RESEARCHERS and support staff at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust are getting on board with a new campaign to tell people ‘Why we do Research’.

The new twitter trend #WhyWeDoResearch was initiated by several trusts across the country to tell people why research into medical health issues matters.

And staff at the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust are using the new campaign to highlight the importance of research.

Alison Loftus, Research and Innovation Manager, said ” We’re really excited to be involved with such an innovative and inspiring campaign, highlighting why research is so important in shaping the healthcare of the future. Clinical research helps us to understand how to diagnose, treat, cure and prevent disease. It is essential for developing better treatments and improving healthcare.”

The Trust is currently involved in over 40 studies which take place across a number of clinical areas including cancer, diabetes, ophthalmology and reproductive health.

It is involved in different types of research studies, both interventional and observational including clinical trials which compare and assess the effectiveness of treatments such as the EPHOS B Trial, an interventional breast cancer study, which aims to measure the effectiveness of introducing different medical treatments pre-surgery to establish if this improves the patients long term outcome.

The Trust is also taking part in large national studies which collect data or observations from patients during routine clinical care, to help understand the effectiveness of healthcare treatments and the progression of diseases.

A spokesman added: "One of these studies currently recruiting patients at Bolton is the Diabetes study DARE - Diabetes Alliance for Research in England. This involves the patient agreeing to the collection of clinical details on tier condition from hospital and GP records, and the option of providing an anonymous DNA sample to be used to identify susceptibility of genes for diabetes, diabetes complications and gene environment interactions.

"We are keen to expand on the research opportunities open to our patients and to make research both relevant and accessible to our local community. We would welcome anyone who in interested to get in touch."

If you are interested in getting involved or want to find out more about research at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, contact the Research and Innovation Department on 01204 390390 Ext 3848.