The launch of a new endoscopy service at the University of Oxford’s Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility (EMCRF) will enhance the collection of data for research projects, and relieve pressure on the NHS Trust’s endoscopy unit. The facility is hosted by the University’s Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences.
‘This facility will really help with the recruitment of patients for the Sagittarius study and relieve the burden on the NHS,’ said Dr Julia Pakpoor, Clinical Research Training Fellow at the Kennedy Institute. ‘This integration of research, clinical care, and science will be a huge benefit to our patients.’
The Oxford EMCRF is a Clinical Research Facility providing a resource for early-phase, experimental research across the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Studies have included the COVID-19 human challenge study, Paratyphoid vaccine development; Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin immune challenge, and early interventional trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and Huntington’s disease.
Oxford EMCRF reflects the success and impact of translational research at Oxford NIHR BRC and involves close collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Oxford EMCRF is core to the clinical translational strategy of the Biomedical Research Centre.
Cushla Cooper, Clinical Operational Lead at the EMCRF said: ‘With some funding from the MRC and NIHR we were able to acquire the right equipment and develop the endoscopy service. In time, we plan to do bronchoscopies, a procedure that examines the lungs and airways, but we are launching today with research endoscopies which will reduce the pressure on endoscopy at the hospital Trust.’
The first endoscopies at EMCRF will be low-volume, high-intensity procedures to support sample collection for our wet lab studies at the Kennedy Institute. Simon Travis, Professor of Clinical Gastroenterology explained: ‘Initially it will focus on flexible sigmoidoscopies examining the left side of the colon to support the Sagittarius Study which is being led by Dr Julia Pakpoor. The study is exploring the predictors of response and non-response to advanced therapies for ulcerative colitis at a cellular and molecular level.’