Latest research and trials

Research excellence

Researchers successfully modeled antibody-mediated transplant rejection in human kidneys. The discovery may allow scientists to investigate new mechanisms and test treatment strategies for transplant rejection outside of the human body. The study, published by the prestigious translational science journal The Lancet eBioMedicine, (Lancet Discovery Science) was authored by post-doctoral researcher and transplant trainee, Pankaj Chandak and senior authors, Professors Anthony Dorling and Nizam Mamode alongside colleagues in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King’s College London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust NHS Foundation Trust and King’s Health Partners.

Colleagues across KHP Academic Surgery achieved strong results in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework - find out more here.

Surgical trials

King's Health Partners Academic Surgery has supported a number of pioneering surgical trials over the last few years. Read more below:

National implementation of a pragmatic quality improvement skills curriculum for urology residents in the UK: Application and results of 'theory-of-change' methodology

There is global momentum to establish scalable Quality Improvement (QI) skills training curricula. We report development of an implementation plan for national scale-up of the 'Education in Quality Improvement' program (EQUIP) in UK urology residencies.

Lower gastrointestinal polypectomy competencies in the United Kingdom: A retrospective analysis of Directly Observed Polypectomy Skills (DOPyS)

Polypectomy is often the most hazardous part of colonoscopy. There is significant variability in polypectomy training and assessment internationally. DOPyS (Directly Observed Polypectomy Skills) is a validated assessment tool and is used to demonstrate polypectomy competency in the UK. This study aimed to describe the learning curve for polypectomy competency in UK trainees.

Simulation in Urological Training and Education (SIMULATE): Protocol and curriculum development of the first multicentre international randomized controlled trial assessing the transferability of simulation‐based surgical training

SIMULATE is the first multicentre trial investigating the effect and transferability of supplementary SBT on operating performance and patient outcomes. An evidence‐based training curriculum is presented, developed with expert and trainee input. Participants will be followed and the primary outcome, number of procedures required to proficiency, will be reported alongside key clinical secondary outcomes.

SIMULATE trial shows that simulation-based training offers the surgical profession a clearly improved alternative option to operating on real patients or cadavers.

As training surgeons, our aim is to become good surgeons whilst providing the best possible care to our patients. For the first time, SIMULATE demonstrates that supplementary simulation-based training of surgical trainees results in better performance and less complications, when operating on patients. It also shows twice as many trainees become proficient in complex procedures compared to only training in the operating theatre. Our study provides the evidence-base for surgical specialties to integrate simulation in their training programmes as a means to improve surgical performance, clinical outcomes and patient safety. I’m absolutely delighted that our findings have been accepted in European Urology and I would like to thank The Urology Foundation and all our contributors for helping make this possible.

CMR Surgical (CMR) – a global surgical robotics business – announced Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust as the latest NHS Trust, and first site in London, to adopt the Versius robot. 

We are delighted that Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and their team of world-class surgeons have chosen to expand their surgical robotics programme with Versius. In designing Versius our goal was to provide a versatile, portable, and cost-effective surgical robotic system that could transform the field of minimal access surgery – allowing more patients to benefit than currently do. The introduction of Versius at the Trust does just that, and crucially at a time when patients, surgeons and hospitals are facing significant health and economic challenges.

Transforming cancer care at King's College London

King’s College London (KCL) is the site of future breakthroughs, transforming cancer care and therapies through innovative research. An injection of philanthropic donations provides an exciting outlook for cancer research at KCL - read more here.