Celebrations have been held to mark 20 years of research achievements by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and its partners in the South Central region.
Colleagues from across the region attended an event in Reading Town Hall on 13 October to hear from researchers and members of the public about the work of the NIHR and partners.
Speeches and discussion panels included topics such as cancer, dementia, public health, workforce, COVID-19, social care, mental health, trauma and global health. You can watch a recording of the event on YouTube.
Dr Katy Smith, Clinical Lead at our Clinical Research Facility: Oxford Health and Clinical Lead for Principal Investigator Training, NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) took part in a panel discussion about the evolution of the research workforce.
Dr Smith highlighted recent examples of adaptability and increasing capacity, including training MH-TRC Mission sites on mental health mood rating scales and recent work on providing alternative pathways for training psychedelic therapists.
Dr Smtih later led a separate session with Henry Winchester, a participant on the PETRUSKHA trial, which explored participants’ perspectives in mental health studies.
PETRUSHKA is a tool that supports clinicians and patients to choose the antidepressant that is better tailored to the individual.
It uses AI to combine clinical and demographic information with patient preferences, particularly around side effects, to support treatment personalisation and shared decision-making in routine care.
Learn more about the achievements of the NIHR since 2006 on the NIHR website.
