Softened Water Eczema Trial wins best paper at BAD Annual Conference
The Softened Water Eczema Trial (SWET) was published in PLOS Medicine earlier this year, and is the first study of it's kind in the world. We are proud to announce it won the 'Best paper' award at the 2011 BAD Conference. The study involved 336 children and showed that installing a water softener for 3 months brought no additional relief for eczema sufferers. It had been hoped from anecdotal reports that water softeners would provide simple but effective relief for eczema sufferers. However, the trial showed no objective difference in outcomes between the children whose homes were fitted with water softeners and those without. Further details can be found at http://www.swet-trial.co.uk
Calling all clinicians who treat patients with cellulitis!
Prior to publication of the PATCH trial results at the B.A.D conference in July, we are keen to establish how you currently treat patients with cellulitis of the leg. We are conducting a survey to all clinicians who treat cellulitis patients and a donation of £1 will be made to the British Skin Foundation for every response received. The survey is very straightforward and should not take more than a few minutes. Please click here to complete the survey .
Top 10 Vitiligo Uncertainties Defined!
The vitiligo prioritisation exercise is now complete and the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology are delighted to reveal the Top 10 treatment uncertainties for vitiligo. After a lot of work and wide consultation the most important research questions have been identified. For more details see the vitiligo study newsletter here or visit their website www.vitiligostudy.org.uk where you can see the results and what our next steps will be for research into the treatment of vitiligo.
GREAT Database - CEBD Launch New Database of Eczema Trials
The Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology have created a database chronicling all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for eczema. The 'Global Resource of Eczema Trials' (GREAT) is a unique resource which brings together all RCTs from 2000 to 2009 in one easy to use database. Since atopic eczema is such a large topic, it is difficult and time consuming to identify all the relevant RCTs published to date from the thousands of records covered when searching. There is much duplicated effort in finding and appraising such trials. The aim of this database is to speed up eczema research in the future. View the database at http://www.greatdatabase.org.uk
Professor Hywel Williams appointed Chair of HTA Commissioning Board
The Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology is proud to announce that it's Director, Professor Hywel Williams, has been appointed as Chair of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Commissioning Board. This will be a five year appointment and includes the role of Deputy Director of the HTA Programme.
Full recruitment acheived for PATCH, the UKDCTN's first RCT
We are delighted to be able to let you know that recruitment has been completed and indeed the target has been exceeded for the PATCH cellulitis trial. The 260 target was reached before the deadline, making it by far the largest trial in cellulitis prevention.
Hywel Williams, Chair of the UK DCTN said "PATCH is the first trial that the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network has taken on and has been delivered by true grit, imagination and sheer determination. It is a testament to the collaborative nature of all the investigators involved and a sign that we can achieve something much bigger in this country by working together."
PATCH Trial recruitment reaches 200 - August 2009
PATCH Trial Manager, Katharine Foster is pleased to report that they have successfully recruited 200 participants to the trial which is looking at treatment for cellulitis of the leg. See the latest PATCH newsletter here or visit their website www.patchtrial.co.uk .
STOP GAP Trial Website Launched- July 2009
STOP GAP Trial Manager, Eleanor Mitchell announced today that the dedicated website for the STOP GAP trial is now up and running. View the website now and found out the latest on this trial looking at treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum http://www.stopgaptrial.co.uk
500th Member joins the UK DCTN!
From our humble beginings in 2002 with 82 members we have grown from strength to strength and today we are very pleased to announce that our membership now exceeds 500. We would like to acknowledge the 500th member to join up, who is Dr Taibjee, a Consultant Dermatologist from Birmingham. The prize of a free place at this years EBU meeting goes to him as well as the obligatory goodie box! Thank you to everyone, members old and new, who have supported us and continue to support us in our work.
BLISTER Study opens for recruitment - March 2009
The UK DCTN BLISTER study is now open for recruitment. Thanks to the hard work of Trial Manager, Caroline Onions, eight study sites have been given the go ahead to start recruiting to the BLISTER trial, with more to open very soon. This study is looking into the uncommon condition of bullous pemphigoid. Go to our BLISTER page for more information.
New UK DCTN SpR Fellowship and Nursing Prize Award Winners - January 2009
We are pleased to announce that Dr Emma Smith and Dr Fiona Craig are the latest SpR's to benefit from our fellowship scheme. Emma is currently working on rotation in Wales and Fiona is based in Aberdeen. The range of activities offered by our fellowship can be viewed here. The nursing prize goes to Gemma Minifie who works at St John's Institute, London. Well done all.
If you interested in applying for next years awards keep checking this website for our next call for applications later this year. More information can be found on the UKDCTN awards page.
New UK DCTN Trial Receives Funding
We are very pleased to announce that our funding bid to the NIHR for a phase II trial on lentigo maligna has been successful. This two year trial will be funded under the Research for Patient Benefit Programme. The Chief Investigator, Dr Jerry Marsden, based in Birmingham, will be looking at the effect of topical imiquimod on lentigo maligna. A trial manager will be appointed in the New Year. For more information see our 'Trials in Development' page.
CEBD shortlisted for BMJ Group Awards - February 2009
We are very proud to announce that the Centre for Evidence Based Dermatology has been shortlisted for the British Medical Journal Group awards 2009 for 'outstanding achievement in evidence based healthcare'. For more information about these awards and the candidates follow this link http://group.bmj.com/products/group-awards
New Trial Managers Appointed - November 2008
We are a hive of activity at the moment with our BLISTER (Bullous pemphigoid) and STOP GAP (Pyoderma Gangrenosum) trials being set up. There are two new trial managers to take on the work load of these two important clinical trials - Eleanor Mitchell will be running STOP GAP and Caroline Onions is the BLISTER trial manager. Welcome aboard!
Chair of UKCRN Skin Specialty Group - 10 July 2008
We are very pleased to announce that Hywel Williams has been offered the Chairmanship of the NIHR/UKCRN national Skin Specialty Group. Dermatology is one of 26 priority areas identified for coverage by the Comprehensive Local Research Networks. Specialty groups will have an important part to play in the successful delivery of high quality clinical research through the NIHR Comprehensive Clinical Research Network.
The role of the specialty groups will be to provide early advice on potential studies and decide if it is 'do-able' in the NHS, to assess the feasibility of studies and their acceptibility to patients, advise the UKCRN on all dermatology aspects of studies in the CCRN portfolio, and advise adoption committees regarding trials which are not automatically eligible for portfolio. The Group will look at both commercial and non-commercial trials. This is a new and exciting role in a process that is still evolving.
NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research awarded - July 2008
The Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology, University of Nottingham, has won £1,930,186 in the only award of it's kind for dermatology. The research will focus on eczema prevention, vitiligo, squamous cell skin cancer and pyoderma gangrenosum. The latter will be a Network study (STOP GAP) following on from our current pilot STOP GAP Study. For more information see the news release on the CEBD website: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/dermatology/
UK DCTN receives Trent RDSU Research Capacity Development Award - 2 January 2008
We have been successful in our application to receive a Research Capacity Development Award from the Trent RDSU. This is a one year project that will help us strengthen our links with the primary care community in the Trent region. The main aims of the project will be to increase clinical trials awareness and training for primary care health professionals, encourage GPs and practice nurses to become active members of the UK DCTN, and identify priorities for primary care dermatology trials that can be developed through the Network. If this local pilot is successful, it has the potential to be rolled out across the UK.
Continued Funding for the Network Co-ordinating Centre - 15th November 2007
The Department of Health has agreed to funding a further extension to the UK DCTN Co-ordinating Centre to September 2009. After that time it is expected that the Network will need to reconfigure within the UK Clinical Research Network structures. Many thanks to all Network members for your continued support.
UK DCTN Fellowship Awards - 1 October 2007
We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2007 UK DCTN SpR Fellowship awards. The successful applicants are Dr Jonathan Batchelor (Cambridge) and Dr John Ingram (Cardiff). As part of the fellowship programme they will join the UK DCTN Steering Committee and a trial development group, and will visit the UK DCTN co-ordinating centre early next year for further training opportunities.
There are two Nursing Prizes of £500 up for grabs. The closing date for applications is 28th February 2008. For further details and how to apply, follow this link .
We are very pleased to announce that our bid (820K) to the NIHR HTA has been successful (subject to contract). This will be a randomised controlled trial to compare the safety and effectiveness of doxycycline with prednisolone for the treatment of bullous pemphigoid. The lead clinician for this study is Professor Fenella Wojnaroska in Oxford.
Funding Awarded for STOP GAP Pilot Study - 17 July 2007
We have been awarded 10K from the British Skin Foundation (BSF) small grants scheme to fund a pilot/feasibility study for the STOP GAP RCT which will compare the use of topical and oral treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum patients. The lead clinician for this study is Dr Tony Ormerod in Aberdeen.
UK DCTN Trial Adoption Scheme - 30 July 2007
In line with developments within the UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN) we have developed an adoption process for non-commercial dermatology clinical trials that have been developed by other groups. Please click here for details .
Important HTA review on recruitment and conduct of clinical trials - 29 November 2007
The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) have recently published a review on recruiting onto randomised controlled trials. Follow this link to see a summary of the report .
