Research Bulletin - September 2021 (Issue 67)
 

September marked World Alzheimer's month, and an opportunity to recognise the importance of research. Clinical research lead of NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Dr Tom Russ spoke to Holyrood about the new Alzheimer's drug aducanumab which was trialled in hospitals across Scotland; and Professor Lis Neubeck of NRS Cardiovascular talked about the importance of protected time for research. 

Applicable to all research, new reporting standards that will require researchers to explain how they have fulfilled their transparency responsibilities have been set out by The Health Research Authority (HRA), and a new Think Ethics campaign has launched with the aim of making ethics reviews more innovative, efficient and trusted – building on many of the changes made to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In COVID-19 research, as booster vaccinations get underway, the data from the Cov-Boost study which was run at 18 sites across England, Scotland and Wales has helped to inform key decisions. Professor Emma Thomson, who leads on the study for the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, provides more information in an interview with The Alliance.

More generally, as changes to vaccine certification are being introduced in Scotland, NHS Research Scotland remains committed to ensuring clinical trial participants should be treated in the same way as those who have been fully vaccinated through the normal deployed vaccine routes, and should not be disadvantaged due to taking part in a clinical trial. To support this, clinical trial participant information has been published on NHS Inform and work continues to ensure the vaccine status of trial participants is correctly presented on the coronavirus vaccine database.

Also this month: registration is open for NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Conference, and NRS Genetics Conference; the British Heart Foundation has launched a call for applications to fund research into the use of advanced analytics to improve cardiovascular care delivery and outcomes; the ABPI have published their annual Clinical Trials report; the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) alongside the RS Macdonald Charitable Trust, have announced successful applicants to the Scottish Seedcorn Fund for Neurological Research; and new reports on CSO funded research projects have been published on stroke, COVID-19, improving the outcomes of clinical trials. Event registration is also open for the upcoming and much more. 

The COVID-19 pages on the NRS website continue to be updated, and as always, your ideas, feedback and contributions are welcome.