Research
Research
BIRD funds research and supports the next generation of researchers into bone and joint diseases.
Our achievements have included training more than 25 PhD students, 20 clinical research fellows and 10 post-doctoral research assistants. We had significant involvement in developing anti-TNF therapy, one of the treatments for patients with severe arthritic diseases who have failed to improve with standard medicines, and BIRD funded staff are internationally recognised for identifying or characterising new and tiny parts of the immune system (novel autoantibodies) that are not working properly in patients with connective tissue diseases.
Research Grants
BIRD welcomes applications for grants in support of research.
We focus on awarding pump prime funding for smaller projects undertaken in or from Bath for the benefit of patients worldwide. We fund research projects in rheumatic diseases which:
- help to promote and advance medical knowledge
- improve treatments for patients
- encourage collaboration between clinicians and research scientists
We look to award pump priming funding of small to medium-sized grants that would be ideally suited to pilot studies, preliminary research, tests of clinical effectiveness or would enable other grants to be made for the above research. Our guideline for grant amounts is £10,000 – £20,000 but we may consider greater amounts, please contact the Executive Director (ED) before submission. We encourage match funding where the applicant has secured funding from another source.
The Research Assessment Group meets twice a year to make awards totalling £80,000 – the application deadlines are 31st May and 30th November.
Apply for a research grant
To apply for a research grant from BIRD, please read our grant awarding policy click here to see our full grant awarding policy and use our grant application form below.
Apply for a research grant
To apply for a research grant from BIRD, please read our grant awarding policy click here to see our full grant awarding policy and use our grant application form below.
Research projects funded by BIRD
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Project Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| Utility of a novel imaging biomarker for the identification of excess cardiovascular risk in auto-immune rheumatic diseases | RUH Bath | £19,950.92 | Jessica Ellis | Research Grant | Click here | August 2024 | ||||||
| Promoting the regression of angiogenesis in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis | University of Bath | £19,953.00 | Amanda Mackenzie | Research Grant | Click here | February 2025 | ||||||
| Knowledge exchange of IP-MS method at KU Leuven | University of Bath | £2,720.00 | Fionnuala McMorrow | Research Grant | Click here | July 2024 | ||||||
| Assessing the Vascular Endothelium in Systemic sclerosis associated Pulmonary hypertension to improve Early and Rapid diagnosis (VESPER) | RUH Bath | £20,000.00 | Joseph Page | Research Grant | Click here | September 2025 | ||||||
| EULAR/BSR/Other bursaries | N/A | Max £10,000 | Various | Conference Bursary for BSR | To follow | August 2024 | ||||||
| Other awards including RUH Database Team Laptop and £50 vouchers for external reviewers | Various | £1,028.00 | Various
|
Funding Request | N/A | March 2024 |
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Project Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| DATa Analytics for PAtient Scheduling (DATAPAS) | University of Bath | £19,998.00 | Özgür Şimşek
|
Research Grant | Click here | March 2023 | ||||||
| Summer Studenstship | University of Bath | £3,120.00 | Louis Godtfredsen | Studentship | Click here | August 22 | ||||||
| How common is VEXAS syndrome in an adult rheumatology population? Multicentre study over 3 sites in South West England | University of Bath | £20,000.00 | Ben Mulhearn | Research Grant | Click here | August 24 | ||||||
| Nick Hall bursary awards | BIRD | £2,000.00 | Various | Bursary | Click here | December 22 | ||||||
| BSR/EULAR bursary’s | BIRD | £4,620.00 | Various | Bursary | Click here | August 23 | ||||||
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Project Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| Medication use during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes in women with chronic inflammatory disease | University of Bath | £14,695.00 | Anita McGrogan and Rachel Charlton | Research Grant | Click here | January 2023 | ||||||
| Identifying support needs for rheumatology patients following COVID-19 shielding | UWE/RNHRD/Uni | £19,766.00 | Dr William Tillett | Research Grant | Click here | September 2022 | ||||||
| NIHR Clinical Lecturer post | University of Bath | £2,000.00
(year 4 of 4) |
Dr Sarah Tansley | NIHR Clinical Lecturer | As in previous years | Completed June 2021 | ||||||
| Conference Bursary for BSR | N/A | Max £300 | Jade Skeates | Conference Bursary for BSR | Click here | Completed May 2022 | ||||||
| Conference Bursary for BSR | N/A | Max £300 | Dr Ben Mulhearn | Conference Bursary for BSR | Click here | Completed May 2022 | ||||||
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Lay Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| Non-Invasive Parameters of Pulmonary Hypertension in Scleroderma | RUH | £11,500.00 | Dr Jennifer Rossdale | Research Grant | Click here | August 2022 | ||||||
| Building on experience during the COVID-19 pandemic to maximise virtual consultations in Rheumatology care | University of Bath | £20,000.00 | Dr Fiona Gillinson & Dr Paula Smith | Research Grant | Click here | December 2021 | ||||||
| Extensions awarded to ongoing projects effected by Covid-19 | N/A | £23,216.50
|
N/A | Cost extensions | N/A | N/A | ||||||
| PhD studentship focussing on autoantibody sensing for early diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of rheumatic diseases | University of Bath | £15,000.00 (year 4 of 4) | Dr Stefan Bagby | PhD Scholarship
for CTI, University of Bath
|
As in previous years | March 2022 | ||||||
| NIHR Clinical Lecturer post | University of Bath | £24,107.00
(year 3 of 4) |
Dr Sarah Tansley | NIHR Clinical Lecturer | As in previous years | Completed June 2021 |
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Lay Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| Validation of the myositis specific antibody profiles in an Indian Cohort of patients with inflammatory myositis | University of Bath | £17,368.55 | Dr Latika Gupta | Research Grant | Click here | July 2022 | ||||||
| The Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis Support Tool (POST) study | University of Bath | £11,865.00 | Dr Carly McKay | Research Grant | Click here | Completed July 2021 | ||||||
| Characterising autoantibodies in patients with Juvenile-onset scleroderma | University of Bath | £10,795.00 | Dr Sarah Tansley | Research Grant | Click here | January 2023 | ||||||
| Validation of 3D ultrasonography for the analysis of spinal load in Axial Spondyloarthritis | University of Bath | £4,136.00 | Dr Dario Cazzola | Research Grant | Click here | March 2021 TBC | ||||||
| PhD studentship focussing on autoantibody sensing for early diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of rheumatic diseases | University of Bath | £15,000.00 (year 3 of 4) | Dr Stefan Bagby | PhD Scholarship
for CTI, University of Bath
|
As in previous years | March 2022 | ||||||
| NIHR Clinical Lecturer post | University of Bath | £24,107.00
(year 2 of 4) |
Dr Sarah Tansley | NIHR Clinical Lecturer | As in previous years | Completed June 2021 |
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Lay Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| The impact that chronic inflammatory diseases and medication have on the health of mother and baby during pregnancy
|
University of Bath | £5,630.00 | Anita McGrogan | Research Grant | Click here | Project not started | ||||||
| Identifying novel pathogenic molecular pathways and therapeutic targets in systemic sclerosis | University of Bath | £9,900.00 | John Pauling | Research Grant | Click here | Completed September 2019 | ||||||
| Exploring educational challenges in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis | University of Bath | £25,597.00 | Abbie Jordan | Research Grant | Click here | Completed July 2021 | ||||||
| Follow on research on the characterisation of the immune cell populations in psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis using single cell RNA sequencing | University of Bath | £7,300.00 | Mark Lindsay | Extended Research Grant | Click here | Completed July 2021 | ||||||
| PhD studentship focussing on autoantibody sensing for early diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of rheumatic diseases | University of Bath | £15,000.00 (year 2 of 4) | Dr Stefan Bagby | PhD Scholarship
for CTI, University of Bath |
As in previous years | March 2022 | ||||||
| NIHR Clinical Lecturer post | University of Bath | £24,107.00
(year 1 of 4) |
Dr Sarah Tansley | NIHR Clinical Lecturer | Click here | Completed June 2021 |
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Lay Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| Adherence to anti-TNF therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis | University of Bath | £2,000.00 | Kishwar Khanum | Summer Studentship | Click here | Completed September 2017 | ||||||
| Further comparison of the ease of use of inhaler devices in people with and without rheumatoid arthritis | University of Bath | £2,000.00 | Natasha Kilpatrick | Summer Studentship | Click here | Completed September 2017 | ||||||
| Development of ELISAs for the detection of novel myositis autoantibodies (TIF1 alpha, TIF beta and PUF60) in UKMyoNet patients | University of Bath | £24,887.38 | Neil McHugh/Danni Li | Research Grant | Click here | July 2022 | ||||||
| Maximising the treatment benefits of physical activity for patients with ankylosing spondylitis: Tackling long-term adherence and maintenance | University of Bath | £33,815.00 | Peter Rouse | Research Grant | Click here | March 2022 | ||||||
| BIRD Therapeutics PhD Scholarship
for the Centre for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Bath |
University of Bath | £15,000.00 (year 1 of 4) | Dr Stefan Bagby | PhD Studentship | Click here | March 2022 |
| Project Title | Organisation | Amount | Project Lead | Type | Lay Summary | Expected Completion Date | ||||||
| ASCAM Study: A qualitative interview study of complementary and alternative medicine therapy use by people with ankylosing spondylitis | University of Bath | £5,506.03 | Dr Abbie Jordan | Research Grant | Click here | Completed June 2021 | ||||||
| Ankylosing Spondylitis and Work project, a biomechanics approach to inform self-management programme | University of Bath | £30,000.00 | Dr Dario Cazzola | Research Grant | Click here | Jan 2022 | ||||||
| An epidemiological study of systemic sclerosis and its association with cancer in the UK using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) | University of Bath | £30,000.00 | Dr John Pauling | Research Grant | Click here | Dec 2021 | ||||||
| Characterisation of the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells populations in psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis using single cell sequencing | University of Bath | £9,895.00 | Prof Mark Lindsay | Research Grant | Click here | Completed July 2019 |