PROUD history

We are a recognised leader in medical research for bone, cardiac, endocrine, gastrointestinal, neurosciences and long-term conditions such as diabetes and lung disease, and offer first-class medical, nursing and dental student training with our academic partners, including the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam.   

We also host a number of national projects including Devices for Dignity as well as being a partner in the South Yorkshire Integrated Care System and the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine.   

Some examples of our research breakthroughs include:

• Launching a world-first trial testing if stem cell transplantation can be used as a first line treatment for patients with ‘aggressive’ multiple sclerosis instead of when other treatments have failed 
• Pionneering a first-of-its-kind trial which could fundamentally change the way advanced bladder cancer is treated by matching treatments to genetic information found within their individual cancer. Researchers hope the study will improve survival rates, and boost quality of life for patients following surgery
• Offering a 'moment of hope' for motor neurone disease by showing that an innovative drug that uses gene silencing could slow and even reverse some of the physical decline caused by the disease in patients with the rare SODI gene  
• Developing and testing a new breakthrough at-home test which uses saliva rather than blood could provide a simpler, quicker way to diagnose adrenal insufficiency – a common disorder caused by the lack of the body’s main stress hormone, cortisol
• Investigating the effectiveness of three treatments in relieving pain in patients who suffer with diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) which develops in around 50 per cent of patients with diabetes. The key findings could influence future treatment guidelines for diabetic neuropathy in the UK and across the world  
• Pioneering an artificial intelligence tool which is able to spot heart damage on MRI heart scans in seconds, speeding up diagnosis and improving future heart disease care. The team behind the tool won the Future NHS Award category at the national 2023 NHS Parliamentary Awards
• Launching an innovative Nurse, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Research Internship Programme leading to the development of four novel research projects including a study looking at why certain ethnic groups are less likely to be treated for lung cancer in the region. 
• A new study aimed at understanding why surgery is not considered sooner for many people living with ileocaecal Crohn’s – one of the most common forms of Crohn’s disease, a lifelong inflammatory gut condition.