I'm excited to be part of this important NIHR initiative, which brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to tackle long-standing health challenges. As Team Science is still in its early stages in the UK, our team will be at the forefront, paving the way for its broader application. We will use innovative methodologies to create guidelines and an evaluation framework that ensure digital health tools for managing multiple long-term conditions are accessible to those most in need. As digital health solutions rapidly expand, our goal is to close the equity gap, ensuring that no group is left behind in accessing effective healthcare.
Dr Emily McBride, Clinical Lecturer in Health Psychology at King's IoPPN
08 April 2025
IoPPN researchers receive two NIHR Team Science Awards
Dr Emily McBride and Dr Sophie Bennett receive two of the first National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Team Science Awards.
The NIHR Team Science Award brings together researchers from a range of institutions and disciplines to form teams to address complex health and care challenges from different perspectives. The award is designed to be different from traditional “investigator-led” awards and aims to recognise the contribution of every member of the research team.
Dr Emily McBride and Dr Sophie Bennett are members of two of the teams which received a Team Science Award 2024. They are both clinical academics in the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).
Ensuring equity in access to digital health tools for multiple long-term conditions
‘Multiple long-term conditions’ refers to the co-existence of two or more chronic conditions (physical or mental). There are an estimated 14 million people in England living with multiple long-term conditions.
The Team Science project, titled "EquiTech-MLTC: Advancing Equitable Digital Self-Management for Multiple Long-Term Conditions", will help establish guidelines to make sure that digital health tools to manage multiple long-term conditions are inclusive and accessible.
The team will collect and review the existing evidence on digital self-management tools for multiple long-term conditions. They will then explore the equity, accessibility and effectiveness of these tools through workshops with patients, healthcare providers and technologists. They will host some of their workshops and meetings on a novel avatar-based 3D digital platform, aimed at reducing biases and power imbalances often found in traditional group settings.
Dr Emily McBride, Clinical Lecturer in Health Psychology at the IoPPN, is the Lead Applicant and is collaborating with clinical and academic researchers at Imperial College London, Universities of Kent, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, as well as a public representative with lived experience of multiple long-term conditions.
Digital therapies for people with Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes affects over four million people in the UK. Depression and anxiety is almost twice as common among people with type 2 diabetes compared to those without. The Team Science project, titled "e-DIRECT: Evaluating Digital Interventions for People with Type 2 Diabetes and depREssion/anxiety ComorbidiTies", will evaluate the effectiveness of digital interventions for anxiety and depression among people with type 2 diabetes.
Dr Sophie Bennett, Clinical Psychologist Senior Lecturer at the IoPPN, is collaborating with clinical and academic researchers at the University of Oxford, UCL, North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Sheffield, Queen Mary University of London and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. The research will be hosted at the University of Sheffield, where Lead Applicant Professor Peter Bath is based.
We're delighted to receive funding for this Team Science award because it enables us to rigorously evaluate the digital interventions already in place to support patients. By understanding which approaches work best and for whom, we can make a real difference in reducing health inequalities and improving the lives of people dealing with both type 2 diabetes and mental health conditions. Team Science enables us to bring together a team who have expertise across different disciplines to deliver innovate research.
Dr Sophie Bennett, Clinical Psychologist Senior Lecturer at King's IoPPN
The NIHR Team Science programme first launched in December 2023, making this the first round of awardees. Round 1 of the award is focused on the field of multiple long-term conditions and multimorbidity. It is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.
There are real benefits available to researchers by bringing expertise together to build evidence and it is great to see the NIHR acknowledge this with their call. These two awards are great examples of how such an award can benefit patients. The cross-disciplinary, patient-centred approaches described are exciting and the support for teams of different expertise and career stages is brilliant to see.
Professor Mitul Mehta, Professor of Neuroimaging & Psychopharmacology and Research Integrity Champion at King’s IoPPN
For more information, please contact Milly Remmington (School of Mental Health & Psychological Sciences Communications Manager).
In this story
Clinical Lecturer in Health Psychology
Clinical Psychologist Senior Lecturer