Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Partner Information

  • Partner Full Name: Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Partner Short Name: LUHFT
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Website: www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT) strives to deliver the highest standards in patient care for its communities. The Trust runs Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool University Dental Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

LUHFT is a research-active hospital that supports and facilitates innovative ways of delivering healthcare to enhance patient experience and outcomes. Its world-class researchers are dedicated to bringing new therapies from the laboratory to the clinical setting, ensuring that patients have access to the latest and most effective treatment options.

There are two Intensive Care Units at the Trust to treat complex acute conditions, including high-risk surgical and medical patients, with robust systems for medical and perioperative assessment and risk stratification available. As a tertiary referral centre, LUHFT delivers specialist services and acute care research for the Northwest of England.

As a key stakeholder in clinical research, the Acute and Critical Care Research Teams at the Royal Liverpool and Aintree University Hospitals develop, support and conduct clinical and translational studies with a focus on acute cardiovascular and infectious diseases. The teams are committed to offering a broad array of services, resources, and training opportunities.

The Royal Liverpool University Hospital hosts the National Institute for Health Care and Research (NIHR) Liverpool Clinical Research Facility (CRF). This facility is a Phase 1 Accredited site with purpose-built facility. The CRF also provides specialist equipment, 24-hour emergency coverage and access to critical care and offers a safe and regulated environment to perform clinical research trials to the highest possible standards.

Key persons

Dr Ingeborg Welters

Prof. Dr. med. Ingeborg Welters trained in Anaesthesia at University Hospital Giessen, Germany, followed by fellowships in Intensive Care and cardiac anaesthesia. She obtained her MD (Dr. med.) for work on haemostatic and immune changes during heart surgery and was awarded the venia legendi (PhD equivalent) in anaesthesia for researching effects of anaesthetics on leukocyte function and gene transcription. Funded by the German Research Society (DFG) she worked as visiting scholar at the State University of New York. She completed a master’s degree in management of health and social care organisations with honours. In 2005 she moved to Liverpool to continue her career as clinical academic in Intensive Care. In 2009, she was awarded a personal Chair as Professor (apl.) for Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany. Ingeborg’s research interests focus on cardiovascular dysfunction in acute illness, detection and prediction of arrhythmias and continuous vital signs monitoring. Her research has been funded by National Institute of Health Research, the British Heart Foundation and the European Union (Horizon 2023). She is leading several research and innovation projects on digital health, AI and process optimisation. She has extensive experience in clinical trial methodology, multi-centre trials and medical device studies, which is evidenced by over 250 peer-reviewed international publications.

Brian W Johnston

Brian W Johnston is an Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Trainee undertaking a PhD (Cardiovascular Sciences) at the University of Liverpool, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. His main research interests include the use of heart rate variability, and physiological waveform data to predict new-onset atrial fibrillation, arrhythmias and deterioration in critically unwell patients. He has an interest in the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to build clinical support tools and prediction models from large physiological databases.