Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health

Patients and staff welcome AI as a GP's helping hand Manchester researcher and practicing GP, Dr Benjamin Brown, knows that AI could play a valuable role in the health sector, but only if it’s trusted by patients.  "AI has the potential to reduce worklo...

At The University of Manchester, we're celebrating 75 years of the Turing Test. Alan Turing's seminal paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, is considered one of the very first papers on AI.

To explore current attitudes to the technology, Dr Brown and a team of researchers from @manchester.ac.uk and University of Cambridge, ran a study around the use of AI in ‘eVisits’ - online consultations available to NHS patients.

Manchester researcher and practicing GP, Dr Ben Brown, knows that AI could play a valuable role in the health sector, but only if it’s trusted by patients.

"AI has the potential to reduce workload in general practice, yet despite that potential, AI tools are not yet routinely used.”

Patients and staff say that they’d welcome #AI in online GP consultations if it supports rather than replaces doctors, according to a new Manchester and Cambridge study. This could pave the way for AI to help reduce NHS workloads and speed up care.

🏢 The announcement from the Prime Minister demonstrates the tangible impact of evidence-based advocacy, and underlines the crucial role that universities play in shaping national #policy.

🍟 One of the key recommendations was that local authorities should be given enhanced powers to regulate the proliferation of these unhealthy outlets.

📑 The report revealed that the number of #vape shops in England has increased by nearly 1,200% since 2014, with deprived communities - particularly in the North - hosting over three times more of these than affluent ones, exacerbating health inequalities and worsening the North-South health divide.

🥇 This was the first comprehensive national analysis of how the availability of different types of high street outlets has changed over the past decade.

👻 It was published earlier this year by @healthequitynorth.bsky.social and the @thenhsa.bsky.social, co-authored by @manchester.ac.uk's Dr Luke Munford.

Prime Minister backs call for action from experts on vape shops and fast food outlets Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that local authorities will be granted greater powers to regulate high street outlets such as betting shops and vape shops. The move marks a significant p...

🚽🎰 The Ghost Towns report highlighted the rapid decline of health-promoting amenities on Britain’s high streets - including public toilets, libraries and pharmacies - alongside a sharp rise in health-reducing outlets such as betting shops, fast food outlets and vape retailers.

The group of clinicians and scientists from @manchester.ac.uk/Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, are travelling by bicycle to the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

The cycle to Amsterdam continues! 🚲
The team are doing well and are due to take the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam tonight, ready to complete the final part of their journey to Amsterdam tomorrow.

Fundraising page for @asthmaandlung.org.uk: www.justgiving.com/team/cycleto...

Cycle to ERS 2025 Amsterdam for Asthma + Lung UK Help Gussie Beech raise money to support Asthma + Lung UK

Today is the day! A team of clinicians and scientists are cycling from @manchester.ac.uk to the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Amsterdam. They're raising money for @asthmaandlung.org.uk.

To donate, if you can, visit: www.justgiving.com/team/cycleto...

Participants reported feeling valued as part of the project and satisfied that their feedback is reflected in the final lists. One of the children who took part in the workshop said “I learnt that my voice matters and I can make a difference for me and other deaf children.”

Manchester Biomedical Research Centre | News & Events |

Research was co-funded by Professor Kevin Munro’s personal @nihr.bsky.social Senior Investigator award, supported by the NIHR Manchester BRC and the National Deaf Children's Society, with research audiologists Dr Anisa Visram co-leading the project and Dr Jenny Chan as the project co-ordinator.

The project was led by @manchester.ac.uk in conjunction with researchers from @astonuniversity.bsky.social and @lancasteruni.bsky.social. The hope is that it will ultimately lead to more research into childhood deafness, in the specific areas it’s needed most.

Deaf children and people with experience of childhood deafness from across the UK have come together to highlight what matters most to children affected by #deafness and hearing loss.

Find out more: www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/s...

The peer reviewed meta-analysis of 16 studies involving 71,336 patients from the US, UK, and the Netherlands published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is a wake-up call to policy makers grappling with escalating numbers affected by the disease.

Study highlights digital divide in diabetes healthcare Men, black communities and the poorly educated are experiencing significant  disparities in accessing game-changing digital healthcare for type 2 diabetes, data scientists from The University of Manch...

Men, black communities and the poorly educated are experiencing significant disparities in accessing game-changing digital healthcare for type 2 #diabetes, data scientists from @manchester.ac.uk show.

Funded by the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research), it was developed in collaboration with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Cochrane, a not-for-profit organisation and the world’s leading publisher of health systematic reviews.

It was developed by a worldwide collaboration of more than 150 integrity and health research experts, led by Dr Jack Wilkinson from @manchester.ac.uk.

New tool tackles unreliable research trials An international group of researchers has developed a new tool which can help identify problematic randomised controlled trials (RCTs), including fraudulent studies, where there are serious concerns a...

An international group of researchers has developed a new tool to help identify problematic randomised controlled trials, including fraudulent studies, where there are serious concerns about trustworthiness.

The final version of the tool, INSPECT-SR, is now published on pre-print server medRxiV.

Hannah's fundraiser for Asthma + Lung UK Help Hannah Durrington raise money to support Asthma + Lung UK

A group of researchers and clinicians from Manchester @fbmh-uom.bsky.social are cycling from Wythenshawe Hospital to @ERS2025 in Amsterdam to raise money for @asthmaandlung.org.uk . Any sponsorship would be gratefully received 😁
www.justgiving.com/page/hannah-...

Image of the UoM campus, showing an autumn scene in front of the Whitworth Building

A new blood test can detect ovarian cancer in symptomatic women with high accuracy.

Study from Manchester and Colorado, with UoM findings led by Professor Emma Crosbie @fbmh-uom.bsky.social.

Paper: @aacrjournals.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1158/2767...

Incredible community workshop today with Ardwick residents feeding into our next grant proposal on pollution. Fabulous voices and opinions and Sally Gilford delivered a wonderful art workshop- some results here: @lydiabeckeriii.bsky.social @fbmh-uom.bsky.social

YouTube video by Natalie Kate Moss Trust Who's Really at Risk of a Brain Haemorrhage? Let’s Look at the Numbers

In the latest Natalie Kate Moss Trust podcast, our Co-Director Prof Stuart Allan talks brain haemorrhage - its impact, new research, and why awareness matters.

Who’s really at risk? Let’s look at the numbers 👉 youtu.be/LbZCp9K8bh0?...

@dns-uom.bsky.social @fbmh-uom.bsky.social

Decades of research informs NICE guidance on leg ulcer treatment Research on venous leg ulcer treatments, doggedly pursued by two University of Manchester academics since 1989, has greatly influenced NICE guidance issued this month. The work by Professors Jo Dumvil...

The guidance - known officially as a “Late Stage Assessment" - is set to change that by providing crucial information to nursing staff on the most effective types of compression.

www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/d...

Venous #ulcers are a common long-term condition which adversely affect people's quality of life; nurses deliver the majority of care, which takes the form of compression therapy as a first-line treatment.

The work by Professors Jo Dumville and Nicky Cullum on the most effective types of compression treatments is good news for the hundreds of thousands of patients affected by venous leg ulcers every year, costing the NHS tens of millions of pounds.