A recent open day showcase allowed patients, visitors and staff to get a glimpse of the important medical research being carried out at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB).

The Trust held the showcase, featuring a wealth of medical and scientific teams, in the atrium at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) on Friday 20 May.

Held as part of International Clinical Trials Day, the event included information about:

• a pioneering UHB study to look at how sugar can be used to help the healing process of wounds
• a study to see if diet and nutrition can improve outcomes for kidney transplant patients
• research into how bone marrow stem cells can have a beneficial effect on patients with liver disease

As well as displays, talks and presentations, visitors were able to get "up close and personal" with tests to find out:

• how stiff their arteries were
• how "old" their skin was
• how good their joints were
• how sensitive they were to pain

Peter Bracken, 62, of Sutton Coldfield, who was visiting his wife at QEHB, said it was a fascinating display, but declined to find out how old his skin was.

“I had some spare time so thought I would have a look round,” he said. “I didn’t know there was so much going on at the hospital.”

GCSE school pupils from Harborne Academy in Birmingham also took the opportunity to visit the showcase.

Joanne Plumb, head of Research and Development Operations at UHB, said the day had proved a huge success: “It was a fabulous event, and a wonderful way to showcase the research we are doing here.

“We were delighted to have had so many visitors to the display stands. The skin age demonstrator was a real showstopper – there were long queues for that exhibition.

“It’s important to raise awareness about the research work we do here and in turn encourage more people to take part in clinical trials.”