Celebrating all our researchers on International Clinical Trials Day

Medical students are being given a unique insight into clinical trials that can transform the way patients are being treated.

They are being offered placements with clinical trial teams to give them direct exposure to this vitally important work.

Swansea Bay has an army of often unsung heroes working behind the scenes to find the new treatments and life-saving drugs of tomorrow.

Main image above shows the Morriston Hospital team involved with the BACHb clinical trial.

The health board has a strong record in this field and is proud to highlight its brilliant researchers today, International Clinical Trials Day.

During 2024-25 alone, the health board’s research portfolio listed 158 non-commercial studies, recruiting 2,538 patients, along with 40 commercial studies, with 153 patients recruited.

Some of the trials which have been publicised over the last year include:

• Morriston Hospital participating in BACHb, a UK-wide trial to find the best treatment for poorly babies who need help with their breathing.
• Singleton Hospital’s Cancer Institute’s involvement with an international trial, Stampede, helping to revolutionise prostate cancer treatment. It will be involved in Stampede2 later this year.
• COLOSPECT, sponsored by Swansea Bay and funded by a Cancer Research Wales grant, which looks at the benefits of the addition of a simple blood test to the current screening for bowel cancer.
• CheckMate 067, again involving the Cancer Institute, which was a game-changer in treating metastatic melanoma – skin cancer which had spread around the body.
• Swansea Bay and Swansea University working on a blood test that could lead to the earlier detection and treatment of lung cancer.

Later today we’ll be publishing a news story about another clinical trial, this one involving head and neck cancer.

International Clinical Trials Day is an opportunity to recognize all that has been accomplished thanks to clinical trials and research generally, and of course the people behind them.

It falls on May 20^th as this was the date in 1774 that Royal Navy ship’s surgeon James Lind started what is considered the first randomized clinical trial, studying the effects of different treatments on scurvy in sailors.

Swansea Bay’s research might not include scurvy, but it does cover a wide range of conditions including cancer, diabetes, mental health, neurology, renal, respiratory, stroke – and many others.

Pictured are just a few of the many Swansea Bay staff involved in clinical trials.

Health board Research and Development Manager Jemma Rogers said: “Most directorates are active in research. We are extremely active in non-commercial studies but in commercial studies too.

“We have staff funded as a result of commercial studies. So these are really important in terms of income generation, but also the access to free drugs and the ability for patients to access those innovative treatments within the context of a clinical trial.”

Swansea Bay has a dedicated research delivery team. Funded by Health and Care Research Wales, the team provides the expertise required to ensure the trials run smoothly.

The health board also has an oncology trials unit, the South West Wales Cancer Institute, as well as a Joint Clinical Research Facility.

This bespoke facility, located in the Institute of Life Sciences at Singleton Hospital and at Morriston Hospital, is run jointly by the health board and Swansea University.

And there has been a more recent joint development, this time between the health board and Swansea University Medical School.

“Last year we set up placement opportunities directly with the clinical trials teams for students in the medical school,” said Jemma.

“So, as part of their rotation, they will do placements in the clinical trial units. So that is targeting medics in the early stage of their career. This is an opportunity we offer for trainee nurses too.

“They get to see what the clinical trial pathway is like, how patients are consented, how they introduce a patient to a study and talk them through it. We are one of the first health boards to do this and it has gone down really well with the students.”

Dr Nicola Williams, Director of Support and Delivery at Health and Care Research Wales, added: “As we celebrate International Clinical Trials Day I’d like to thank everyone involved in supporting clinical trials across Wales, whether you’re a patient taking part or the researchers delivering the studies.

“Everything that you do is allowing us to carry out high quality studies to improve people’s health and change lives.”