Touching Lives - December 2002

Her mother Sian, from Anglesey, North Wales, reflected: “I can think of no experience in life that compares to having a sick child, and being totally dependent on others to keep them alive. The feeling of inadequacy was terrible, it felt like being on the outside looking in on somebody else’s life.”

It was January 2001 and Erin was suffering from bronchiolitis. The condition is a severe lung disease that primarily affects babies and children, and is the most common single cause of infant hospital admissions in the UK.

For some people everyday tasks like these are enormously challenging because they have difficulty co-ordinating their movement and balance.

Action Medical Researchers are investigating how much of this difficulty is due to the fact that such patients cannot move their eyes to look accurately at the place where they want to step. The team, based at the University of Bristol, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University, is enjoying some encouraging results.

Did you know that before a new medicine is launched, the extensive set of trials — to determine if it is safe to use and the dosages are set at correct levels — are carried out on adults? And that in general, pharmaceutical companies do not test drugs specifically for use with children?

Maureen Coggrave is a registered nurse who has specialised in spinal cord injuries for many years. She decided to do an MSc in research techniques, focusing on aspects of bowel management for people who have had spinal cord injuries.

Her RTF will develop the themes of her MSc, and will have three distinct stages: