopia and adrenoceptor-mediated accommodation;
· Low Vision: developed first structured questionnaire to quantify quality-of-life in visual handicap.
EXPANDING RESEARCH COMMUNITY:
· Eight members have been appointed since the formation of the NRI (four at senior level) with an important further appointment in visual psychophysics (Professor Mark Georgeson in July, 2001);
· Currently 30 PhD students and seven Research Fellows (compared to 10 and three in RAE 1996);
· Four academic positions (one at senior level) are currently being advertised.
INNOVATIVE FUTURE RESEARCH PLANS:
· Cortical function: methodological developments allowing MEG studies of higher-order cognitive function and comparison with fMRI. Cross-modal interactions between vision, attention and action. Assessment of cortical changes following stroke, chronic pain and phantom limb pain. Mapping the cortical representation of visceral sensation. Evaluation of MEG for pre-surgical assessment.
· Oculomotor and ocular biometric analysis: high-resolution simultaneous measures of accommodation/vergence/pupil responses; structural analysis of refractive elements in ametropia;
· Anterior segment physiology: optical, neural and immunological aspects of tear dysfunction, contact lens wear and photorefractive surgery;
· Macular disease: assessment of quality-of-life issues and visual rehabilitation paradigms; utilisation of peripheral vision in reading; assessment of short- and long-term visual function following treatment with foveal re-location surgery and photodynamic therapy;
· Glaucoma: waveform analysis of IOP to determine altered haemodynamics in vascular disease; genetic indicators of vascular abnormality linked to defective nitric oxide pathways.

The achievements summarised above demonstrate fulfilment of the research plans submitted in RAE 1996 and have established the NRI as a distinctive international focus for research in neurosciences allied to medicine.

RESEARCH GROUPS
The essence of the NRI’s strategy for achieving excellence is to integrate the wide range of expertise and resources within the four research groups to create composite and innovative solutions to research issues. In addition, an important feature of the NRI’s strategic approach is to develop investigative procedures that have wide application in optometry and neurosciences. Of special note in this regard are, for example, the unique opportunities afforded by the Wellcome Trust Laboratory for MEG Studies (Clinical Neurophysiology research group); the special cognitive and psychophysical analysis techniques derived by the Psychophysics and Psychology research groups; and the new methods for remote continuous and simultaneous measures of oculomotor function recently developed by the Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics research group. The profile of activity for each area demonstrates, therefore, that certain ocular diseases and sensory and cognitive dysfunctions figure within and between different research groups e.g. glaucoma, macular disease, amblyopia, myopia, epilepsy, brain lesions, dyslexia, apraxias, agnosias. A selection of future research work is outlined below. Virtually all of the plans put forward in RAE 1996 have been successfully completed (annotated by [RAE 96] in following text).

OPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS
MEMBERSHIP: Armstrong; Dunne; Fowler; Gilmartin (convener); Hosking; Petre (0.5); Siderov (A*out); Wild (A*out); Wolffsohn.
OBJECTIVE: To understand further the development, use, preservation and restoration of vision by research on clinical and applied matters relevant to optometry and ophthalmology.
OPERATION: The group has a complete suite of individual, self-contained, laboratories designed for clinical investigations. The laboratories are adjacent to the optometry open-clinic which is open throughout the year, has available up to 3000 appointments per year for members of the general public, and is a valuable source of patient material, consultation areas and reception facilities for clinical research studies. Specialised computing facilities support a wide range of dedicated and modern clinical laboratory research instrumentation totalling over £200K and includes: Heidelberg Retina Tomograph and Flowmeter; Perimed Laser Doppler Flowmeter; IOLMaster ocular biometer (using partial coherent interferometry); telecentric ophthalmophakometer; Scheimpflug camera system; EyeSys 2000 corneal topography system; SmartLens for continuous high-resolution measurements of intra-ocular pressure; Shin-Nippon IR autorefractor (converted to continuous recording); high-resolution photoretinoscopy.

PRIME ACTIVITIES
· Ocular and Systemic Vascular Disease: In vivo scanning laser topographic techniques and psychophysical methods to diagnose and monitor retinal and optic nerve damage in glaucoma; vascular compliance in glaucoma in response to gas perturbations, pharmacological agents and surgical intervention. Waveform analysis of continuous measures of IOP to determine altered haemodynamics in vascular disease. Biochemical indicators of glaucoma and retinal toxicity associated with anti-epileptic drugs. Optimisation of perimetric of temporal pointwise distribution of sensitivity in glaucoma. Detection and monitoring of systemic hypertension by optometrists.
Main achievements: Identification of regional variations in autoregulation of ocular blood flow and its anomalies following gas perturbations (Hosking). Fluctuations of the visual field in glaucoma [RAE 96]; unique field defects attributed to Vigabatrin (Wild).
Future research: Waveform analysis of IOP to determine altered haemodynamics in vascular disease; genetic indicators of vascular abnormality linked to defective nitric oxide pathways; assessment of the effect of photodynamic therapy on retinal structure and function.
Collaborators: Univs. Alabama (USA), Waterloo (Canada), Birmingham (UK) and Oxford (UK). Funding sources: College of Optometrists, Aventis, International Glaucoma Association, Zeiss.
· The Ageing Eye: Psychophysical methods of assessing the role of optical and neural factors in age-related decline in visual performance; peripheral visual information processing in ocular diseases affecting the central visual field. Study of degenerative processes in the brain leading to dementia in Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Pick's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Main achievements: Differentiation of reading speed with respect to the locus of eccentric fixation; identification of the relevance of sentence context in central and peripheral vision (Petre) [RAE 96]. Demonstration that pathological lesions in disorders affecting the brain share a common spatial pattern suggesting degeneration of specific anatomical pathways (Armstrong) [RAE 96].
· Future research: Assessment of quality of life in macular degeneration. Development of visual display strategies to enable more effective use of peripheral vision in reading.
Collaborators: Univs. Washington, Houston (USA) & Bradford (UK); Inst. Ophthalmology (UK); Inst. Psychiatry (UK); Schepens Eye Inst. (USA); Bristol Eye Hosp; TRL (UK). Funding source: Vauxhall Motors (UK).
· Ametropia and Ocular Biometry: Autonomic innervation of ciliary smooth muscle during sustained near vision and its relation to the onset and development of myopia; structural correlates of myopia in Caucasian and Chinese eyes and their utility in predicting its onset and development; ocular biometry of incipient presbyopia. Ocular biometric modelling of peripheral refraction.

PRIME ACTIVITIES
· Vision: Use of neuroimaging techniques to assess normal and abnormal vision, including studies on human motion perception, colour vision and infant visual development. Assessment of the site and nature of cortical dysfunction in human amblyopia using MEG and fMRI.
Main achievements: First to provide evidence using MEG that primary visual cortex is dysfunctional in human amblyopia (Anderson). First to identify visual areas activated by second-order motion using fMRI (Singh). Characterisation of the spatiotemporal and chromatic properties of visual areas V1-V5 using fMRI (Singh) and MEG (Fylan, Anderson) [RAE 96]. Provided evidence for non-geniculostriate projections to V5 (Holliday) and long-range attentional mechanisms within V1-V3 using fMRI (Singh).
Future research: MEG analysis of cross-modal interactions between the visual, auditory and motor systems. Investigate the role of gamma activity in binding complex motion signals (e.g. optic flow) within the V5/V6/MT complex. Cortical localisation of processes involved in the semantic categorisation of visual object recognition. MEG and fMRI investigations of biological motion processing in normals and high-functioning autistics.
Collaborators: Dept. Psychology, Royal Holloway (UK); Dept. Experimental Psychology, Cambridge Univ. (UK); Institute of Psychiatry (UK); Bristol Eye Hosp. (UK); McGill Vision Research Unit, McGill Univ. (Canada). Funding sources: Fight for Sight, Wellcome Trust.
· Epilepsy: Assessment of cortical dysfunction in epilepsy, including the exploration of pattern and colour as provocative stimuli in photosensitive epilepsy; assessment of visual field abnormalities in patients taking Vigabatrin. Assessment of anti-convulsant agents in photosensitive epilepsy.
Main achievements: Developed field-specific VEP as a clinical tool for assessing visual field defects in paediatric patients (including those taking Vigabatrin) (Harding) [RAE 96]. Identification of long-wavelength red as a precipitant in TV-induced seizures (Harding) [RAE 96].
Future research: Compare the site of the epileptogenic lesion with behavioural measures of visual performance in both photosensitive and occipital lobe epilepsy.
Collaborator: Birmingham Childrens' Hospital (UK). Funding sources: Aventis; GlaxoWellcome.
· Analysis techniques for human brain imaging: Development of techniques for the analysis and co-registration of MEG and fMRI data; improving source localisation using constrained modelling; developing source localisation techniques for event-related synchronised and desynchronised cortical activity; assessment of substantive changes in cognitive paradigms using MEG..
Main achievements: Utilisation of retinotopic mapping techniques in the identification and characterisation of human visual areas (Singh). Development of non-event-related time-frequency analysis of cortical function allowing higher-order cognitive function to be investigated using biomagnetic techniques (Furlong, Holliday, Singh).
Future research: Development of group analysis techniques for MEG data in the assessment of high level cortical function. Understanding of relationship between psychophysical paradigms (e.g. masking, summation, adaptation) and MEG by developing protocols for the simultaneous recording of behavioural and neuroimaging data.
Collaborators: Aston Univ. Neural Computing Res. Gp. (UK); Nottingham MRI Unit (UK); MARIARC, Univ. Liverpool (UK). Funding source: Wellcome Trust.
· Brain-gut axis: Development of techniques to examine the brain-gut axis, visceral hypersensitivity and the neurophysiology of swallowing; mapping of cortical representation of viscera.
Main achievements: First to publish detailed protocols for the use of evoked potentials in the clinical evaluation of the brain-gut axis; first use of MEG to assess cortical activation following physiological activation of the viscera (Furlong).
Future research: Mapping the cortical representation of visceral sensation. Model cortical responses due to visceral sensory hypersensitivity and its modulation by hypervigilence.
Collaborator: Dept. of Medicine, Univ. Manchester (UK). Funding source: Lord Dowding Fund.
· Cortical plasticity: Studies of visual, sensorimotor and viscerosensory cortex have enabled identification of changes within areas that may be associated with learning and/or disease processes.
Main achievement: First MEG study of the cortical representation of oesophogeal sensation (Furlong). Study of plasticity within the human viscero-topic system after stroke (Singh).
Future research: MEG investigation of cortical plasticity within early visual cortex. Assessment of cortical changes following stroke, chronic pain and phantom limb pain.
Collaborators: Dept Medicine, Univ. Manchester (UK); Manchester R. I. (UK). Funding source: Lord Dowding Fund.
· Clinically-related investigations: As an important part of our research activities, a clinical electrodiagnostic service is provided to health authorities. EEG and event-related potentials are used in the diagnosis of eplilepsy, photosensitive epilepsy, central and peripheral neuropathies, retinopathies and cortical lesions, providing a rich source of material for basic research and the development of new clinical protocols including the use of MEG and multifocal ERG.
Main achievements: Intra-operative comparison between MEG and pre-surgical assessment of 12 patients (Furlong). Longitudinal study of photosensitive epilepsy (Harding) [RAE 96].
Future research: The evaluation of MEG for pre-surgical assessment of patients, including the localisation of epileptogenic and eloquent cortex in adults and children. Study of tremor and movement disorders (e.g. essential tremor, Parkinsonian tremor, dystonias). Evaluation of multifocal ERG for the assessment of retinopathies. Evaluation of frontal lobe dysfunction following closed-head injury using MEG. Study of hemispheric language dominance in normals/schizophrenics using MEG.

PRIME ACTIVITIES
· Properties of early sensory mechanisms: Psychophysical, theoretical and computational modelling of spatial vision, colour vision and visual binding. Characterisation of the gain pool for contrast gain control. Development of masking and adaptation models for contrast gain control. Identification of conditions under which probability summation can account for facilitation in contrast detection and discrimination paradigms.
Main achievements: Elucidation of population coding mechanisms for the two-dimensional tilt after-effect (Meese). Detailed evidence that motion processing of chromatic targets is limited by a colour-opponent pathway that also conveys luminance contrast information (Anderson) [RAE 96].
Future research: Professor Mark Georgeson, an internationally recognised leader in the field of vision research, will join the group in July 2001. His appointment will greatly enhance work in the role of spatial frequency and orientation-tuned filters in relation to edge detection motion analysis and depth perception.
Collaborators: Univs. McGill (Canada) & Birmingham (UK). Funding sources: BBSRC; EPSRC; Wellcome & Leverhulme Trusts.
· Higher order processes: Neural binding (e.g. temporal oscillations), edge detection, mechanisms for optic flow.
Main achievements: Development of two image-processing models of spatial filter combination for perception of form. First to demonstrate independence of complex motion mechanisms for processing two-dimensional retinal motion. Characterisation of the direction bandwidths and other properties of the above mechanisms. Unveiling the relationship between the mathematical invariant 'def' and perception of surface slant. Identification of human brain regions close to V5 sensitive to complex motion patterns used previously in psychophysical experiments (Meese) [RAE 96].
Future research: Relation between depth cues, surface descriptions of objects, attention and information bottleneck.
Collaboration: Univ. Birmingham (UK). Funding source: Wellcome Trust.
· Visual cognition: Learning and generalisation of pattern categories; polysensory integration of information in object learning; modelling object recognition with Machine Vision techniques.
Main achievements: First to demonstrate a scale invariant superiority of foveal vision in perceptual categorisation. Development of a visualisation technique to analyse the dynamic nature of mental representations during learning. Development of a computational model providing a unified account for the learning, generalisation and context dependency of pattern categories (Juttner) [RAE 96].
Future research: Invariance properties of visual recognition; the role of attentional processes in pattern category learning.
Collaborators: Univs. Munich (Germany), Alberta (Canada), & Melbourne (Australia). Funding sources: German Research Council; Bosch Foundation.
· Clinical Psychophysics: Investigation of visual dysfunction in patients with primary open angle glaucoma. Development of visual display strategies to enable patients with macular disease to use peripheral viewing for reading.
Main achievements: Showed that sensitivity to motion targets may not be a useful indicator of neural integrity in early glaucoma. Provided evidence that normal ageing causes a significant reduction in motion sensitivity across the entire visual field (Anderson) [RAE 96]. Effect of age on spatial interval discrimination as a function of eccentricity and separation (Petre) [RAE 96].
Future research: Tests of visual performance that will be sensitive to dysfunctional changes within the magnocellular pathway of human vision. Assessment of short- and long-term visual function following treatment with foveal re-location surgery and photodynamic therapy.
Funding source: The Macular Disease Society (from Feb. 2001).

PSYCHOLOGY
MEMBERSHIP:Rippon (convener), Davies, Forde, Fylan (0.5), Green, Grunfeld, Westerman (A* out).
OBJECTIVE: To understand further the developmental and applied aspects of cognitive neuroscience, human performance and health psychology.
OPERATION: The group has four laboratories purpose built for assessments of perceptual and sensory systems, developmental dyslexia, human performance, as well as full access to the MEG/EEG imaging facilities. The laboratories contain an advanced driving simulator, virtual reality systems and specialised multiway video sound and camera observer systems for remote assessment of task behaviour.

PRIME ACTIVITIES
· Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology: Cognitive processes allied to the acquisition of reading skills and associated biological mechanisms underlying the aetiology of reading deficiency and developmental dyslexia; application of neuropsychological techniques to disorders of everyday actions (e.g. apraxias) and category specific recognition impairment.
Main achievements: Development of models of recognition impairments (agnosias); application of neuropsychological models to disorders of human action (apraxias); construction of models of cortical activity in developmental dyslexia; development of national database of psychometric profiles of developmental dyslexics (Rippon).
Future research: Application of MEG/EEG and neuropsychological techniques to investigations of cognitive sequelae of brain injury. Investigation of variations in cortical organisation and neuronal synchrony in developmental disorders such as dyslexia and autism.
Collaborators: Univs Birmingham, Oxford, Sussex & Warwick (UK). Fundings sources: British Psychological Society; Wellcome Trust; ESRC.
· Human Performance: The use of virtual environment representations of computerised textual databases; effects of noise on working memory; effects of stress, age and gender on differences in driving behaviour; effects of ageing on skill.
Main achievements: Predictive models of driver behaviour, including use of mobile 'phones and responses to stress. Role of individual differences in models of human error (Davies; Westerman).
Future research: Develop models of effects of variations of resource availability in task performance. Use of virtual environment simulations in skill training (e.g. keyhole surgery).
Collaborators: Univs. Cincinnati (USA); Hull; Leicester (UK). Funding sources: EPSRC; British Acad.
· Health Psychology: Neurophysiological and cognitive aspects of epilepsy. Adaptation to disorders of the vestibular and oculomotor systems; motion sickness. Deficits in cognitive functioning associated with nutritional dysfunction.
Main achievements: Models of interactive effects of physiological status and cognitive functioning in dietary disorders (Green); EEG assessment of photosensitive epilepsy (Fylan) [RAE 96].
Future research: Application of MEG/EEG and psychological assessment techniques to the understanding of epileptiform disorders; development of models of psychological variables associated with weight management strategies.
Collaborators: UDSA Western Human Nutrition Res. Unit (USA); Univs of Oxford, Wales, Bangor (UK); UK Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health; MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit. Funding sources: Unilever; Wellcome.

EFFECT OF A* (OUT), B AND C CATEGORY STAFF ON RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT
Seven of the 10 members of staff comprising categories A* (out) and B have taken more senior positions in other HEFCE Institutions (four to Professor/Reader). The ethos of co-operative work within the NRI has, however, meant that the majority of staff that have left continue to contribute to current projects within the NRI. The expertise of Dr Smith in the history and philosophy of neuroscience and the biology of sensory systems provides valuable scholastic support for the whole of the NRI.

2.1 Skin and Hair Follicle Biology
Prof TG Baker, Prof MLG Gardner, Dr AM Graham, Prof VA Randall, Prof KU Schallreuter, Dr AM Snelling, Prof AJ Thody, Prof JM Wood, Dr MJ Thornton, Dr DJ Tobin.
This Group investigates several areas of cutaneous function in health and disease including: skin and hair pigmentation; endocrine regulation of melanocytes and hair follicles; photobiology and antioxidant mechanisms in skin; non-invasive skin imaging; microbial and hormonal aspects of acne; the bioarcheology of skin and hair. It has expanded since 1.1.96, recruiting Prof Thody and Drs Tobin, Thornton and Snelling from well-known cutaneous research departments. With Prof Thody’s appointment, 3 of the 5 Stiefel International Pigment Cell Consortium are here (from Newcastle, Germany and USA); Prof Schallreuter holds the endowed Herbert A Stiefel Chair of Clinical and Experimental Dermatology (c £4 million). The Group also benefits from close contacts with local clinicians including Bradford plastic surgeons, Mr D Sharpe OBE, (Honorary Professor and former President, British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and Mr M Timmons, and dermatologists, Prof W Cunliffe (Leeds), Drs S Macdonald Hull (Pontefract), and A Messenger (Sheffield).

· continuously attracting externally funded overseas scientists e.g. Dr Yukitake, Dr Magerl;
· Prof Schallreuter founded and heads the Institute for Pigmentary Disorders in association with the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany for clinical research;
· a major strength is the development of novel skin cell and tissue culture methodologies;
· development of a novel in vivo, non-invasive diagnostic protocol to assess levels of hydrogen peroxide and amino-acids in skin using Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopy; this is very important for tailored therapeutic intervention for the depigmentation disorder, vitiligo;
· establishing that melanocytes are not absent from vitiligo skin. This challenge to a long-standing dogma has considerable implications for therapeutic regulation;
· the melanocortin-1 receptor was identified as a major control point in pigmentation and is being exploited as a potential treatment for pigmentation disorders (patent filed);
· identification of several sub-populations of hair follicle melanocytes and the production of a paracrine regulator, stem cell factor, by adult follicular dermal papilla cells; their roles in balding and greying follicles are under investigation;
· establishing that dermal papilla cells from follicles with different responses to androgens in vivo (growth, balding) retain their characteristics and androgen responsiveness in vitro. This is being exploited to identify androgen-dependent paracrine regulators of hair growth;
· localisation of the newly discovered second oestrogen receptor (ER beta) in skin tissues;
· establishment of an international collaboration (Australia, France, Japan, USA) investigating the genetic basis of antibiotic resistance of P. acnes in acne; A resulting paper in the British Journal of Dermatology, February ‘01 provoked a very positive editorial comment;
· the first standardisation of bioarcheological methods for degraded hair has highlighted several new caveats; this should be important for both bioarchaeology and forensic sciences;
In summary, this well-funded Group is a highly dynamic, interactive and productive team whose research has been widely published during this period.

2.2 Cancer Research
Prof D Anderson, Dr JRP Arnold, Prof TG Baker, Prof MC Bibby, Dr MH Brinkworth, Prof JA Double, Prof TC Jenkins, Dr PM Loadman, Dr SM Parkin, Dr PJ Perry, Dr RM Phillips, Dr SM Picksley.
This Group has focussed for many years on the development of new anticancer agents. It has expanded dramatically to involve 12 A/A* staff (2 also in other Groups) compared to 4 in 1.1.96. Its infrastructure has also increased extensively with major investment in new laboratories, office space and state-of-the-art equipment. These developments have been supported by both external and HEFCE funds. The range of expertise has also greatly expanded to include:
· molecular pharmacology (Dr Phillips; 2 year postdoctoral post, USC, USA) and molecular biology (Dr Picksley) enabling a more rational approach to anticancer drug development;
· medicinal chemistry (Prof Jenkins, Drs Arnold and Perry) in a drug synthesis and discovery programme using rational computer-assisted and structure-based approaches based upon NMR and solution-based biophysical techniques;
· greater ability to evaluate toxicological side effects, particularly genotoxic and male reproductive capacity effects (Prof Anderson, Dr Brinkworth);
The Group’s achievements include:
· major success in obtaining peer-reviewed funding (Grants totalling £8 million awarded 1.1.96-31.12.2000). This includes two new programme grants:
(a) Yorkshire Cancer Research, c. £1.3 million (‘99-’03) supporting Prof Jenkins, Dr Perry, a research technician and the YCR Laboratory of Drug Design;
(b) The Cancer Research Campaign, approximately £4.2 million over 5 years from 1.4.00 supporting 5 academics, 7 support staff and significant infrastructure;
· continued links with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the National Cancer Institute, USA facilitating several important projects;
· extensive collaborations in the UK, (e.g. Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham, York Universities) and abroad (Universities of Illinois, Mississippi, Seton Hall, USA, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Münster), including hosting scientists e.g. Dr Dhawan, India’s Young Scientist of the Year ‘99; Dr Schmid, Wellcome Trust Travelling Research Fellow (with Dr Brinkworth);
· identification of several potential anticancer agents for selection for Phase 1 clinical trials;
· provision of pharmacokinetic monitoring for a local drug trial leading to future roles in the CRC Phase 1 trial of a novel bioreductive agent, AQ 4N, in Leicester and Oxford;
· identification of an unique class of small molecule inhibitors of telomerase, an obligate enzyme target in all tumours, and establishment of their mechanism at the DNA level;
· initiation of key developments towards a novel chemotheraputic strategy for patients. Pioneering biophysical and synthetic methods have culminated in the selection of an extremely potent pyrolobenzodiazepine dimer, SJG-136, for clinical trial by the National Cancer Institute (with the University of Nottingham) and a novel prodrug therapy, ENACT, that controls a tumour-specific reducing enzyme through a synthetic co-substrate (with Enact-Pharma plc.);
· commercialisation of a monoclonal antibody to MDM2 via 4 firms with Dundee University;
· the filing of 9 patents on anticancer therapies.
These achievements illustrate the success of combining drug synthesis, using applied biophysical design tools including molecular modelling, with biological, pharmacological and toxicological expertise. This combination of methodologies is unique in UK academic research and will make a considerable impact on the realistic transition of new chemotheraputic agents from bench to clinic.

2.3 Pathological and Physiological Mechanisms
Prof G Alderson, Prof TG Baker, Dr JN Fletcher, Prof MLG Gardner, Dr AM Graham, Dr DJ Harrington, Dr KM Naseem, Dr IN Okeke, Dr SM Parkin, Dr AM Snelling.
This Group concentrates on understanding the molecular basis of disease processes particularly in gastrointestinal, microbial and vascular disorders. Areas include: physiological and microbial aspects of GI tract disorders, including the pathogenicity of E.coli; probiotic strategies to protect hospital patients from infection; immune mechanisms of inflammation in reperfusion injury; the role of endothelial cells, leucocytes and platelets in vascular disease states. Although this Group was affected by the promotion of Prof Alderson to Senior University Management and the difficult personal circumstances of another member of staff (see 6b), the enthusiasm of the new appointees has infused it with new dynamism. Expertise in pathogenesis of E.coli (Dr Fletcher; Dr Okeke, Career Development Lecturer, University of Maryland, USA), antibiotic resistance (Dr Snelling), Gram positive pathogens (Dr Harrington), cell signalling (Dr Graham) and platelet biology (Dr Naseem) have increased the focus on microbiological and vascular areas. These staff also frequently contribute to other Groups.
Achievements include:
· obtaining research grants of about £200K from peer-reviewed (e.g. National Heart Research Fund) and industry (e.g. W L Gore Ltd) sources;
· extensive collaboration with scientists in Britain (Leeds, Leicester, Reading, St Andrews, Strathcylde and London Universities, Bristol Heart Institute, National Heart and Lung Institute), and overseas (Milan and Würzberg Universities, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Harvard, Louisiana State and Maryland Universities);
· establishment of strong clinical links with consultant vascular surgeons at Leeds General Infirmary, particularly Miss Homer-Vanniasinkam. Miss Homer-Vanniasinkam’s research contribution and standing was recognised by an Honorary Professor appointment in ‘98;
· development of a European collaboration (8 groups; 5 countries) to develop probiotic strategies to protect hospital patients from infection by antibiotic resistant pathogens;
· investigation of new treatments for ulcerative colitis with Leeds General Infirmary involving antibiotics followed by probiotic E.coli; this approach is being applied to Crohn’s disease;
· characterisation of E.coli strains causing childhood diarrhoea in Nigeria;
· relating peptide absorption from the gastrointestinal tract to autism;
· establishing genomic and phenomic differentiation of Rhodococcus equi strains involved in respiratory infections;
· characterisation of novel models of inflammation using primary cultures of human endothelial cells in static and flow conditions to investigate the molecular mechanisms of endothelial activation in response to stress e.g. hypoxia;
· demonstration of protein nitration in platelets in a normal physiological process, challenging the dogma that this is only a pathological mechanism.
These achievements demonstrate that this Group has expanded and refocused successfully in important directions; these should bear even greater fruit in the future.

3. STAFFING POLICY
3.1 Development and Support of Staff Many mechanisms support and develop staff in their research. Workload calculations inform wider School duty allocation and research achievements and goals are important aspects of the Staff Development and Appraisal Scheme for established staff. Intellectual and practical support is provided by Group members and cross-Group/discipline exchanges via the regular programmes. Staff can bring any matters to the Research Steering Group and are regularly invited to submit equipment requests etc. Experienced staff offer individual assistance with grant preparation etc.; Postgraduate Tutors provide support with student supervision. There is an active University Staff Development Programme, e.g. Research Supervision Workshops, and the Research Office assists with funding sources, costings and contractual aspects of grant applications. Staff are encouraged to present their research at conferences; time, and usually financial support, are made available. General laboratory and computer technical support, plus some for specific small projects, are provided from HEFCE funds. Some PhD studentships are offered on a competitive basis by the University/School and consumable costs are also available.

4. SELF ASSESSMENT
RA1 The School of Life Sciences is very active in the Biomedical Sciences area with 25.8 out of 29.4 FTE entered; the others all contribute actively (RA6c). RA0 shows that Biomedical Sciences, particularly Cancer Research, has good research support (23.5 FTE); in addition to research assistants allocated in RA1, a further 17 FTE experimental officers and technicians are employed on research contracts, 3.5 technicians on general funds and there are two Honorary Visiting International Research Fellows. Biomedical Sciences Research has grown extensively since 1.1.96 with 17 staff recruited from prestigious institutions in Britain and overseas. Recruitment at all levels from a Professor from Newcastle Medical School to young post-docs taking up their first appointment has produced a very healthy age and experience profile, extending our expertise and increasing the vibrancy of our research culture. The high research standing of many staff can be seen by 11 having attained Professorial status. Our strong research culture is also apparent in the number of academics employed on external funds i.e. full time researchers.
RA2 Staff publish actively in high quality, peer reviewed journals with an international readership. These include prestigious general journals such as Science, The Lancet or the foremost specialist journals e.g. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, British Journal of Dermatology, Oncogene, Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, Journal of American Chemical Society, Mutation Research, Journal of Clinical Microbiology or Infection and Immunity. The mean impact factor for the refereed papers in RA2 is 4. Three staff have included full papers published in conference proceedings due to their difficult personal circumstances (RA6b). Our papers regularly receive international attention resulting in frequent invitations to present the research at international conferences, to edit or contribute to research books etc. (RA6a).
RA3 Staff are actively engaged in developing new scientists by research student supervision. Funding comes from a range of sources, e.g. the BBSRC, Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship scheme, research charities and industry; several overseas students are also funding themselves. Our students frequently gain post-docs in international research groups e.g. Harvard and Louisana State Medical Schools, ICRF Laboratories, Oxford. Many staff have not yet had time to obtain students here, but 6 staff have supervised 9 students registered in other institutions.
RA4 We are also highly successful at attracting substantial research income (total spend over £5.75 million). This shows significant trends to increase in line with staff expansion. Research has been funded by project and programme grants from peer-reviewed, competitive sources such as the Research Councils and Research Charities, e.g. the Wellcome Trust; our cancer research has been recognised by the prestigious awards of the YCR Chair in Drug Design and a major CRC programme grant. In addition, our applied research is extensively funded by British and international industry. About a third of our funding is from overseas demonstrating the international recognition of our research.

The School enjoys a high profile in the areas of its three research groups:
· Chronic illness (including chronic physical illness and mental health)
· Family and child
· Health policy

By grouping research around these clear themes involving the full range of cognate disciplines, an exciting blend of social and clinical science is brought to bear on the development of innovative research in each area. Thus for example within chronic illness, clinical and social scientists work in collaboration to advance understanding of the pattern and origins of musculoskeletal disorders and of their impact upon individual well-being and health service resource utilisation. Similarly there is an integration of clinical psychology, community paediatrics and health economics that allows us to consider the health of children and their parents within the psychological, social and economic contexts in which they live. Though many staff are only recently appointed (see RA1) the strategic fit of these staff within the three research groups is excellent.

Chronic Illness: (Group members: Pearce, Harvey, Hart, Koutantji, Reynolds, Fowler, Shepstone, Mugford, Leinster, Adams, Scott, Harrison, Johnson, Fairweather-Tait)
This research addresses several of the major chronic disease problems of the developed world, in particular musculoskeletal, respiratory, gastrointestinal and mental illness.

Chronic Physical Illness:
Attention here is focused on selected chronic physical health problems that are economically, physically, and psychologically debilitating for individuals and which have a significant impact on overall public health. Research into musculoskeletal disease brings together researchers from the disciplines of clinical and health psychology (Pearce, Koutantji), statistics and image analysis (Shepstone), clinical rheumatological epidemiology (Scott), and health economics (Mugford). Achievements of this group include important research into the psychological mechanisms modulating pain perception and the maintenance of chronic pain in rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis, innovative descriptive accounts of the patterns of resource utilisation among sufferers from early inflammatory polyarthritis, and the descriptive and aetiological study of both rheumatoid arthritis and the vasculitides. Epidemiological advances have been facilitated through the collaborative development with the Manchester – based ARC Research Unit of a unique primary-care originated disease register, NOAR (the Norfolk Arthritis Register), which takes full advantage of the stable local population (Scott). Shepstone is developing new statistical approaches to the quantitative characterisation and analysis of joint morphology and its role in the origins of osteoarthrosis, involving collaboration with groups in both the UK and USA.
Harvey has undertaken both evaluative and aetiological research into common causes of morbidity (serous otitis media and skin cancer) which have been published in the Lancet and British Journal of Cancer. With Holland (see RA6c, recently awarded a MRC Health Services Research Training Fellowship) he is further developing evaluative research into methods to enhance medication concordance among the frail elderly.
Other key areas of research activity include severe asthma, and lower gastrointestinal disease (cancer and inflammatory bowel disease). The collaboration of physicians and psychologists has identified psychosocial risk factors for poor control (Adams) and hospital admission in asthma. Currently funded research (£180K from the British Lung Foundation) is evaluating the cost effectiveness of an innovative, nurse-led package to develop coping skills in such patients (Harrison, Koutantji, Mugford, Shepstone). Hart’s research has focussed upon compliance and other issues concerning screening for large bowel cancer. He has already secured further funding to investigate, in collaboration with the EPIC cohort research group in Cambridge, the influence of dietary factors upon the incidence of both colorectal cancers and gall bladder disease. Johnson’s research has provided important knowledge about the possible effect of dietary factors (iron, polyunsaturated fatty acids) upon large bowel biochemistry and pathology. The recent appointment of Leinster (moving from the Dept of Surgery at Liverpool University) significantly extends the University’s research interest in the psychosocial aspects of disease into the areas of breast cancer and the effect on patient outcomes of new strategies for student learning.
Mental health:
This activity encompasses the main areas outlined in the 1999 National Service Framework for mental health. Our research includes innovative research relevant to mental health promotion at work (Reynolds) and mental health concerns of vulnerable and socially excluded people (Henwood). Reynold’s work in this area has demonstrated that brief counselling is more effective than organisational change in terms of improving mental health at work. Henwood has demonstrated that relational well being at work can usefully be informed by psycho-social theories of difference (such as gender theory). Harvey’s publications in the BMJ and British Journal of General Practice describe the results of randomised trials of a number of interventions for mental health in primary care. His research indicates that counselling for mental health problems in primary care - commonly advocated as a superior alternative to medical care for a wide range of problems - is no more effective than usual GP care, though fractionally cheaper.
Within secondary care, Fowler is a pioneer in the area of severe mental illness, especially the evaluation of cognitive behavioural interventions in psychosis. His collaborative work with colleagues in London has resulted in important evidence of the efficacy of cognitive therapy for psychosis. This research has recently been furthered by an award of £1.5 million from the Wellcome Trust to develop a multicentre trial of cognitive therapy for people with chronic schizophrenia. Reynolds’ randomised controlled trial of psychotherapy for depression demonstrates a clear dose-effect relationship between treatment duration and therapeutic effect in psychotherapy and an important interaction between severity of depression and treatment duration.

Family and Child: (Mugford, Reading, Fairweather-Tait, Mastroyannopoulou, Koutantji, Hipwell)
This research group brings together the cognate disciplines of clinical and health psychology (Mastroyannopoulou, Hipwell, Koutantji), health economics (Mugford), nutrition (Fairweather-Tait), and community child health (Reading).
Mugford and Hipwell have made important contributions to research relating to the ante/neonatal and postnatal periods respectively. Mugford has, for example, been responsible for economic evaluations in antenatal and neonatal care, including new and expensive technologies such as Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) (£86K from the NHS R&D HTA programme) and that conducted alongside the World Health Organisation trial of antenatal care in 4 middle-income countries (funded by the UK Department for International Development). In addition, she has contributed significantly in collaboration with colleagues in the UK and Canada, to the methodological development of systematic review methods in health economics. Hipwell’s research has focused on the key issue of the impact of maternal depression on the short and medium term psychological and social development of children.
Reading in collaboration with Haynes (medical geographer at UEA, School of Environmental Sciences) has conducted research allowing an assessment of the influence of neighbourhood as well as individual risk factors upon the occurrence of childhood accidents. Fairweather-Tate has made an internationally recognised contribution in the area of nutrition in children (see RA 6). In particular she has elucidated factors critical in determining iron status in infants and has investigated the influence of iron status on cognitive development.
Psychological studies of the effects of chronic pain in children provide a direct link between this research group and the research of the chronic illness group. Koutantji and Mastroyannopolou are the main contributors to this topic. Mastroyannopolou has researched the effects of childhood chronic illness on children, their parents and their siblings. Koutantji’s work with children in pain complements her work with adult pain patients and has extended our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in children’s adjustment to pain.
Mugford and Reading, together with Harvey and Shepstone are co-investigators in a £400K Department of Health funded project to evaluate the implementation and impact of a national public health initiative to establish Breakfast Clubs in primary and secondary schools. This presents a rare opportunity to contribute, using randomised trial methods, to the sparse international literature concerning the effectiveness of interventions aimed explicitly at the reduction of social class inequalities in health.

Health Policy: (Blaxter, Salter, Smith, Cookson, Henwood)
Within health policy research there are two main strands of interests relating to the important areas of variations in health (socioeconomic and other) and to decision making in health.

Variations in health:
There is a range of innovative research activity in relation to socio-economic and other sources of variations in health. Blaxter’s outputs in particular reflect her international reputation for her work in this area and for her promotion of multiple methodologies. She is conducting both theoretical and empirical research on the relationship between the concept of social capital and population health (£50K from the Health Development Agency). Blaxter’s contribution is complemented by Henwood’s research on the usefulness of qualitative methods in psychology and ways of addressing social exclusion in relation to race and gender. Smith has researched the effects of physical disability upon social exclusion whilst Cookson has focussed especially upon issues of equity in health. He is also co-founder of the UK Health Equity Network (500 members) which is financially supported by the Nuffield Trust and King’s Fund.
Decision making in health:
The contribution of the social sciences to understanding of decision making in relation to health is a critical element of research within the School. This research operates at a number of different levels. For example, Salter has made important contributions to the understanding of the politics of health and in particular to issues of governance and public trust in health services. He has recently secured £150K from the ESRC to further this research and extend it into the arena of public health genetics.
Researchers with backgrounds in health economics have contributed to theoretical and methodological advances in our understanding of how the public and health professional value different health care states and interventions (Smith). Cookson has developed new methods for setting economic values on life and health in different policy contexts and undertaken innovative research on the differences between public views on priority setting in health care before and after focus group discussion. He has recently been involved in ASTEC, a major EU funded project comparing evidence-based health care policy across EU member states. Henwood has undertaken research that has clearly identified the amplification of health risks in scientist – public communication as a major issue in contemporary health risk research. This issue now represents a significant strand of forthcoming research on public understanding of science and risk to be undertaken within UEA’s Centre for Environmental Risk, in which Henwood is collaborating. The Centre has recently secured a major grant worth £1.3M from the Leverhulme Trust.

Promoting an active research culture
The School’s structure and administrative arrangements have been developed to support our rapidly growing research activities. We have set out to attract top calibre staff with the capacity to contribute both to the development of their own discipline, and to the complex, multi-disciplinary needs of health systems internationally. Staff are encouraged to maintain active research collaborations with external researchers.
Within the School all staff are supported within one of four administrative groups, broadly based on academic discipline (Clinical and Health Psychology, Population Health Sciences, Health Economics and Biomedical Sciences). This provides peer professional support within a critical mass and helps promote a disciplinary awareness of the School across the wider academic community nationally and internationally. Category C staff are fully integrated into this structure. Adams (Dean of the School), Scott, Harrison and Reading are NHS employed staff who all have dedicated research time within the School. Johnson and Fairweather-Tait are employed by the BBSRC funded Institute of Food Research which is located on the Norwich Research Park adjacent to the University. They collaborate with, and hold some of their research income within the School.
Research activity is promoted, supported and monitored, by the School Research Committee (Chair: Harvey), which sets targets for and reviews research income, studentship numbers, research outputs and research training needs. The Research Committee is efficiently supported by a Research Coordinator (Southon), whose role is to identify research funding opportunities and assist staff in identifying collaborators and developing bids. There is also excellent computing (Sahota) and statistical expertise (Shepstone, Humphries). We provide a supportive and stimulating environment for young, talented researchers and have been particularly successful in supporting new members of academic staff (Charlesworth, Holland (see RA6c), Shepstone, Koutantji and Mastroyannopolou) in advancing their careers through publishing and attracting grant income. We encourage exchange of research ideas at all levels and support this with a successful Health Seminar programme, a programme of regular informal research meetings (at which PhD students and Research Associates are encouraged to present), and with several focused research groups, in particular the Musculoskeletal (Shepstone) and Respiratory (Harrison with Jones from School of Environmental Science) Research Groups which hold 3 monthly research colloquia.
The School invests in obtaining funding for and supervising higher degree students. The School hosts the Regional Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology on which 60 students are currently registered and which leads to the award of the research degree of ClinPsyD. In addition there is a growing number of PhD and MD students. Our MSc in Health Sciences provides over 30 modules from which higher degree students can select those appropriate to their research training needs. The School also hosts two important research advisory functions – the Research and Development Support Group (RDSG) for NHS and university staff and the Suffolk and Norfolk Primary Care Research Network (SuNet), each of which has a full time research advisor. These researchers, funded by the NHS R&D programme, facilitate important links with NHS staff throughout the Region enabling HPP staff to encourage those wishing to embark upon a higher degree programme or develop as autonomous researchers. Our policies have already brought significant rewards. Two of our staff were trained on the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programme (Hipwell, Charlesworth (see RA6c)), and four staff previously working in the NHS have joined us having obtained highly competitive research training Fellowships (1 from MRC, 1 from the National NHS Primary Care Award Scheme and two from Regional R&D).

Staffing Policy
Two key principles facilitate the development and support of individual research staff. The first of these is the value we place on individual career development. All staff have a regular formative appraisal programme that aims to identify individual needs and integrate individual ambitions with those of the School. All new academic staff have an academic mentor as well as a line manager. The School has adopted the MRC/HEFCE concordat on the employment of contract research staff. We encourage all pre-doctoral staff to register for higher degrees.
The second key principle is to distinguish clearly between staff with a primary role in teaching and those who are expected to undertake both teaching and research. Selective appointments of teaching-only staff on non-academic scales have accordingly been made in order to support major teaching programmes and relieve teaching load on staff who are expected to be research active.
The integration of Category C staff (Scott, Harrison, Reading, Adams, Fairweather-Tait, Johnson) is achieved by the provision of shared facilities, the appointment of shared posts and the instigation of joint research. Adams indeed is the current Dean of the School. Two research training fellows, three research associates and 6 MD students are jointly supervised by Category A and C staff. Office space is made available for category C staff in the University and for University staff in both the IFR and the N&N Trust.
A number of staff have been promoted to posts elsewhere during the period since the last RAE. Appleby left in December 1998 to become Director of the Health Systems Programme at the Kings Fund in London and Langford to become Senior Research Associate in the School of Environmental Sciences at UEA. Croxson was appointed to a Research Fellowship in health economics at the Institute of Child Health, London. Successful appointments to a Chair and two senior lectureships in Health Economics (Mugford, Smith, Cookson) mean that health economics has been substantially strengthened in HPP despite these departures. Salter, with a background in political science, appointed to a Chair in Health Services Research, has significantly augmented the Health Policy research group. Likewise appointments to a Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health (Harvey), Clinical Senior Lectureship in Epidemiology of Digestive Disease (Hart) and a lectureship in Biostatistics (Shepstone) have strengthened Population Health Sciences despite the departure of Langford. The appointments of Blaxter (Chair in Medical Sociology) and Henwood (Senior lectureship in clinical and health psychology) have added significantly to the qualitative research capacity within HPP. Leinster (Cat A^* appointed Jan 2001) will contribute to research at the interface between surgical breast disease and psychological factors.

Neuro-musculo-skeletal Therapy: (core members: Jerosch-Herold, Stephenson and Watson) This group is exploring concepts in pain, sensibility and motor behaviour which are increasingly recognised as important to understand, assess and address clinical and functional aspects of disability prevention and rehabilitation. It is coordinated by Watson whose innovative output on patterns of recovery in neurotrauma supports his doctoral studies and builds on collaboration with colleagues from his earlier MRC research at the University of Southampton. Jerosch-Herold is continuing her research on clinical methods for assessing hand sensation after nerve injury with support from the Elizabeth Casson Trust for occupational therapists. She has established two joint research projects, the first to assess the responsiveness of the Shape Texture Identification^TM test and the second, with Rosen, Lundborg and Dahlin (University of Lund), to assess the use of a grating orientation test in measuring outcomes after carpal tunnel release. Stephenson’s exploration of applications of neuroplasticity and concepts of pain in physiotherapy underpins his doctoral studies. With OPT colleagues, he is assessing the use of interferential equipment to treat pain and, with clinical colleagues, the significance of the incidence of alexithymia. This group has now attracted three new researchers and four postgraduate research students who are already presenting at international conferences and gaining research funding.

The Development of Practice in Health: (core members: Poland, Richardson, Spalding and Steward) This group brings together research efforts to examine influences on the development of practice across a range of health interests. The group is coordinated by Richardson. She has gained widespread recognition for her research on physiotherapy paradigms and professional knowledge development as well as in the applied ergonomics of back care. She leads an OPT team working with Lindquist and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, on a longitudinal cohort study of the socialisation of physiotherapy and occupational therapy students. Howard has published on the early progression of therapy students with non-traditional academic experience. Steward, and Atkinson (OPT until May 2000) are undertaking a ten year longitudinal study of new practitioners and also have a research project on the fieldwork triad of student, clinician and tutor. Spalding’s ongoing doctoral research explores the development of patient-centred pre-operative information; and her longitudinal study of the post-qualification learning experiences of occupational therapy students has already led to publications. Spalding and Chia have led collaborations on the development and delivery of Continuing Professional Development initiatives, which have included Lambert’s work on the uses of information technology to build therapy evidence bases from clinical findings. Jerosch-Herold’s links with German occupational therapists have led to an edited book series with Springer-Verlag which is having a continuing impact on the development of empirical literature in occupational therapy in German-speaking countries. Poland came to UEA in 1998 with a sociology background in care-enabling work and in research practices. From 1996, while at the University of Wales, Bangor, she completed funded research projects exploring multi-disciplinary, multi-sector joint working in health, especially in the community care of older people. She led research teams mapping influences on national professional progression including library and information occupations, health care professions and an evaluation of the role of the Welsh National Board for Nursing and Midwifery. She supervised the successful doctoral thesis of Kent (University of Wales, Bangor) which explored professional roles in organ and tissue donation and which was funded by the Welsh Office NHS R&D programme. At UEA she has collaborated on a national research study of pharmacists’ training needs, and on a study of reflective practices in multidisciplinary rehabilitation. She also leads an evaluation of a project on managing the multidisciplinary demands on the orthopaedic services in Suffolk. With Blaxter (HPP) she was commissioned by the HEA/HDA to study older peoples' understandings of social capital and health. Steward’s completed DoH-funded doctoral research on the implications of teleworking for health has generated wider research collaborations in occupational health. One is with Spinks (Science University of Tokyo) and the other, on disabled employment opportunities in virtual workplaces, is with the Association of Occupational Therapists in Japan and Bellaby (Institute of Public Health, University of Salford). Lambert has completed an interdisciplinary paper on organisational anxiety, with Baruch (MGT). This group has attracted three postgraduate research students and three new researchers.

1.b. Promoting Research

The development of research is integral to the activities of the School. Lecturers are expected to engage in research and to promote the School’s lead in specialisms in therapies research. The School's research activities are monitored through the Dean’s annual meetings with each member of faculty, through the annual appraisal process and through theme group reports to the School's Research Committee. The activities are managed by the School Research Committee (which maintains a strategic overview) and by the Senior Lecturer in Therapy Research who directs the research programme. Teaching workloads are arranged to allow staff weekly research time and more extended periods of study leave for research training. In 1999 these arrangements enabled Steward to complete her doctorate. Research project development teams are set up drawing on interdisciplinary and inter-School expertise to design projects and pursue external funding. This takes advantage of the School’s membership of the University’s Health and Professional Group of Schools which has an active policy, supported by top-sliced funds, of encouraging collaborative research between its profession-based Schools.

Research support resources are provided to support the research activities of faculty. For example, research assistant support was secured to pump prime seven pilot research projects in 1999-2000. Staff and students have access to specialist research support staff to help seek resources for study leave, research training or project development. A Research Programme Secretary has been appointed in the School and a Health Research Coordinator has been appointed jointly with HPP, NAM and EDU. The latter post combines University and School strategic investment to generate funded research, especially interdisciplinary research. The School is jointly establishing a medical statistics post with HPP to support research funding proposals and projects. School funding is available for regular contacts with well-recognised researchers to promote collaborative research such as Jerosch-Herold’s links with researchers in hand surgery at the University of Lund.

Research training is provided year-round through MSc modules, inter-School seminars and workshops series and occasional School workshops. New staff are encouraged to register for higher degrees or to attend research methods classes as visiting students.

1.c. Research Infrastructure

The School has excellent physical resources including its award-winning, purpose-built base in The Queen’s Building. Faculty have office-based IT facilities. Research students have a dedicated room with desk-space and computer facilities. Staff and students have access to a computer laboratory and 11 dedicated practical rooms with a wide range of specialist equipment and clinical facilities. The School has two full-time technician posts – one a computer technician and the other supporting audiovisual aids and anatomy and supervised by Shutt who has nationally-recognised expertise in therapies-related IT. Students and staff have access to the University’s computing facilities and to courses on computer-assisted data management and information retrieval. The School has a Resource Room with specialist physical and on-line access to both clinical and research resources for occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Specialist research equipment includes a multi-sensory environment; Kin-Com for measuring movement resistance; electromyograph for measuring electrical activity in muscles; and a spinal mobilisation simulator.

Research Training:
The School has laid good foundations for developing its research student programme. This is based on a fourfold strategy of establishing a system of joint supervisory support, expanding research supervision capacity, securing University and School investment in studentships and undertaking wide-ranging student recruitment.
Joint supervisory support: Eight faculty are now involved in the co-supervision of MPhil and PhD degree students with an innovatory combination of individual, panel and seminar-based interdisciplinary supervision. This system draws on expertise in the other Health Schools where appropriate and provides support both for the students and for new supervisors. In addition, Richardson, who coordinates the postgraduate research programme, gained a UEA Teaching and Learning Fellowship with Neil Cooper (NAM) to develop a web-based interactive support network for postgraduate research students.
Expanding research supervision capacity: Three faculty now have doctorates, with two more due to complete by Dec 2001. Three more have registered for doctorates and a further six are developing projects for doctoral programmes. Research training is enhanced by research methods modules.
Investment in studentships: University investment has provided a full-time research studentship and a clinician-supportive part-time studentship, both in occupational therapy. School funds have been used to support two research studentships in partnership with external NHS development funding at James Paget Hospital (current) and at Papworth Hospital (2001-02).
Postgraduate student recruitment: There are now ten PhD students, including two full time students. One has now completed and three more are on course to complete in the 2000-01 academic year.
The School contributes to a fortnightly inter-disciplinary, programme of health research seminars, both formal and informal, across the Health Schools. Faculty are prominent in organising and participating in programmes of research development events in clinicians’ special interest groups including primary care, mental health and neuro-rehabilitation. For instance, the successful UEA-based regional Musculoskeletal Research Group built on School faculty research development with clinicians. School members have had access to the interdisciplinary Summer Schools at the University of Wales, Bangor on advanced research publishing.
The quality of research students’ work is reflected in their early success in gaining external funding and competitive awards to support their studies and in research posts: Mohseni-Bandpei has gained a post-doctoral research post within the School; and Rhys-Williams is Research Director at Oxford Brookes University.

Collaborations:
The School’s approach to research development is integrated with the clinical and professional needs of therapists and of the services in which they work. Most School research projects, including postgraduate work, have been grounded in cooperation with public health and social care services, voluntary and self-help groups, health professional special interest groups and health care technology businesses. Examples include Stewart's work with Havering Social Services Department to evaluate the effectiveness of paediatric occupational therapy services; Richardson’s leadership of a trial of physiotherapy assessment in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital Accident and Emergency service; and Lambert’s trial of occupational therapy-led lifestyle treatment of panic disorder. The latter is particularly notable for the breadth of its collaboration, which involves OPT, HPP, two community Health Trusts in Norfolk and Suffolk, a GP practice in Ipswich and Barking and Havering Health Authority. Howard has conducted a research-based review of the paediatric service of a community health NHS Trust. Poland’s participative community-based research continues with evaluations of two pilot projects on disseminating research information to disadvantaged community groups, UK-wide and in London, undertaken in conjunction with the Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector. Stewart’s partnership with the Great Yarmouth Joint Occupational Therapists project involves clinicians in Norfolk Social Services and three NHS organisations in an evaluation of an occupational therapy initiative to address community needs. Richardson’s published research on the risk assessment of manual handling in the workplace arose from joint work with occupational health physiotherapists and physicians (AR Jones and A Cockcroft) at the Royal Free Hospital. Poland is supervising the doctoral project of Anne Squire at the University of Wales, Bangor, which addresses the community health promotion needs of older people in Romania with Help Age International. Watson’s work on recovery in neurotrauma has generated links with the School of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney. Chia is undertaking a comparative validation of paediatric occupational therapy assessment in UK and Hong Kong populations with Chow (Polytechnic University of Hong Kong). Richardson is working on a five year longitudinal extension to her doctoral study of physiotherapy students’ understanding of their profession, with Arbrant (University of Linköping, Sweden). With Higgs (University of Sydney) she is developing the epistemology of practice.

Dissemination and Training:
The School is committed to developing a professional evidence base within the wider community of clinical practitioners. Faculty, new researchers and postgraduate research students have been prominent, often by invitation, at health professional research conferences, including all the Annual Conferences of the College of Occupational Therapists and all the Annual Congresses of the Chartered Society for Physiotherapy between 1996 and 2000. Other conferences attended include: the regular conferences of health professional specialist groups such as the Occupational Therapy Special Interest Group - Learning Disabilities, 1997 (Chia); the National Conference on Mental Health Innovations, London 1997 (Lambert); the Neuropharmacology Conference for the Forum of European Neuroscience in Berlin 1998 (Stephenson); the National Association of Paediatric Occupational Therapists in 1996 and 1998 (Chia) 1999 (Howard); the British Association of Hand Therapists and the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, 1999 (Jerosch-Herold); and four staff and student papers (including Watson) at the Annual Congress, 2000 of the Chartered Society for Physiotherapy.

In addition staff are encouraged to disseminate their work in fields other than health. This enriches our understanding and promotion of interdisciplinary knowledge building and multidisciplinary clinical practice. For example, Richardson has presented her work on developing professional knowledge at the British Educational Research Association Annual (BERA) Conference in 1996 and 1997, her attendance supported through the Churchill Livingstone Fund. Spalding presented at the BERA Annual Conference in 1998. Faculty have also presented papers at the Annual Conferences of the British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group in 1996 (Poland), 1997 and 1998 (Poland and Steward); the National Association for Special Education 1999 (Chia); the Dyspraxia Foundation 1999 (Chia); and the ESRC Conference Virtual Society? Get Real! at Brunel University in 2000 (Steward). Lambert presented a joint paper applying a concept of organizational anxiety in organization theory with Baruch (MGT) to the 4^th International Conference on Organizational Discourse: Word-views, Work-views and World-views (2000).

Such funding success confirms the rapid development of the School’s research profile since its foundation in 1990 at a time when the therapy professions nationally were taking their first steps into a research culture. Starting with a small core of research-experienced faculty in 1990, the School has now established strong research leadership in all theme domains with expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The growing team of new researchers will have further impact on the field in the next five years.

1) Pathobiological Sciences
· Disease Susceptibility and Cellular Responses. Foundation of one of the few interdisciplinary collaborations in the world that can predict the osteolytic potential of bearing materials and whose work impacts directly on developments in the orthopaedic industry and clinical practice (Ingham with Fisher, UoA30).
· Molecular Epidemiology and Infection. Provision of a unique research-led molecular epidemiology service for the diagnosis of fungal infections (Evans). Generation and use of molecular tools to analyse genetic variation in pathogens and to map host susceptibility alleles (Shaw) and consequent identification of novel mechanisms of transmission in nosocomial (Heritage, Kerr) and parasitic (Smith) infections.
· Control and Chemotherapy. Elucidation of novel mechanisms of antibiotic resistance (Cove) and identification of antibiotic therapy as a major driver of resistance in the community (Eady). Development of a novel therapy for skin disease in partnership with industry (Holland).
2) Reproductive Biomedicine
· Handyside co-founded the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) Consortium and now leads the first UK regional centre, based at the Assisted Conception Unit, Leeds General Infirmary (LGI). This links basic research with clinical practice, developing assisted reproductive technologies for infertility treatment.

RESEARCH OUTPUT
Staff published over 200 peer reviewed journal articles (including Nature, Nature Genetics, Trends in Genetics and Clinical Microbiology Reviews), 34 invited reviews or leading articles and 20 book chapters. Research was disseminated through 31 national and 114 international invited conference presentations and over 70 national and 250 international conference abstracts.

Funding from charities, research councils, UK government, EU and industry resulted in 70 grants greater than 50k, with a total spend of 5.7M. Income increased by 50% during the period, with significant increases in EU and UK government funding. Grants worth more than 2.5M have been awarded since 1/1/00, with significant increases in research council and Wellcome Trust funding.

Included in 25 recent awards are a Wellcome Trust Programme grant to Thomas (655k with Phillips, UoA14), Wellcome Trust grants to Adams (120k) and Gawler (140k with Wray, UoA7) the first EPSRC Platform grant (348k) and a Depuy Technology Partnership Award (408k) to Ingham (with Fisher, UoA30) and 3 JREI awards. An MRC Link grant (720k; 50% from industry) was awarded to Killington (with GlaxoSmithKline, Imperial and Rowlands, UoA14), an MRC Co-operative award to Kerr (250k with UoAs 4&14) and a NERC grant to Smith (189k with Dunn, UoA14). Nineteen members will hold at least one award of more than 50k on the census date.

An extensive network of collaborators includes scientists/clinicians from 21 national institutes and 19 international institutes in 15 countries (eg. CDC Atlanta, Yale, Max Planck, Cologne, Federal Universade de Rio). Members hold 24 industrial consultancies, edit 18 journals, reviewed 390 journal manuscripts in over 75 journals and sit on 14 national and 11 international scientific committees. They advise UK government, EU legislative and international agencies and contributed to public awareness of science via workshops, lectures, open days and TV programmes.

RESEARCH GROUPS, THEIR ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

1) Pathobiological Sciences
Members: Adams (DA), Agnew (AA), Cove (JC), Eady (AE), Evans (GE), Gawler (DG), Heritage (JH), Holland (KH), Hollingdale (MH), Ingham (EI), Kerr (KK), Killington (RK), McConkey (GM), Shaw (MS), Smith (JS), Thomas (CT), Wood (EW).
Associates: UoA1, UoA2, UoA3, UoA4, UoA7, UoA14, UoA28, UoA30.
Prime activities of the group and how it operates. Recent re-organisation within the FBS led to re-configuration of research groupings in recognition of core research interests. Current research in Pathobiological Sciences is organised into three complementary themes, chosen to build upon pre-existing strengths, but more importantly to reflect future priorities with respect to the delivery of healthcare in the UK and the third world. The promotion of Ingham to a Chair in 2000 for her research excellence was partly in recognition of her lead role in shaping and steering future direction of the group. The total output of each returnee typically spans two or more themes and contains both basic and applied components. All members participated in at least one project involving collaborators from elsewhere in the UK or abroad. Over half the members were involved in one or more collaborative projects with an international pharmaceutical or healthcare company, while the majority of staff had at least one selected output involving patients, clinicians, or that had direct implications for these two user groups.

Research Highlights During the RAE Period
Disease susceptibility and cellular responses. Cell differentiation, activation and proliferation in health and disease is a central theme underlying studies on chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, tissue engineering and oncogenesis. Ingham and Shaw study chronic inflammatory processes. Ingham with Fisher (UoA30) identified processes involved in inflammation mediated by TNFa leading to biological failure of prosthetic hip joints by defining the characteristics of wear particle macrophage interactions (EI2). This led to the development of novel bearing couples (J. Biomechanics, in press) with minimal osteolytic potential and provided a means of identifying individuals at risk of implant loosening. Shaw identified the macrophage resistance gene NRAMP1 as a rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility locus (MS4). Her most recent studies have shown association with both TNF and HLA class II alleles and resistance to leprosy (Genes and Immunity, in press). Ingham’s collaboration with Fisher extends into the tissue engineering field. Their EPSRC Platform grant funds development of a biomechanically interactive three dimensional tissue model to study the pathology of implant/bone interface. An award from the Yorkshire Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (248k) will enable the engineering of living heart valves. With Selby (UoA3, St James’ Hospital), she discovered that platelets release vascular endothelial growth factor, an observation with implications for wound healing and tumour metastasis (EI4). Wood showed that matrix metallo-proteinases play an important role in collagen lattice contraction during the final stage of wound healing, when granulation tissue is formed (EW1), an observation with implications for the construction of engineered tissues. He found that increased synthesis of key stress proteins (Hsp72 & 90) is not induced in keratinocyte monolayers by phototherapy, despite a 5^oC rise in temperature (EW2&3). He also demonstrated that a novel retinoid for the treatment of skin cancer, [4-(N-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide], induces apoptosis in cultured human keratinocytes (Cancer Invest, in press). Gawler studies Ras genes, mutated forms of which are often found in gastrointestinal tumours resulting in an uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Her studies on protein-protein interactions mediated by a Ca2+ responsive structural domain (C2) identified a novel protein complex containing both an activator and an inhibitor of Ras p21 (DG1&4 with Walker, UoA14 and Moss, UCL). The site where the C2 domain interacts with the tumour suppressor, annexin VI, was mapped (DG2) and co-crystallisation of the two proteins is being attempted with Becker (Max Planck Institute for Biophysics). With Selby (UoA3), Ingham showed that recombinant glycosylated IL-6 administered subcutaneously, in patients with advanced cancer, exhibits a wide range of immunomodulatory effects on T cells including some notably different from those observed in patients given the non-glycosylated form (EI3).

Molecular epidemiology and Infection. Research centres on the generation and use of molecular probes for population level studies, on the genetic basis of disease and on parallel evaluation of mechanisms of colonisation, transmission and virulence. Studies on nosocomial infections are pursued through direct involvement with diagnostic services and interaction with clinicians, while an international network of collaborations supports studies of parasitic disease. Evans studies the epidemiology of fungal infections in normal and immunocompromised hosts. With Jackson (Aberystwyth), he developed a novel molecular method for strain identification of Trichophyton rubrum (the commonest cause of human dermatophyte infections, GE3&4) and with Hay (St Thomas’) a serodiagnostic method for Penicillium marneffei infections in AIDS patients (GE2). Heritage has one of the few laboratories with expertise in Acinetobacter spp despite the growing importance of these organisms as multiply resistant nosocomial pathogens. With Hawkey (UoA14) he discovered that Acinetobacter spp withstand desiccation; this is highly unusual for Gram-negative bacteria, with implications for survival in the hospital environment (JH2&4). He used REP-PCR to identify reservoirs of an epidemic strain during an outbreak of infection in an adult intensive care unit (JH3). With Forbes (UoA14) he revealed that an antibiotic resistance marker present in genetically modified (GM) maize could survive intact in ovine saliva, rumen fluid and silage effluent (JH1). This relates to his role on UK and EU advisory committees on GM food and feed biosafety. Kerr used molecular epidemiological approaches to reveal that water (including non-carbonated bottled water) is a major vehicle in the transmission of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a multiply resistant Gram-negative bacterium producing infections in children with cystic fibrosis (KK1). He also demonstrated that Acanthamoeba polyphaga was an important reservoir host for Burkholderia cepacia (KK2) suggesting that endamoebic persistence is an important link in the transmission of these opportunistic pathogens via contaminated water. Holland showed that lipases are major colonisation factors for staphylococci and propionibacteria, the dominant resident species on human skin (KH1&2). He further characterised factors involved in virulence (heat shock proteins) and its regulation (KH3&4). His results question the pivotal role of quorum sensing in Staphylococcus aureus virulence regulation and emphasise the importance of shift-down of growth rate in triggering production of key pathogenic determinants. Ingham (with Foster, Sheffield) demonstrated the importance of sigma B in the regulation of virulence in S.aureus (EI1). Eady’s studies on propionibacteria and her experience of systematic reviewing (AE2), led to a re-evaluation of the role of these organisms in acne pathogenesis (AE3). Smith elucidated the mechanism of cytoplasmic inheritance in microsporidian parasites and proposed that vertical transmission is an ancestral transmission route possibly of ubiquitous importance within this parasite phylum (JS1&2). High rates of transplacental transmission have also been noted with Toxoplasma gondii, identifying the need for wider re-evaluation of the importance of vertical transmission. In vitro studies of parasite growth and differentiation have resulted in description of the acute virulence phenotype in Toxoplasma and analysis of antigenic polymorphism between strains (JS4). This led to the development of a novel technique, MGE:PCR, which allows discrimination of strains directly from infected tissue (Int J Parasit, 2001). Shaw reported on genetic control of susceptibility to intracellular macrophage pathogens, including visceral leishmaniaisis, through large-scale family studies in Brazil, using segregation analysis, and linkage and association approaches (MS3). Studies of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Venezuala, Peru and Bolivia are characterising cellular immune responses (MS1&2) and genetic susceptibility. Through studies of schistosomiasis in Kenya, Agnew (with Butterworth, Cambridge and colleagues in Brazil, Columbia, Denmark, Netherlands and Kenya) was the first to demonstrate that adult worms were susceptible to immunological control (AA1). This led to the identification of functionally important molecules in the adult worm including DNA binding proteins (AA4), anticoagulants, ‘tegumental’ acetylcholinesterase and the related ACh receptor (AA2), which may be important determinants of parasite survival.

RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The 10 year plan for FBS, funded by HEFCE and the University, has been to house all research groupings in conjoined buildings. This will be achieved in 2002 when all the remaining members of Pathobiological Sciences are relocated, thus fulfilling the vision of contiguous laboratory space for researchers working on whole organisms through to single molecules, promoting even further opportunities for multidisciplinary research. These buildings, which include the Medical School, are adjacent to Leeds General Infirmary, which with St. James’ Hospital, is the UK’s largest NHS Acute Trust. This optimises and enhances our interaction with clinicians in a wide range of disciplines, facilitates access to patients and clinical material and ensures that medical need is one major driver of our research agenda. Our research operates bidirectionally, with our clinical colleagues benefiting from the cutting edge facilities within FBS. Recent additions to these include; the Astbury Structural Biology Centre and adjacent NMR facility; a new EM suite; a computer graphics modelling cluster; a bioinformatics suite and level 3 containment facilities. Our research also benefits from expertise in X-ray crystallography, deconvolution microscopy, cell micro-injection and sorting, proteomics and large scale fermentation. Laboratories newly furnished for the Reproductive Biomedicine group provide specialised facilities for embryo culture, micromanipulation, single cell genetics and molecular biology. They have also been equipped for molecular cytogenetics, including in situ hybridisation, comparative genomic hybridisation and automated DNA fragment and sequence analysis.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH RESEARCH USERS
Beneficiaries of research in Biomedicine include: WHO, EU and UK government bodies, NHS, clinicians, international healthcare and orthopaedic industry and patients. Members have responded to government initiatives in the areas of food safety, control of infection and orthopaedic biomaterials and have been recipients of 15 central government funded grants. They work alongside the healthcare and orthopaedic industry with 30 industrially funded grants and numerous consultancies, including several longstanding partnerships (Holland with Unilever, Eady with Galderma, Evans with Novartis). Evans has extensive international links (China, India, South America) and has done more than perhaps any other leading mycologist to ensure that the third world is not denied access to research driven diagnostic mycology services by technology transfer. Smith has advised the WHO on toxoplasmosis. Through his membership of UK and EU Committees relating to GM Food and Feed, Heritage has a lead role in formulating national and European policy and advises the Food Standards Agency on public consultations in this controversial area. Kerr influences policy related to the control of nosocomial and food-borne infections via membership of various committees (see Esteem). A significant part of the work of Eady is driven by clinical need and with Holland she carries out extensive national and international pre-clinical testing and clinical trials of dermatological therapies on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, many in conjunction with the Dermatology Clinical Trials Unit (LGI). Cove was invited by the DTI to represent the UK in the European Initiative COST B16- reversal of antibiotic resistance. Ingham has influenced clinical orthopaedic practice via collaborations with clinicians (Stone, LGI; Shaw, Bradford) and presentations to the British Hip Society. Her Technology Partnership Award facilitates the transfer of technology in orthopaedics through industry to the clinic. Members transfer research skills and knowledge to the NHS via supervision of clinical fellows in orthopaedics, reproductive medicine and dermatology through supervision of higher degrees. Handyside has a major role in the development of PGD through a consortium that monitors and promotes best clinical practice in nearly 30 centres in Europe and worldwide. The Third Arm Board oversees the University’s agenda with respect to Higher Education Reachout to Business and the Community (HEROBC) and Eady represented the University at the first HEROBC meeting between the Russell Universities with the aim of sharing and disseminating best practice in this area. The group recognises that public demand fuels the innovation cycle and that openness and transparency are crucial to public confidence in science. To this end, members regularly give media interviews, have featured in newspaper or magazine articles, and appeared on TV and radio discussing their research and its implications for health and society. Members have also made contributions to public understanding of science via school workshops (Heritage), lectures to learned societies (Wood) and TV documentaries, for example, ‘The Baby Makers’ (Handyside), ‘Superbugs’ (Kerr) and their related websites.

A. Health Care & Professional Practice: Staff are drawn from the disciplines of health psychology, public health, gerontology, occupational therapy and medical sociology. Work has focused on cardiac rehabilitation, risk factor identification, ageing, the evaluation of service delivery and professional education and development. Total external grant income (including directly administered, NHS administered and collaborative funding) during the review period was £1,469,234.
Bogg and Bundred in collaboration with the Department of Psychology (E. Thornton) have highlighted the importance of psycho-social factors in cardiac rehabilitation. With funding from the NHS Executive North West (£10,000), they demonstrated the importance of gender in understanding interactions between psycho-social and physical responses and patient perceptions of their disorder (Brit. J. Therapy Rehab. 1998; Coronary Health Care, 2000, 4:48-53; 4:163-168; results also presented at Communication in Health Care, Amsterdam, 1998). This collaboration is now investigating the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions in cardiac rehabilitation with support from Wirral Heartbeat (£17,080). Bundred, in collaboration with the Department of Biological Sciences (J. Manning), is investigating biological measures as predictors of cardiac risk (Medical Hypothesis, 2000) with support from the Wellcome Trust (£62,000), and in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is examining genetic aspects of hypertension in immigrant populations supported by the MRC (£80,000). Arising from an important international collaboration with Levitt (McMaster University, Canada), he identified important issues relating to the migration of health personnel (Lancet, 2000) and obtained funding from the Department for International Development (£45,000) to investigate this and related health reform issues further. With funding from the NHS (£50,000) and commercial sources (3M Healthcare £17,828), Bogg successfully evaluated a number of health care initiatives including a Primary Care Act scheme, client self-management programmes (Advances in Physiotherapy 2:168-175, 2000), novel treatments for asthma (Post Graduate Medical Journal, 1999) and a multidisciplinary protected time learning initiative. The results of these studies have been presented at various international meetings (e.g. Federation for the International Co-operation of Health Services and Systems Research Centres, Mexico 1998; Communication in Medicine, Chicago, 1999). Ongoing collaboration with Manchester University, funded by the NHS Executive North West (£2,500) and the MacMillan Practice Development Unit (£2,200), is exploring the information needs of cancer patients (Health Expectations, 1999) and the psychological impact of perceived cancer risk status on lay and professional attitudes and behaviour. Results have been presented both nationally and internationally (Communication in Health Care, Barcelona, 2000; Clinical Genetics, Manchester, 2000, J. Med. Genet 37: A4-A4 Suppl. 2, 2000).

The research of Gosney, Sixsmith and Green relates to ageing. Gosney has investigated the impact of disease in the elderly. Building on previous research on cancer treatment in the elderly (Age & Ageing 27:417-419, 1998; Geriatric Medicine 28:67-69, 1998), in collaboration with colleagues in the University of Southampton and supported by the NHS funding (£54,369), a systematic review of colorectal cancer treatment demonstrated that surgery should not be denied on the basis of age alone and that chemotherapy was an effective treatment option even in advanced disease (Lancet, 2000; BMJ, 2000). These findings are important given the new national focus on services for the elderly and concerns over ageism and treatment in the NHS. Studies on levels of influenza vaccination in Merseyside, which showed that even when available it was being declined (J. Adv. Nursing, 2000), lead to a randomised placebo-controlled trial to study the cost-effectiveness of flu vaccine in fit healthy 65-74 year olds with funding from the Health Technology Assessment (£212,257) and NHS Executive Northwest R&D (£40,000). Results led to a further study in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Clinical Chemistry on immunocompromised older patients supported by the NHS Executive North West R&D (£31,500) and Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (RLBUH, £31,500). Funding was also obtained from the NHS (£76,500) to investigate the management of stroke. Sixsmith’s research on planning care for the elderly is part of a cross-European collaborative initiative supported by EU funding (Total 1.5m Euros; Liverpool share £227,000). An intelligent system to support health care managers in planning and implementing service delivery for older people was developed and evaluated, attracting international interest in the fields of health care and gerontology (in Gerontechnology, 1998; see also Sixsmith et al, 1997, In Heumann, L and Miller, S. eds. Managing Care, Risk and Responsibility Chicago: Systed 97:65-69). With support from the Anchor Trust (£16,000) and the UK Medlink programme (£30,000), and in collaboration with Manchester University and Irsisys Ltd., novel community alarms and intelligent monitoring systems for older residents in sheltered housing schemes were developed and tested in field trials. This resulted in the development of a ‘smart sensor’ for detecting falls (J.Telemed.Telecare, 2000). Green and Sixsmith have addressed the issue of technology transfer, flagging the importance of professional and lay attitudes and needs to the adoption of novel technological solutions in health care (Brit. J. Therapy Rehab, 1998). They have also applied their expertise in this area to technological innovations in professional education and development. Thus EU funds (£190,000) have been secured to support comparative evaluation of technology-led occupational therapy training (J. Telemed. Telecare, 2000). Similarly, a development grant (£11,254) enabled a new system for fieldwork educators to be researched (Brit. J. Occ. Ther, 1996). Results have been presented at various international conferences (e.g. 10^th International Conference on Database and Expert System Applications, Florence, 1999; International Federation on Ageing Conference, Buenos Aires, 2000).

Frith’s research focuses on ethical issues in clinical research and practice. Funding awarded prior to the review period supported a collaborative systematic review of socio-cultural issues relating to randomised controlled trials (Health Technology Assessment, 1997; Health Service Research Methods: A guide to best practice, BMJ Books, pp108-116, 1998). Related work has flagged implications of evidence-based medicine for general practice (General Practice and Ethics, 1999), purchasing and priority setting (Health Care Analysis, 1999), the ethical dimensions of health policy and practice in relation to risk management (‘Clinical risk management and ethics’ in Clinical Risk Management, Butterwork Heinneman, 1999) and patient choice (‘Evidence-based health, patient consent and consumerism’ in The evidence-based primary care handbook, The Royal Society of Medicine Press pp79-89, 1999). Recent work has addressed issues raised by reproductive technology and reproductive health care (e.g. Midwifery Ethics, 1996; Ethics & Community Edward Arnold pp115-124, 1998). Results were presented both nationally and internationally (BMA International Conference on Priorities in Health Care, 1998; International Association of Bioethics 5^th World Congress, 2000). Future work will investigate the ethics of confidentiality as applied to research.