The ethos of CEDAM is to be transparent and inclusive. This includes listening to patients and the public and being receptive to views around providing clinical services and research priorities. Furthermore, the breadth of insight and international recognition of many members of CEDAM mean that we are in a position to advise and influence at scale.
That impact and influence is important at all levels, including supporting small patient support groups with rare diseases to bearing influence at a policy level within governments to do the best for patients and the public. Below is a representation of some of the areas of bilateral communication that occurs from CEDAM to patients and the public.
How CEDAM and the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science are helping to tackle the coronavirus pandemic
The unprecedented set of circumstances surrounding the UK response to COVID-19 has required a massive upheaval in routine working practices and a previously unexplored refocusing of purpose by clinical and scientific staff away from primary research and teaching roles to uniquely and robustly provide full-time patient-centred care.
Some of the personal stories of our CEDAM staff have been captured in the Department's videos explaining how their academic and research work has been put on hold to provide frontline healthcare. The personal and professional attributes of our CEDAM team are shining beacons of compassionate care and support for society through these times of adversity and we are indebted to them for their contributions in protecting the nation.
Dr Abd Tahrani is a trustee of the association for the study of obesity ASO (UK) and panel member of the NIHR Dissemination Centre/NIHR Evidence panel.
The team are also active in other patient-facing groups and support groups:
Parathyroid UK is the national voice for people living with parathyroid conditions. Professor Neil Gittoes is a medical adviser to Parathyroid UK.
Endocrine-pituitary
Professor Niki Karavitaki is a member of the Clinical Committee of The Pituitary Foundation, the UK’s leading charity providing support to pituitary patients, their families and carers and disseminating the results of pituitary research for the public benefit.
Further activities include:
- Monthly Steroid Education sessions in which patients with cortisol deficiency, their family members and their carers receive teaching on managing their steroid cover in case of stress and preventing adrenal crisis.
- Pituitary Open mornings at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital: Annual event organised by the Pituitary team for patients and their family members. It offers the opportunity to communicate the advances in clinical care and our research findings in the field of pituitary disease and to have the patient’s contribution in the shaping of the pituitary service and research agenda.
CEDAM Vitamin D Group
Birmingham has been a leading centre for vitamin D research for many years, reflecting the prevalence of vitamin D-deficiency in the West Midlands. CEDAM work includes both basic translational science and clinical studies, and CEDAM provides a forum for groups with vitamin D projects at the University of Birmingham (Professor Martin Hewison, Dr Carl Jenkinson), the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Professor Neil Gittoes, Dr Zaki Hassan-Smith, Mrs Jane Fletcher), Birmingham Women’s Hospital (Professor Mark Kilby, Dr Jennifer Tamblyn) and Birmingham Children’s Hospital (Dr Suma Uday).
Current research themes include studies of vitamin D in: early pregnancy; adverse events in pregnancy; maternal and neonatal health; immunity and inflammatory disease; sarcopenia and acute care in the elderly. The CEDAM Vitamin D Group is also a leader in the development of new technology for the analysis of vitamin D.