Current and Past Projects

Examples of projects

Medical Devices

Developing and Testing a Clinical Grade Magnetic Impedance Spectroscopy Device for Cervical Assessment to Predict Preterm Birth - PI Prof Dilly Anumba, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dept of Oncology & Metabolism; Funder: NIHR i4i

• Every year, globally, about 15 million babies are born preterm (before 37 weeks). Preterm birth (PTB) complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for nearly 1 million deaths annually. Current prediction and prevention of PTB remains challenging. The development of a Class IIb medical device capable of detecting changes in cervical tissue structure and composition that precede preterm birth could help predict and prevent PTB. This new device will be tested on pregnant women at risk of PTB in a pilot clinical experimental trial to predict PTB, the results of which will inform the application for regulatory approval to test the device in a larger multi-centre clinical trial. For more info, see: http://ecclippx.group.shef.ac.uk/

Medical Apps

Speech Therapy Apps for Rehabilitation (STAR) - PI Dr Stuart Cunningham, Senior lecturer, Human Communication Sciences; Funder: NIHR i4i

• The ability to communicate is one of the most basic human needs. Many people in the UK and worldwide lose the ability to communicate, due to a range of health conditions which result in a speech impairment. Articulation therapy is a therapy for improving the speech of people with speech impairment, which is time-consuming and patients rarely receive sufficient therapy to maximise their communication potential within the NHS. In this project an app using speech recognition and gamification of articulation therapy (a Class I CE-marked medical device) was developed in collaboration with our industrial partner Therapy Box Ltd. The app was evaluated by patients experiencing dysarthria after stroke, hearing impaired children, and their therapists. For more info, see: https://www.therapy-box.co.uk/star-app

Drug repurposing, pre-clinical

Efficacy and safety evaluation of AZD1236 (Matrix metalloproteinase 9 & 12 inhibitor) in experimental stroke - PI Prof Arshad Majid, Professor of Cerebrovascular Neurology, SITraN; Funder: MRC, Industry Asset Sharing Initiative

• Stroke is a devastating neurological disease for which there are limited treatment options. Most strokes are caused by blockage of a blood vessel in the brain with a clot and current treatment to resolve the clot is only administered to a select minority of stroke patients and can have devastating side effects. Stroke also often leads to brain swelling caused by the breakdown of the blood brain barrier by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In this project a drug called AZD1236 (AstraZeneca), which was originally developed for COPD and inhibits MMP-9 and -12, is being re-purposed and tested in animal stroke models. The data generated by this research will inform whether AZD1236 should be progressed along the pathway of development which will ultimately lead to testing in humans.

What people say about us

‘Evy has been a fantastic project manager for our MRC project. She is an invaluable member of the team. Very knowledgeable, organised and responsive.’ - Prof Arshad Majid