The two MH-TRC MHM demonstrator sites, the Midlands Translational Centre (MTC) in Birmingham and the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC) in Liverpool, are dedicated to revolutionising mental health research by bringing patients from areas of unmet need together with industry partners.
Workstream leads
Professor Mathew Broome, Centre Lead
Professor of Psychiatry and Youth Mental Health, Director of the Institute for Mental Health
University of Birmingham; School of Psychology
Professor Steven Marwaha, Centre Co-Lead
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Birmingham and Specialist Mood Disorders Clinic; Birmingham and Solihull Mental Foundation Trust
Main location of work
Birmingham
Site overview
This work carried out at the MTC builds on the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Mental Health’s successful leadership of trials and studies into early stage mental health disorders and the development of prognostic tools. Recent investment via the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust NIHR Biomedical Research Centre award will increase Birmingham-led discovery science in Molecular Targets, Depression Therapeutics, and Children and Young People.
Why the work is important
Birmingham has a super-diverse, young population with extremely high levels of deprivation and mental health morbidity. The Midlands region has a population of ten million people; however, many NHS Trusts are research naïve. Birmingham offers an ideal hub to then reach out to new centres to embed and expand research activity to maximum benefit for patients and the public.
Aim
To accelerate regional mental health research capacity and re-engage industry with an initial focus on new interventions for Early Psychosis (EP) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) within the context of a young, superdiverse, deprived population.
Planned work packages
Work package 1: Digital platforms for stratified recruitment and standardised clinical endpoints: Early Psychosis
- Short-term: Develop regional framework for a digital register for stratified recruitment from Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services
- Medium-term: Expand and test the digital register, able to identify participants with psychosis and those at risk for psychosis, for new trials and experimental-medicine studies
- Longer-term: Gain new insights emerging from real world data to inform further targeted treatment trials and evaluation in diverse population settings.
Work package 2: Digital platforms for stratified recruitment and standardised clinical endpoints: Depression
- Short-term: Develop a regional framework for a digital register for stratified recruitment to TRD studies across primary and secondary care
- Medium-term: Identify participants for new trials and experimental-medicine studies, both industry-led, co-led and competitively funded
- Longer-term: Use new insights to inform stratified/adaptive treatment trials and evaluation in real-world diverse populations, attracting further industry/external funding.
Work package 3: Increasing access to Clinical Research Facilities (CRF)
- 3a) Regional Intensive CRF – to ensure the CRF is properly equipped to carry out mental health studies across the region
- 3b) Accessible, local Mental Health CRF with capacity for less invasive mental health interventions.
Work package 4: Regional Trial Delivery, Training and Expertise
- 4a) Training and Delivery – recruitment of required staff across positions offering central, harmonised training supported by an MTC co-ordinator
- 4b) MTC Partner Adoption – ensuring that providers in the network receive support, training and input from centrally managed experts in relation to funding, trial and industry study recruitment and CRF access.
Patient and public involvement, engagement, and participation (PPIEP)
The MTC have dedicated PPIEP leads who will support the growth of established groups to develop the MTC PPIEP activity, focus and outputs together with lived experience advice on new experimental interventions and trial training, with support sessions for all patient/public contributors to ensure knowledge and meaningful engagement.
Increasing research capacity
One of the key goals is to increase regional capacity. One outcome will be an increase in the number of trained Principal Investigators (PIs) and research delivery staff. In parallel, greater clinical academic capacity is being developed via the recent Wellcome Trust-funded Midlands Mental Health and Neuroscience PhD Programme, enabling healthcare professionals from a wide number of clinical backgrounds to undertake a PhD.
