On 26 November 2025, the Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) hosted its annual conference at the Albert Hall Conference Centre, Nottingham. The event brought together research leaders, clinicians, and patient advocates to explore strategies to tackle health inequalities and foster innovation.
I attended this local NIHR centre meeting as part of ongoing ISRCTN outreach work, following several years of engagement with the NIHR School of Social Care Research (SSCR). Our aim is for learning and to identify opportunities to connect with research communities that often do not register their studies and may not realise they can (and should) for transparency.
Content themes and highlights
• Health equity and public engagement: NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre Director Prof. Ian Hall opened with a call to address disparities in research participation. Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul’s keynote highlighted creative approaches to child health equity through science and the arts.
• Mental health inclusivity: Dr Neil Nixon and colleagues presented the MH-TRC Mission, focusing on inclusive mental health research.
• Scientific innovation: Highlights included:
o Prof. Amir Ghaemmaghami’s multiorgan platform for MASLD research.
o Dr Kathryn Fackrell’s iShush digital intervention for hyperacusis.
o Dr George Gordon’s imaging technology for 3D cancer mapping.
• Future health initiatives: Prof. Michael B. Cook introduced Our Future Health, a platform for translational research.
• Additional sessions explored food insecurity, climate change impacts on gut-brain health, and brain health in clinical practice.
A personal highlight was that the conference featured multiple presentations co-delivered by researchers and patient advocates, reinforcing the BRC’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and impactful research. The lived experience expertise strengthens the work by ensuring that our hypotheses, measurement choices, and interpretations are grounded in the realities of people directly affected. Involving a lived experience expert as a collaborative partner enhances the clinical relevance, ethical robustness, and translational potential of these projects.
Outcome and what’s next?
• Increase ISRCTN visibility: Feedback revealed low awareness of ISRCTN compared to ClinicalTrials.gov. Build resources for future outreach, emphasising that observational studies benefit from registration, as well as interventional studies.
• Simplify engagement: Researchers cited time constraints and lack of admin support as barriers to the registration of observational studies. Recent changes to the ISRCTN application form are already making the registration process simpler and quicker. Resources that are currently available need highlighting to further demonstrate the ease of registration.
• Build relationships within the community: Strengthen connections made with contacts. Opportunities include:
o Scheduling follow-up calls to discuss registration challenges and solutions.
o Collaborating on outreach initiatives to raise awareness of study registration in this underserved research community.
Call to action: If you have ideas for outreach partnerships related to interventional and observational studies, please get in touch with the ISRCTN team.
ISRCTN is hoping to attend this year's SSCR Annual Research Conference in Bristol.
Poster image: Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul giving her keynote address.