Research Review 2012/13
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UCL Institute of Child Health Street Ormond and Great Trust Hospital Children NHS Foundation for Design Manager UCL Institute Great Ormond Street Hospital Fourth floor of Child Health 40 Bernard Street 30 Guilford Street London WC1N 1LE London WC1N 1EH E [email protected] 020 7242 9789 www.ucl.ac.uk/ich Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust Great Ormond Street London WC1N 3JH 020 7405 9200 www.gosh.nhs.uk Thank you to everyone who was interviewed for, or gave permission for their picture to be used in this review, as well as the many members of the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital staff who helped during its production. Please visit www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/research-ich 2012/13 Research Review or www.gosh.nhs.uk/research-and-innovation for an online version of this review. Research Reviewe child rst and2012/13 always Contents 03 Director’s report 07 Chief Executive’s report 09 Division of Research and Innovation report Research 12 14 17 18 Europe’s rst research centre Gene therapy Life Study: Understanding Targeting brain tumours to tackle birth defects Professor Adrian rasher and lives now and for the future Dr Darren Hargrave Professor Andrew Copp Professor Bobby Gaspar Professor Carol Dezateux 21 23 24 27 Life-saving vaccines Getting under the skin Reproductive development Defending the body while Professor David Goldblatt of birthmarks Professor John Achermann tolerating ourselves Dr Veronica Kinsler Dr Masahiro Ono People 30 Working with UCL Business PLC 31 Awards, honours and prizes 34 Grants and donations 36 Senior academic sta 40 Administration Cover: Chloe, age 11, has cystic brosis and is receiving treatment on Badger Ward. Left: Jordell-Talib, age 12, is an outpatient at the department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). Research Review 2012/13 01 Director’s report The UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH), with its partner Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), is Europe’s largest academic centre for research and education in children’s health and disease. As part of University College London’s (UCL) Faculty of Population Health Services, our research stands to improve the lives of children and families across the UK and around the world. It has been a great privilege for me to join, nature of the research spectrum, which in October 2012, the ICH. The mission of spans a huge range, from very basic the ICH, which is to ‘improve the health science research, through to population and wellbeing of children and the adults research. We have articulated some key they will become through world-class principles that should underpin and guide research, education and public our academic strategy, which are: engagement’ is inspirational and, • interdisciplinarity appropriately, puts the child at the • accelerating translation centre of what we do. This mission has • national partnership and leadership established a tremendous legacy of • developing our academic leaders excellence in research and teaching, which has been benefiting children in We have identified five programmes of the UK and throughout the world. research, which encompass all of the In the last year, I have been planning, ICH’s current strengths. These are: with colleagues, a new academic strategy • genetics and genomic medicine to build on the superb position that the • population, policy and practice ICH holds with its clinical partner, GOSH. • infection, inflammation and immunity To develop that strategy I spent most of my • developmental biology and cancer first three months meeting with staff within • developmental neurosciences the research units and learning about what they do. It has been very interesting and This will form the basis of our strategy humbling to appreciate the tremendous and we will be working jointly with contributions made by colleagues in the GOSH to develop a joint strategy ICH. The second three months focused for clinical research. on making external visits with at least one These new programmes will offer exciting of the ICH’s senior academics to other opportunities to further develop research- world-leading centres for children’s health led teaching. Our educational portfolio research and education. We visited the continues to grow. We have developed Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in new modules and courses, which fit in with Toronto, the Department of Paediatrics at our paediatric and child health remit, for Stanford University and Lucile Packard example, the new MSc/Diploma/Certificates Children’s Hospital, Boston Children’s in Paediatric Physiotherapy and the new Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, pathway for Paediatric Gastroenterology. the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, We are also starting to expand our offerings and the Necker Children’s Hospital and for continuing professional development to Imagine Research Institute in Paris. We clinicians and allied health professionals always knew that these visits would be interested in paediatric and child health- important, but I don’t think any of us related subjects by developing an appreciated the tremendous value of the expanded portfolio of courses. insights they provided and the exciting opportunities for collaboration presented We continue to attract substantial funding by other leading children’s institutions. for important new initiatives. In October 2012, HRH The Princess Royal opened It became very clear that there were the Newlife Birth Defects Research Centre, certain features that are unique to funded by the Newlife Foundation for the ICH. These include having not only Disabled Children, Great Ormond Street world-class basic science research but Hospital Children’s Charity and other Six-year-old Luca on Walrus Ward. also superb paediatric epidemiology. benefactors. November 2012 saw the Luca has come all the way from Malta to receive treatment. We need to develop the interdisciplinary opening of The Arthritis Research UK Research Review 2012/13 03 Director’s report continued Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology, with the UK to be elected to the Academy in Africa. The birth cohort studies, in which funding from Arthritis UK, Great Ormond of Medical Sciences. Professor David investigators from the ICH are involved, Street Hospital Children’s Charity, GOSH Goldblatt received a National Institute continue to report important findings. and UCL. This is the first of its kind and for Health Research Senior Investigator For example, Dr Alastair Sutcliffe from includes staff from across UCL, GOSH and Award, while Professor Terence the General and Adolescent Paediatric Unit University College London Hospitals, as Stephenson has been elected Chair of has looked at data from the Millennium well as the launch of a national network for the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. cohort, and the National Evaluation of the research into adolescent rheumatology. We have also had a tremendous clutch Sure Start study showed better outcomes Our researchers are also in receipt of of successes in the senior promotions. for a number of different measures in substantial funding from the NIHR through Those promoted to Professor included children of older mothers. Within genetic the GOSH UCL Biomedical Research John Anderson, Paul Gissen, John research, work from Dr Hannah Mitchison Centre. You can read more about their Achermann, Mary Fewtrell and Nick and Professor Phil Beales has continued work in the Division of Research and Greene. A number of other staff were to elucidate the genetic basis underlying Innovation report. promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader. ciliopathies. And Nature Genetics featured Our warmest congratulations go to them Professor Jugnoo Rahi’s publication on Our plans, in partnership with GOSH and all. We have also been very pleased to novel candidate genes for myopia. Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s appoint Professor Chris O’Callaghan to the Meanwhile, Professor Francesco Muntoni Charity, for a Centre for Children’s Rare position of Professor of Respiratory and and colleagues in the Dubowitz Disease Research, received a tremendous Paediatric Medicine. Chris joins us from Neuromuscular Centre are reporting boost at the end of 2012, with the the University of Leicester where he has important discoveries about pathways announcement of an award of £10 million developed a very successful programme involved in congenital muscular dystrophy. towards the centre from the Higher of research addressing ciliopathies. This Education Funding Council for England, work complements the ongoing studies In summary, much has been achieved under their UK Research Partnership here at the ICH with Professor Phil Beales through dedication, hard work and Investment Fund. Finally, at the end of and Dr Hannah Mitchison. collaboration. We need to build on this 2012, the Centre for International Health fantastic platform and I am confident that and Development within the ICH became I am delighted to report that teams the ICH’s new academic strategy will enable a separate institute within the Faculty of within GOSH and the ICH are continuing us to drive forward research that will be Population Health Sciences at the Institute to report their important discoveries in even more impactful on the lives of children of Global Health, which is evidence of its top scientific journals. We have had two and the adults that they will become. continued and growing success. publications in the journal Science from the Africa Centre for Health and Population A number of our academic staff have Studies where Professor Marie-Louise achieved notable positions. Professors Newell has been Director for the past Kathy Pritchard-Jones and Marie-Louise several years. These publications Professor Rosalind Smyth Newell were among the 46 individuals have addressed the important impact of Director from across all of biomedical sciences in therapies for HIV on adult life expectancy UCL Institute of Child Health 04 Research Review 2012/13 Chief Executive’s report Conducting translational research has always been central to Great Ormond Street Hospital’s (GOSH) mission to put ‘the child first and always’.