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Melbourne Park in Nottingham will be alive with the sights and sounds of the city’s Gambian community celebrating at their annual family day in July.
This year, the festivities will include the opportunity to contribute to a research programme set up to better understand health conditions and their unique impacts on Black communities.
Alongside the party atmosphere, there will be a serious message – taking part in the Improving Black Health Outcomes (IBHO) BioResource can help to reduce health inequalities in future.
To make it easier to participate in IBHO, the Research and Innovation team at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) are taking their mobile research unit directly to Melbourne Park.
The unit - which is staffed by trained clinical research staff and has an onboard laboratory and other facilities - makes it easier and more convenient for people to take part in clinical research on their doorstep.
Kebba Konteh is a Senior Clinical Research Officer within the Community Research Team, and an active member of the Nottingham Gambian community.
He said: “We look forward to providing a traditional, warm, Gambian welcome to all who come to our family festival in Nottingham on 25 July.
“I will also be one of the community research team working at the event to support this research, where we will be happy to explain the IBHO BioResource and what taking part involves, and give people from African communities the chance to donate a sample on the day.”
The research programme is delivered in partnership with more than 50 NHS Trusts across England and run by the NIHR BioResource. The NIHR BioResource is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the major national funder and supporter of clinical research – which gives this research more prominence.
Kebba added: “It is important we develop this dedicated research resource that can enable vital research studies that help us better understand the health experiences of people from Black communities. Up until now, this is a group that has been underrepresented in research.”
Professor Guru Aithal, Principal Investigator for the IBHO BioResource in Nottingham, explained that he is pleased that NUH are taking this “important study directly to a popular community event”.
He said: “It is of concern to me that Black communities are significantly underrepresented in genetic studies, a factor which limits understanding of how certain health conditions develop and affect these populations.
“Most existing research is based on people of European ancestry, which means treatments and diagnostic tools may not work as effectively for people of African or Caribbean heritage.
“The work our team is doing to promote the IBHO BioResource directly at various community events will increase representation, which ensures more accurate study data and the development of better disease prevention strategies. Crucially,it also allows forfair access to research and healthcare for everybody.”
Around 7,000 people have already consented to take part in the IBHO BioResource. More information on this research is available on the IBHO website: https://bioresource.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/improving-black-health-outcomes-ibho-bioresource
Alongside IBHO, NUH has opened another BioResource-led research programme, this time focusing on another population traditionally underrepresented in research: children. DNA, Children + Young People’s Health Resource (D-CYPHR) is open to all families with a child aged 0-15. Ask the clinical research team on the event day if you’d like to know more.
The Gambian family fun day runs from 1pm -7pm at Melbourne Park, Aspley on Saturday, 25 July. The event will be a fund-raiser for the Gambian community centre in Nottingham, to fund ongoing operating costs for the centre.
As well as including football matches between teams from the Gambian community, there will be a sale of goods and the chance to sample some traditional spicy Gambian food.