At Southampton Hospitals Charity, our vision is for Southampton to be a city of good health, enabled by outstanding medical care and innovative, world-leading research.

Research is at the heart of our mission to improve the health of our community. By funding ground-breaking studies, we empower clinical and academic researchers to advance understanding and treatment across a wide range of conditions and specialties – all with the aim of changing and saving lives.

We work with thousands of patient and public volunteers to conduct research driving the next generation of treatments and care. These studies involve both patients and healthy volunteers.

“Supporting the thriving research community within our hospitals and university is a key part of Southampton Hospitals Charity’s work. With a local focus on advancing medical research, we help drive innovations that have a global reach – ensuring patients here and around the world benefit from the latest advancements in care and treatment.”

Ellis Banfield – Southampton Hospitals Charity Chief Executive

“The support from Southampton Hospitals Charity has been instrumental in driving local research with the potential to make a global impact. By investing in pioneering studies right here in our community, the charity is not only transforming care for patients locally but also shaping breakthroughs that resonate far beyond our region.” Professor Chris Byrne

How Charity support has impacted the hospital?

• We supported the REFLEX study- Led by Professor Chris Byrne, this ground-breaking research is tackling a hidden health risk for people with type 2 diabetes: liver disease. 
• We supported the CANDO-3 Trial- This study looks at the amount of muscle and fat in the body and how it might affect the side effects of chemotherapy.
• Using the power of artificial intelligence to save lives: Many patients in hospital suffer sudden, unexpected and life-threatening deterioration such as septic shock or cardiac arrest. The death rate from these events is very high (as much as 75%), however many could have been prevented or lives saved if earlier warning – even a few hours – had been given. University Hospital Southampton is leading a ground-breaking project to use every piece of digitally available data to give a highly personalised, accurate risk score so we can harness the immense power of machine learning (artificial intelligence) and use it to save lives.
• We gave £5,000 from our coronavirus response fund to help the development of respirator hoods for our frontline healthcare workers and support staff to use with Covid+ patients. At the start of the pandemic, a collaboration of University and Hospital staff, with industry partners, developed prototype reusable, battery-powered respirators (PeRSo) as alternative PPE to standard disposable face masks. After initial trials, widespread deployment was approved; in the first wave, over 1,500 PeRSos were used, and over 3,500 were used during the second wave, all individually requested by staff.
•  We funded research into amblyopia (lazy eye) conditions in children. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, almost 5,000 “routine” appointments have been cancelled in Southampton alone. Thanks to your donations, we have been able to fund new research to allow our Southampton Children’s Hospital clinicians to monitor children’s sight at home. The Children’s Eye Examination and Testing At Home (CHEETAH) study would initially benefit 300 children over the course of the three-year study across Hampshire and potentially have a global impact.
• We funded research into neonatal Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) – a type of brain injury that develops in babies when there is a lack of oxygen reaching the brain around the time of birth. The research project will enable a team of clinicians and scientists at Southampton Children’s Hospital to focus on improving the accuracy of the evaluation of the brain injury caused by HIE, and how this relates to later neurodevelopmental outcomes.

“The Charity’s funding came at a critical time when our study was at risk due to COVID-19 delays. This bridging support allowed us to complete our research, which would not have been possible otherwise. As a result, we’ve not only started analysis of the study for key findings, but also secured further funding to advance our understanding of breast cancer outcomes and improve patient care” – Professor Ramsey Cutress, Professor of Breast Surgery, University of Southampton

Behind every medical breakthrough is a dedicated team working to push boundaries and improve lives. Your support equips them to explore new ideas and bring treatments to patients sooner. Join us in driving life-changing breakthroughs with pioneering research- donate today.