The multidisciplinary Centre for Trauma Sciences Research (CTSR) provides a focal point that links preclinical and clinical researchers working across the University of Birmingham campus on wide ranging translational trauma science projects. It has three core objectives:
- To generate a pipeline of novel preclinical research projects and move them rapidly along the translational pathway from conception towards clinical adoption;
- To act as the hub of a national network of trauma science research laboratories, being the ‘go to’ Centre for near-patient testing, consultancy, information and access to key academic, commercial, regulatory and clinical partnerships;
- To build significant research capacity by training a substantive cohort of early career trauma research scientists (clinical and non-clinical) who will drive future trauma research to address the acknowledged research capacity deficit in trauma in the UK.
The CTSR interfaces closely with the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, the Physical Sciences for Health Centre, the Healthcare Technologies Institute, the NIHR Trauma MedTech, the Scar Free Foundation Centre for Conflict Wound Research and the pharmaceutical and biotech industry in order to deliver a step change in technology development and clinical treatment of trauma.
USP of Trauma Research in Birmingham
Birmingham displays the unique combination of one of the largest Major Trauma Centres in the UK (within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH); the sole provider of military Aero Medical Evacuation, Regional Burns, Plastics, Neurosurgery and Major Trauma services, offering the full range of required trauma specialists that also accommodates the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) clinical unit) together with the national NIHR SRMRC (Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre – a clinical trauma research centre).
The location of the joint civilian and military Major Trauma Centre with an associated trauma research centre within the UoB campus facilitates access by engaged researchers from biomedical, engineering and physical sciences to further augment trauma related research programmes. QEH Neuroscience serves an ethnically diverse population of nearly 4 million, providing access for translational research to one of the largest cohorts of patients with neural dysfunction in the world. For example, every year over 3,300 TBI patients are treated at QEH, of whom close to 700 are admitted to the Neurosciences wards.
The close collaboration of the Birmingham hospitals established with the University of Birmingham (UoB) through the Birmingham Health Partnership and its underpinning facilities, links with the RCDM and a highly sophisticated health informatics capability housed in state-of-the-art accommodation, create a world class environment to maximize delivery of outputs from the neurotrauma research potential.
