Services
- Expertise and support with research design and ethical approval
- Provision of human intervention and clinical trials investigating health benefits of food products, dietary supplements, technology and medicines.
- Expertise in both patient and healthy volunteer recruitment.
- Phlebotomy service accredited by the National Association of Phlebotomists.
- Opportunity to draw on the expertise provided from Ulster University research groups, including Nutrition Innovation for Food and Health (NICHE).
Facilities
The Human Intervention Studies Unit (HISU) features purpose-built clinical and residential facilities, equipped with state-of-the-art analytical technologies designed to measure markers of health and track changes throughout intervention timelines.
Our facilities include
- Body Composition & Bone Health: Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) can be used to provide 1) accurate bone density as an assessment of osteoporosis risk or 2) whole body and regional body composition measurements including fat mass, fat-free mass, visceral and subcutaneous fat. Alternative options are available for both bone health and body composition assessment.
- Vascular Platform: Providing key scientific insights into both the microvascular and macrovascular parts of the cardiovascular system. Equipment includes:
- Ultrasound: State-of-the-art UNEX EF, enables precise assessment of Flow Mediated Dilation (change in arterial thickness and speed of recovery in response to a stress response test). Recognised as the gold standard in Endothelial Function examination, it delivers an accurate measure of cardiovascular health and can predict future cardiovascular risk.
- SphygmoCor: The gold standard for measuring Pulse Wave Analysis and Pulse Wave Velocity (blood flow speed), a key indicator of the stiffness of an artery.
- The Vicorder presents an alternative option to measure blood flow velocity.
- Laser Doppler imaging and iontophoresis: Used for the diagnosis and study of endothelial dysfunction, providing an indicator of microvascular health.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Residential suite with accommodation: Suitable for up to 5 human volunteers facilitating tightly controlled studies with standardised, objective measures. The suite includes:
- Metabolic kitchen for preparation of duplicate meals
- Dining/living area and bedrooms
- Clinical space, Mobile Clinic and Laboratories
- Individual rooms for clinical measures and phlebotomy
- Mobile clinic for volunteer recruitment and sampling on the road
- Category II laboratory for blood sampling and analysis and a gastrointestinal laboratory
- Health biomarkers: measures of clinical chemistry, haematology and metabolic health.
- Energy expenditure estimates (metabolic rate) using either indirect calorimetry or doubly labelled water.
Benefits to industry
The specialist facilities at HISU offers significant collaborative opportunities for industry for the completion of intervention and clinical trials.
At HISU our team can provide bespoke services to meet your requirements, be it assistance with research design, ethical approval, recruitment, completion of individual analyses or to conduct a complete research trial to collect data for submission for labelling, MHRA or FDA approval.
Volunteer
If you would like to be a volunteer on one of our studies, you can register your details in our Register of Study Volunteers.
By registering, you agree to receive emails containing study recruitment material which will have details of next steps to take part, if interested. You will not be obligated to take part in any research studies if you register.
