The new Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Ray Hassall, headed straight for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) after taking up office.

Coun Hassall’s first official engagement was a visit to the 2015 Research Showcase at the QEHB, which coincided with International Clinical Trials Day.

The annual showcase gives patients and visitors the chance to learn about the latest developments in more than 20 different areas of research University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust and its partners are currently involved in.

UHB is part of Birmingham Health Partners involving the QE hospital, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The Health Research Bus was on site for the showcase to demonstrate how clinical trials work while a giant inflatable colon was used to demonstrate facts about digestive illness.

There was also the chance to try out the Rex-Exoskeleton Trousers, which aim to help wheelchair users walk again, and the Sensium vital sign patch, a wearable patch that monitors your life signs.

The Lord Mayor, who has championed medical research after losing his son and sister to cancer, was greeted by QEHB Executive Director of Delivery Tim Jones and Head of R&D Operations Jo Plumb and spent an hour touring the showcase talking to staff, visitors and patients.

Tim said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the amazing work our researchers, nurses, doctors and scientists are working on to make new treatments and technology available to our patients and public.”

Jo added that UHB’s research showcase is an annual event supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ‘Ok to Ask About Research’ campaign. The NIHR fund several research programmes in Birmingham and also International Clinical Trials Day, with national events across the country.