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UK MLTC Symposium 2024: Building capacity in the UK MLTC community

On 18^th April 2024, members of the ADMISSION Research Collaborative within the AGE Research Group, hosted the third annual UK MLTC Symposium.

We welcomed over a hundred academics, clinicians and patient and public representatives to this online event and provided them with the opportunity to hear about the myriad ways in which capacity is being built for future research, teaching and treatment of multiple long-term conditions (MLTC).

The event was opened by lead organiser, Professor Avan Aihie Sayer who was joined by Professor Kamlesh Khunti to deliver the keynote talk showcasing the work of the Multiple Long-Term Conditions Cross-NIHR Collaboration that they co-chair. This is a new NIHR initiative which has innovative plans for taking MLTC research forward collaboratively and includes a cross-cutting theme on capacity building.

Delegates then heard from Louise Hawkyard, Senior Programme Manager at the NIHR Coordinating Centre, who described the important role of the NIHR Academy in supporting MLTC researchers. This was followed by talks focused on building capacity in data science for MLTC research delivered by Professor Elizabeth Sapey, a co-investigator on the ADMISSION research collaborative and Director of PIONEER from the University of Birmingham, and Dr Kirstie Whitaker from the Turing Institute.

Professor Gillian Vance, Dr Steven Brown and Dr Richard Bellamy delivered insightful talks on medical education, highlighting the need for changes to undergraduate and postgraduate medical training to better equip tomorrow’s doctors in their roles providing care for the rising number of people living with MLTC.

In a final session, chaired by Professor Rachel Cooper, who is lead for research capacity development within the ADMISSION research collaborative, representatives from four MLTC Communities of Practice (CoP) (Dr Sue Bellass (Manchester Metropolitan University), Dr Stephanie Hanley (University of Birmingham), Dr Jane Masoli and Dr Luke Pilling (University of Exeter)) showcased their excellent work in rapid fire presentations. These CoP aim to bring together people from across the 6 research collaboratives funded by the UKRI-NIHR Strategic Priorities Fund programme – tackling multimorbidity at scale and beyond to share learning and best practice. It was great to hear the CoP representatives reflect on their experiences of leading these CoP and their thoughts on next steps for continuing to build research capacity in MLTC.

“Thank you for a wonderfully informative and engaging webinar, and thanks so much to all of the fantastic speakers. It is so exciting to see the research community united around MLTCs (and particularly the needs and hopes of people living with them) with such brilliant energy, creativity and sensitivity” – MLTC Symposium Delegate.

We thank all of our speakers and delegates for their excellent contributions to this interdisciplinary and multiprofessional event. As Professor Miles Witham outlined in his closing summary, the event provided a powerful reminder that capacity building - developing infrastructure, people and processes - is essential for the delivery of better research and care for people living with multiple long-term conditions.

We encourage you all to keep the conversations going that were started during the symposium!

Symposium resources:

Building capacity in MLTC research - introducing the new NIHR CNC

Building capacity in MLTC research - the NIHR Academy approach

Building capacity in data science for MLTC research - the HDRUK approach‌

‌‌Building capacity in data science for MLTC research: the AIM RSF approach (zenodo.org)

‌UK MLTC Symposium 2024: Building capacity in the UK MLTC community was held virtually on 18th April 2024 1400-1700 

Programme below:

Time	Session*	Speaker
14:00 – 14:05	Welcome & introduction	Professor Avan Aihie Sayer, William Leech Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Newcastle University & Director, NIHR Newcastle BRC
· Building capacity in MLTC research
14:05 – 14:30	Introducing the new Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) Cross-NIHR Collaboration (CNC)	Professor Avan Aihie Sayer & Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine, University of Leicester & Director, NIHR ARC EM
14:30 – 14:50	The NIHR Academy approach	NIHR Academy member – to be confirmed
·Building capacity in data science for MLTC research
14:50 – 15:10	The Health Data Research UK (HDRUK) approach	Professor Elizabeth Sapey, Professor of Acute and Respiratory Medicine, University of Birmingham, Director of PIONEER, the Health Data Hub in acute care
15:10- 15:30	The AI for MLTC Research Support Facility (AIM RSF) approach	Dr Kirstie Whitaker, Programme Director for Tools, Practices and Systems, The Alan Turing Institute
15:30 – 15:45	BREAK
·Building capacity in care for MLTC
15:45 – 16:05	MLTC care and the future of undergraduate medical education	Professor Gill Vance, Professor of Medical Education, Newcastle University
16:05 – 16:25	MLTC care and the future of postgraduate medical training	Dr Richard Bellamy, Deputy Dean and Director of Specialty Training, North East & North Cumbria
· Supporting the next generation of MLTC researchers
16:25 – 16:55	Novel approaches to research capacity development for MLTC research: key learning from ADMISSION and the MLTC Communities of Practice	Professor Rachel Cooper, Professor of Translational Epidemiology, Newcastle University Community of Practice Leads: Dr Sue Bellass, Manchester Metropolitan University Dr Stephanie Hanley, University of Birmingham Dr Jane Masoli, University of Exeter Dr Luke Pilling, University of Exeter
16:55 – 17:00	Closing comments	Professor Miles Witham, Professor of Trials for Older People, Newcastle University

UK MLTC Symposium 2023: Rising to the challenge of defining Multiple Long Term Conditions

UK MLTC Symposium 2023: Rising to the challenge of defining multiple long term conditions. 9 March 2023

UK MLTC Symposium 2023: Rising to the challenge of defining Multiple Long-Term Conditions 

Members of the ADMISSION Research Collaborative in the AGE Research Group were delighted to host the UK MLTC Symposium 2023 online on 9^th March, welcoming over 170 academics and patient and public representatives from across the UK and beyond.

The focus of this event was showcasing how researchers are rising to the challenge of defining multiple long-term conditions in different contexts. The event also highlighted the importance of transparency and consistency in approach to help drive forward research in this important area.

Delegates were delighted to hear Professor Bruce Guthrie, Professor of General Practice at the University of Edinburgh give an inspiring keynote talk on a state of the art approach to defining multiple long-term conditions. Following on from this, delegates heard from two members of the ADMISSION Research Collaborative, Professor Rachel Cooper and Professor Miles Witham and Professor Krish Nirantharakumar, Principal Investigator of MuM-PreDiCT.

"Very informative symposium that highlighted many of the challenges in MLTC research that we need to overcome" - MLTC Symposium Delegate.

There was also an opportunity to hear from two next generation researchers, Dr Sue Bellass from Manchester Metropolitan University and Dr Lucy Stirland currently based at the Global Brain Health Institute, University of California who described their routes into multiple long-term conditions research and offered excellent advice to other researchers in the early stages of their careers.

Smaller breakout groups provided the opportunity for some delegates to meet the speakers and share their views on important questions relevant to the field. A final panel discussion which considered next steps and highlighted the value of collaborative working was chaired by Professor Elizabeth Sapey from the University of Birmingham.

" I found the symposium really informative, hearing from the other projects is always very interesting. Finding out how the teams are approaching the projects in different ways but still with the focus on addressing inequalities and the challenges of living with MLTC’s makes me feel positive for the future and hopeful for some insights and eventual improvements to treatments and care pathways. Being able to hear from and speak to Bruce Guthrie was a fantastic opportunity. We discussed the challenges to MLTC research and possible ways to keep progressing in this area, again giving hope for future patient benefits " - MLTC Symposium Delegate.

We thank all of our speakers and delegates for their excellent contributions reflecting what an engaged community of people there is focused on the important goal of improving the lives of people living with multiple long-term conditions.

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