Grant winners – 27 April 2017

National Institute for Health Research

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme

• Award winner: Arthur Kaser
• Institution: University of Cambridge
• Value: £1,165,754

IASO: a phase 2 randomised placebo-controlled double-blind trial of interleukin 1 blockade in acute severe colitis

• Award winner: Steve Turner
• Institution: University of Aberdeen
• Value: £1,531,932

Reducing asthma attacks in children using exhaled nitric oxide as a biomarker to inform treatment strategy – a randomised trial (RAACENO)

Health Services and Delivery Research programme

• Award winner: Ellen Annandale
• Institution: University of York
• Value: £511,190

Interactional practices of decision-making during childbirth in maternity units

Health Technology Assessment programme

• Award winner: Jeremy Chataway
• Institution: University College London
• Value: £3,837,156

MS-STAT2: a phase 3 randomised, double-blind, clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of repurposed simvastatin compared with placebo in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, in slowing the progression of disability

Medical Research Council

• Award winner: Adam Cunningham
• Institution: University of Birmingham
• Value: £675,514

How does inflammation regulate CLEC-2-mediated thrombosis after infection?

• Award winner: Nicky Welton
• Institution: University of Bristol
• Value: £313,485

Calibration of multiple treatment comparisons using individual patient data

• Award winner: Amelia Crampin
• Institution: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Value: £605,884

Understanding non-communicable diseases and the role of infection in Africa: building a partnership to generate big data

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Research grants

• Award winner: Brendan Gilmore
• Institution: Queen’s University Belfast
• Value: £649,998

EnvironSafe: cold plasma innovations for food safety and sustainability

• Award winner: Karim Malik
• Institution: University of Bristol
• Value: £372,107

Arginine methylation of BRD4 and its influence on transcription and genotoxic stress

In detail

Global Challenges Research Fund Foundation award

Award winner: William Kirk
Institution: Keele University
Value: £596,000

Improving food safety by reducing pesticide residues: developing a pheromone alternative to insecticides for control of thrips on legumes in Kenya

This project aims to offer an alternative to insecticides for controlling bean flower thrips – slender plant-eating insects – in cowpea (a herbaceous legume) and similar crops in Kenya. Using less pesticide will help to improve food safety, crop yields and farm workers’ health while fostering more sustainable agriculture. “Cowpea is a major crop across Africa south of the Sahara,” said William Kirk, senior lecturer in ecology and entomology in Keele University’s School of Life Sciences. “It’s an important source of protein to the urban and rural poor. Unfortunately, many smallholders apply chemical insecticides too frequently, so crops for domestic consumption often contain unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues.” The team will explore the use of a synthetic pheromone to attract and trap bean flower thrips – which are resistant to many insecticides – reducing the need for pesticides.