Hat trick of research awards for Nottingham doctors | Latest news

Consultant Neurologists Drs Akram Hosseini and Radu Tanasescu and Consultant Respiratory physician, Dr Sherif Gonem, are among a select group of doctors who have been awarded grants by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The Clinical Academic Research Partnerships (CARP) is a new initiative which aims to support more NHS clinicians to take part in clinical research. 

For her research project, Dr Akram Hosseini (pictured), Consultant Neurologist, will be harnessing powerful Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) – an area in which Nottingham leads the world – to study the build-up of iron in patients’ brains, a factor which contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

There are 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia – many of whom have Alzheimer’s disease – a devastating condition that causes gradual decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills and therefore disruption to their daily lives.

Dr Hosseini said: “It is a golden opportunity to draw on the physics expertise at the Nottingham Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, for clinical studies and biomedical sciences. Professor Richard Bowtell and I will be working together to apply new MRI sequences to investigate dementia.

“I’m grateful to work at a leading medical centre and be able to conduct clinical research using high resolution MRI in a study that is meaningful to patients.”

Dr Radu Tanasescu and his study team will be using MRI and clinical data routinely collected from people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and apply AI (Artificial Intelligence) techniques to identify models that predict MS outcomes. AI will be used to extract hidden-information from MRI scans. 

Where patients have given consent for their data to be used, the researchers will analyse information about the patients' clinical condition, their demographics and MRI scans, using AI.

The study team’s IT specialists will train a computer to use mathematical models to predict whether a person's MS will mean greater disability or cognitive impairment over the long-term.

The AIMS study will take advantage of a collaborative environment which includes the Nottingham MS clinic and research programme and its international exposure and networking, the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Nottingham.

Dr Tanasescu said: “I feel very honoured to be the recipient of this award. The CARP award involves collaborative high-quality research partnerships with established leading biomedical researchers. 

“We intend to harness more valuable information from routine MRI scans and existing NHS clinical data with our study, which makes the research cost-efficient. I am aware of the complexity and challenge the clinical application of AI entails, but through collaboration and support from AI experts and a robust plan of external validation, we aim to make a breakthrough. This can provide a tool for informed decision-making and personalised treatment in MS.”

Dr Tanasescu added: “We hope this study will have in the end a direct benefit for patients – it is not science for the sake of it. And we aim to expand our knowledge of Multiple Sclerosis using real-world clinical data.”

Respiratory Consultant Dr Sherif Gonem is based at City Hospital, Nottingham, and has previously worked as an NIHR Clinical Lecturer and researcher at Leicester.

The CARP award is enabling him to work with respiratory medicine Professor Dominick Shaw on a retrospective study to improve the early warning system used to monitor patients on respiratory (lung disease) wards.

Drawing on five years of existing patient data to predict potentially life-threatening events occurring during a hospital stay, the study also aims to reduce the rate of false alarms. As a result, doctors and nurses should be able to better manage their workloads.

Sherif’s study will draw on the expertise of computer scientists, and use AI and machine learning - where computer programmes access data and use it learn for themselves - to analyse anonymised data generated by the existing NUH Nerve Centre patient early warning system.

He said: “I’m very pleased to be one of the three recipients of CARP at NUH. It’s a great opportunity and I hope my research project will have a positive impact on patients with lung disease both in Nottingham and further afield.”

Professor Stephen Ryder, Clinical Director of Research & Innovation at Nottingham University Hospitals, said:

“It is a fantastic achievement for our colleagues at NUH to have been successful in this new area of research funding. NUH is already one of the most research-active hospitals in the country, and the quality of our research is recognised nationally and internationally. 

“We know the importance of supporting clinicians at every stage of their careers to take part in research, and the CARP funding is an excellent opportunity for front-line staff to bring their skills and knowledge to clinical research.”