Critical care research team awarded first-ever NIHR Impact Prize

Lucy Stronach receiving the NIHR Impact Przie on behalf of the Imperial Critical Care Research team.

A research team from Imperial has been awarded one of the first ever National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Impact Prizes.

These awards recognise major improvements in health over the last two decades, driven by research and scientific advances. The Imperial Critical Care Research team, represented by early-career researcher Lucy Stronach, received the award at a ceremony in Birmingham from Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department of Health and Social Care and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR.

The Imperial Critical Care Research team, based in the Department of Surgery and Cancer has significantly improved the care of severely ill patients with sepsis in intensive care, including those with COVID-19. Over 10 years, the team has led 5 different drug trials to improve care, including a trial that recruited 5,500 patients with COVID-19 and investigated 13 different treatments. When reviewing the submission, the judging panel commented: “This vital work played a major role in the international response to COVID.”

Their research into the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab in treating the virus saved hundreds of thousands of lives, reducing time in hospital and helping patients recover faster. These results have been used in the NHS and informed World Health Organisation guidelines, ensuring that people around the globe could benefit.

The new NIHR Impact Prizes have been awarded to researchers and teams who have had a major impact on the health and wealth of the nation, and globally. They celebrate researchers who have maximised the impact of their research by improving people’s lives or promoting economic growth.

Commenting at the event, Lucy said: “It's been really amazing to be here - I'm here on behalf of the rest of my team, and I know they all really want to be here tonight.

"I think during peak times especially, when we have so many patients to recruit and so many things to do, it can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes, so to get recognition for our work as a team has been amazing.”

Commenting on the award of the prize, Professor Anthony Gordon, who leads the Critical Care Research team said: “I am delighted to see the hard work of the team recognised in this way. Over more than 10 years we have grown a team dedicated to saving lives and improving recovery from sepsis and COVID-19 through rigorous clinical trials. It shows what can be achieved when research is embedded into everyday healthcare in the NHS.”

The team’s work has been funded by multiple NIHR grants and programmes over a decade. Clinical trials run by the team are also supported by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, as well as funding from the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The BRC is a translational research partnership between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London, which was awarded £95m in 2022 to continue developing new experimental treatments and diagnostics for patients.