University of Birmingham: Highly regarded research from the College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Last month not one but four papers from researchers in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences (MDS) were published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, which provides unparalleled global reach and impact on health.

Selection by the top-tier journal shows that these studies have been recognised as both high quality and impactful. The achievement demonstrates that College researchers are delivering on the University of Birmingham’s strategic goal to conduct research that matters.

The first paper by Professor Hodgetts Morton and team, published on 20 October 2022, details the results of a study to determine which type of suture thread would be safest to use in surgery to prevent pre-term birth. The study found that a single-stranded wire reduced the risk of infection in cervical cerclage, a procedure carried out to minimise pregnancy loss.

The following week, two papers were published on safer surgery from the NIHR Global Research Health Unit on Global Surgery. Both have the potential to improve practice around the world, particularly in low to middle income countries. The first looked at the benefits of changing gloves and instruments before wound closure and the other considered how to ensure elective surgeries can continue in the face of disruption, such as the recent pandemic.

The results of a Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit study looking at the most appropriate treatment for Ewing sarcoma, a soft tissue cancer most common in childhood, were published at the end of October 2022. The trial has led to a change in practice in Europe as the results showed that the treatment route previously favoured in the US was most effective