A new test developed by a haematologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust for patients at risk of blood clots and a novel therapy designed by an Immunologist at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust that could form the basis of a new immunological treatment have been recognised in the ‘NHS London Innovator Awards‘. The two hospitals are part of King’s Health Partners, one of the UK’s first Academic Health Sciences Centres, which aims to improve patient healthcare by integrating world-class research, clinical care and education and training.
Prof Beverley Hunt, Clinical Lead in Blood Sciences, won the £2,500 award in the ‘Diagnostics/Laboratory’ category. She has developed a test to diagnose antiphospholipid antibodies that can cause blood clots in the arteries and veins and miscarriage in pregnancy. This is based on a finding her team made that blood from patients shows resistance to heparin in the test tube.
Professor Beverly Hunt explains: “I am delighted that our work has been recognised by NHS Innovations London. Being able to better detect antiphospholipid antibodies is crucial to the better management of patients. We hope our work will result in a new diagnostic test that is simple to perform, reliable and cost effective, and will impact on patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, and be transferable across the whole of the UK to increase the quality of patient care.”
Dr Mohammad Ibrahim, Consultant and Lead Immunologist at King’s, was victorious in the Pharmaceuticals/Drug Delivery category, which NHS judges admitted was ‘extremely hard fought’. Dr Ibrahim has developed a new method which uses genetic engineering to combine proteins in order to create a novel therapy. It is hoped the idea could form the basis of a new immunological treatment and/or technology platform for protein drug delivery.
Dr Ibrahim said: “I am honoured our efforts at King’s have been recognised by NHS Innovations London. I hope that our innovation will accelerate development of better drugs to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.”
Professor Frank Walsh, Director of research and development at King’s Health Partners said: “I am very pleased that my colleagues have received these prestigious awards. Innovation and translation in research is at the heart of King’s Health Partners and these two awards demonstrate real advances. Patients will benefit immediately by having a more accurate diagnosis from Professor Hunt’s work and access to innovative new treatment trials in Dr Ibrahim’s work.”
