{"id":1500,"date":"2025-12-10T11:43:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/?p=1500"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:25:02","slug":"fs-hobkirk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/fs-hobkirk\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding Award &#8211; Feasibility Study:  Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">INFORM are delighted to announce the funding award for a Feasibility Study\u00a0 Project <strong>\u201dA Double blind, placebo controlled 6- week pre-operative randomised clinical trial of a microbiome modulator &#8220;WellBiome&#8221; versus placebo on cardiac surgical outcomes and NHS cost savings\u201d<\/strong>, led by Dr James Hobkirk.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\"><strong>Project Team:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">Dr James Hobkirk, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (PI)<br \/>\nDr Sofia Kolida, Optibiotix Health PLC<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">This project targets the significant clinical and operational challenges associated with cardiac surgery recovery within the NHS. Older adults undergoing major cardiac procedures often experience prolonged hospital stays, postoperative complications, and heightened inflammation\u2014all of which contribute to substantial healthcare burden and costs. Emerging evidence suggests that poor gut microbiome resilience before surgery may worsen recovery outcomes.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"755\" data-end=\"758\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"781\" data-end=\"799\"><strong>Project Aims:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"781\" data-end=\"799\">The study aims to:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"801\" data-end=\"1451\">\n<li data-start=\"801\" data-end=\"1006\">\n<p data-start=\"803\" data-end=\"1006\">Conduct a <strong data-start=\"813\" data-end=\"878\">double-blind, placebo-controlled pre-operative clinical trial<\/strong> to evaluate whether six weeks of supplementation with the microbiome modulator <em data-start=\"958\" data-end=\"969\">WellBiome<\/em> improves cardiac surgery outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1007\" data-end=\"1130\">\n<p data-start=\"1009\" data-end=\"1130\">Assess key clinical endpoints, including <strong data-start=\"1049\" data-end=\"1061\">ICU time<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"1063\" data-end=\"1094\">postoperative complications<\/strong>, and <strong data-start=\"1100\" data-end=\"1127\">length of hospital stay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1131\" data-end=\"1268\">\n<p data-start=\"1133\" data-end=\"1268\">Measure <strong data-start=\"1141\" data-end=\"1165\">microbiome diversity<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"1167\" data-end=\"1192\">systemic inflammation<\/strong>, and <strong data-start=\"1198\" data-end=\"1229\">cardiovascular risk markers<\/strong> to understand biological mechanisms.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1269\" data-end=\"1344\">\n<p data-start=\"1271\" data-end=\"1344\">Evaluate <strong data-start=\"1280\" data-end=\"1300\">NHS cost savings<\/strong> using validated health-economic analysis.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1345\" data-end=\"1451\">\n<p data-start=\"1347\" data-end=\"1451\">Collect <strong data-start=\"1355\" data-end=\"1375\">patient feedback<\/strong> and utilise sample data to inform future <strong data-start=\"1417\" data-end=\"1450\">prebiotic product development<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1456\" \/>\n<p><strong>Potential Impact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This project has significant scientific, clinical, and commercial potential. It will generate the first RCT evidence on using pre-operative prebiotics to improve cardiac surgical outcomes, addressing a major gap in recovery research. Findings could show reductions in complications, hospital stay, and NHS costs, supporting wider adoption of microbiome-based interventions.<\/p>\n<p>The study will also guide the development of next-generation WellBiome products by identifying beneficial bacterial strains, strengthen NHS\u2013industry leadership in microbiome-focused surgical optimisation, and provide a foundation for larger trials across multiple surgical specialities.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 59.1226%;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: none\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"border-style: none\">\n<td style=\"width: 20.5718%;border-style: none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112517.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1501 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112517.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"77\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 35.3614%;border-style: none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112744.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1502 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112744-643x250.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"149\" height=\"58\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112744-643x250.png 643w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-10-112744.png 705w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 149px) 100vw, 149px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INFORM are delighted to announce the funding award for a Feasibility Study\u00a0 Project \u201dA Double blind, placebo controlled 6- week pre-operative randomised clinical trial of a microbiome modulator &#8220;WellBiome&#8221; versus&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#105;&#110;&#102;&#111;&#114;&#109;&#45;&#105;&#110;&#110;&#111;&#118;&#97;&#116;&#105;&#111;&#110;&#45;&#104;&#117;&#98;&#47;&#102;&#115;&#45;&#104;&#111;&#98;&#107;&#105;&#114;&#107;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":711,"featured_media":1483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"coauthors":[13],"class_list":["post-1500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Feasibility-Study-Funding-Announcement.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Fiona Lee","author_link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/author\/jk903657reading-ac-uk\/"},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/711"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1515,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions\/1515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}