Here you can see examples of how cutting-edge research at OH BRC and MH-TRC Mission is actively transforming mental health care across the UK, highlighting the benefits of our collaborative, patient-centered research, demonstrating how discoveries in experimental medicine are being translated into improved diagnostics, treatments, and services for patients.
Better Sleep
10% of the population are affected by insomnia, which impacts mental health, physical health and work productivity. However less than 1% of people with insomnia can access the recommended treatment (cognitive behavioural therapy) or specialist clinics. OH-BRC investigators developed and tested a brief behavioural intervention delivered by practice nurses in primary care. The study showed the intervention leads to sustained improvements in insomnia, mental health, and work productivity and is very likely to be cost-effective. There was a 95% probability that the approach is cost‑effective for the NHS with an estimated saving of around £1,000 per patient when wider societal costs are considered. If adopted nationally, this brief primary care insomnia therapy has the potential to impact insomnia-related burden, improve quality of life, and reduce societal costs associated. Broader benefits may also include reducing drug prescription and hospital care.
Dementia
In 2024, the number of people living with Dementia in England approached half a million and it is estimated that a third of people with the condition do not have a diagnosis. The majority of people living with dementia have Alzheimer’s Disease. The BRC at Oxford Health combined digital cognitive testing with blood-based biomarkers to identify markers of Alzheimer’s Disease, to support early identification and intervention. Validated biomarkers and cognitive testing benefit both clinical care and advance AD research, supporting the development of more effective treatments and diagnostic tools. If biomarker tests are rolled out across the NHS, they could drive early detection which could lead to better outcomes for patients and cost savings to the NHS through earlier targeted interventions
Molecular Targets
No current interventions meaningfully reduce the risk of dementia, or delay its onset. The Oxford Health BRC has shown that people receiving the shingles vaccine now being rolled out to over 65s in the NHS (‘Shingrix’) have almost a 1-in-5 lower chance of being diagnosed with dementia in the six years after getting the vaccine. Further studies are now focusing on why this might be the case. However, given the prevalence of dementia, its impact on the public, the health and care system, and broader financial and societal costs, our findings are significant and should encourage greater uptake of Shingrix, which is currently less than 1 in 3 of those offered it. The findings are supporting further research into how vaccines affect long-term brain health, helping to inform future public health prevention strategies.
