Request for Applications: Urinary Tract Infections Research Initiative (United Kingdom and Ireland)

The Urology Foundation is committed to driving change in the field of UTIs and to improving the lives of and outlook for patients and their families.

Priorities

• Some key priorities were agreed and they are particularly interested in projects which seek to address one or more of the following:
  • Research that builds on current knowledge and clinical practices in managing UTIs, for example (but not limited to):
    • Characterizing the different groups of recurrent UTI (rUTI) patients, to identify similarities and differences to inform personalized care.
    • Building on existing data and projects to provide better evidence for treatments, including exploring the suitability of routine NHS data to study outcomes at scale.
  • Improving on the current, available treatments to maximize patient benefit, for example (but not limited to):
    • Identifying crossover or synergy between treatments, maximizing effective use of existing antibiotics, where they are indicated, or looking at alternative treatments.
    • Symptom alleviation: the pain associated with severe and rUTIs can be distressing and there are few effective treatments available to counteract persistent pain.
    • Research into personalized treatments.
  • Improving diagnostics for example (but not limited to):
    • Work which seeks to pin down an agreed consensus on the definition of a UTI.
    • Improved understanding of the causes of UTIs.
    • Genetic or environmental predisposition to UTIs.

Funding Information

• They are open to considering a variety of project submissions, ranging from one year research proposals to larger studies of up to 3 years. The maximum single award available is £250,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• They would particularly welcome applications which are collaborative and or multi-center projects and which demonstrate how information can be better shared among and between scientists, research professionals and clinicians throughout the UK and Ireland working on UTI rUTI research.
  • Applications are invited from:
    • Scientists and or clinician researchers working in UK or Irish institutions
    • Primary and or secondary care clinicians managing UTIs, including GPs, consultants, trainees, nurses and allied health professionals.
• The Principal Investigator (PI) must be UK or Ireland based and work must be primarily undertaken in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Collaborations with overseas partners are permitted.

Review Criteria

• Applications will be reviewed by members of The Urology Foundations’ Scientific and Education Committee. Potential conflicts of interest will be screened and external reviewers sought where appropriate.

For more information, visit  The Urology Foundation.