Sheffield Children's Hospital projects
Consult this page for a list of research projects based in Sheffield Children's Hospital.
Various projects available with the pain management team at Sheffield Children's Trust
Various projects available for students to choose from see suggested selection below
- Learn more about this project
Supervisors
Nina Plant (nina.plant@nhs.net)
Martin Lamb (m.lamb@shu.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
The most feasible projects will be retrospective service evaluations but working with our research collaborators we can look at other methodologies. All of our projects are designed to be clinically relevant and useful for our service and ultimately patients. Some suggested ideas:
- Was not brought and attendance patterns in the chronic pain service
- Question: Which factors are associated with missed appointments?
- Techniques: Data collection, analysis and presentation
- Does travel distance affect outcomes?
- Question: Do children living further from Sheffield Children's achieve similar outcomes to local patients? May support outreach, hybrid clinics or digital interventions.
- Referral quality audit
- Question: How complete and appropriate are referrals to the pain service?
- Waiting list evaluation
- Question: What happens to children while waiting for their first pain clinic appointment?
- Data: Waiting time, Emergency department attendances, Hospital admissions, Medication changes, School attendance
- Outcome: Impact of waiting time on health utilisation and function.
- Psychology engagement within the pain pathway
- Question: What proportion of patients engage with psychology and does engagement relate to outcomes?
Type of project
Clinical or Surgical project - based in the clinical environment with patients/including service evaluation
Additional training or teaching
Our research collaborators will introduce students to research methodologies and technologies.
Ethics requirements
- Service Evaluation - NHS Service Evaluation number obtained - UoS Ethics will additionally be required,
- Study in Trust involving NHS staff working methods only – no NHS ethics approval required (although this should still be agreed by the relevant Trust R&D department)
- Was not brought and attendance patterns in the chronic pain service
Living without smell: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of children with congenital anosmia and their parents
How do children with congenital anosmia and their families make sense of, and adapt to, living without a sense of smell across everyday, social, emotional, and healthcare contexts?
- Learn more about the project
Supervisors
Eishaan Bhargava (e.k.bhargava@sheffield.ac.uk)
Katherine Whitcroft (k.whitcroft@gmail.com)
Abstract and methodology
Congenital anosmia is a rare condition in which an individual is born without a sense of smell. Although it may influence safety, eating, social relationships, emotional wellbeing, identity, and family life, the experiences of affected children and their families remain poorly understood.
This project will explore how children with congenital anosmia and their parents make sense of living without smell, and how they develop strategies to manage its practical and social implications. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the student will recruit approximately 6–8 parent–child dyads. They will conduct separate semi-structured interviews with children aged 8–16 years and one parent or primary caregiver. Child-centred techniques, such as drawing, picture prompts, and ranking activities, will be used to support age-appropriate expression. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed case-by-case before identifying shared and divergent themes across families.
The student will gain experience in qualitative research design, ethical research involving children, interviewing, reflexivity, thematic analysis, and academic dissemination. Findings may inform paediatric ENT practice, family support, and the wider Sheffield paediatric chemosensory research programme.
Type of project
Qualitative Project/non-lab based - primarily using qualitative methods
Additional training or teaching
Students will receive an introduction to qualitative health research and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), including interview design, reflexivity, coding, theme development, and cross-case interpretation. Training will cover child-centred interviewing, use of creative methods such as drawing and picture prompts, informed consent and assent, confidentiality, safeguarding, and managing distress. Students will also be trained in audio-recording and transcription procedures, secure data handling, and organising qualitative data. Regular supervision will support interview practice, analysis, and academic writing.
Ethics requirements
Original research involving human tissues/human participants and/or patient details and information - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval needed
Robotic navigation with AI tools for fracture reduction and osteotomy correction in orthopaedic surgery
Is AI-assisted robotic surgery feasible in reducing fractures with minimally invasive approach?
- Learn more about this project
Supervisors
Mr Sanjeev Madan (s.madan@sheffield.ac.uk)
Professor Sanja Dogramadzi (s.dogramadzi@sheffield.ac.uk)
Abstract and methodology
This retrospective, non-interventional project will develop a CT-based research dataset for three-dimensional bone fragment reassembly. CT is required because it provides both external bone geometry and internal volumetric intensity information, which is not available from surface models or conventional X-ray images. The dataset will support development and evaluation of computational methods that estimate the correct position and orientation of bone fragments relative to an intact anatomical reference.
The long-term research relevance is to fracture analysis, surgical planning, decision support, and surgical-robotics research.
This is built on the study already done by a BSc intercalated researcher and a PhD student and will use AI methodology for better fracture reduction and deformity correction. The student will work with a clinical fellow and University based PhD student in Robotic and AI department.
Type of project
Clinical or Surgical project - based in the clinical environment with patients/including service evaluation
Additional training or teaching
The student will be free to attend, scrub and learn surgical skills in orthopaedic surgery in Sheffield Children's Hospital and Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals and give clinical feedback for robotic research.
Ethics requirements
Non-human tissue - no ethics approval required
A pilot study evaluating trans-abdominal ultrasound bladder shape testing (BlaST) in the assessment of lower urinary tract disorders in children
Aim: to evaluate the feasibility of trans-abdominal ultrasound bladder shape testing (BlaST) as a non-invasive alternative to urodynamics in children with lower urinary tract symptoms, and to calibrate bladder shape changes against urodynamic findings.
- Learn more about this project
Supervisors
Caroline MacDonald (caroline.macdonald@sheffield.ac.uk)
Stephen Radley (stephen.radley@nhs.net)
Abstract and methodology
Children aged 5–16 years referred for urodynamics at Sheffield Children's NFT will undergo serial ultrasound during their clinical urodynamics. The student will support screening and recruitment, attend BlaST clinics, administer child and parent questionnaires, and manage pseudo-anonymised data. They will be taught to measure sphericity, ellipticity and curvature indices from ultrasound images in ImageJ, blinded to urodynamic results, and will undertake the following analyses:
- Recruitment, retention and completion rates for BlaST in children, expressed as a proportion of those referred for urodynamics, to inform the design and sample size of a multicentre diagnostic accuracy stud
- A dataset of paired ultrasound images and urodynamic traces from at least 20 children (target ≥100 contraction and ≥100 non-contraction images) with sphericity indices, and a comparison of index values between detrusor overactivity and stable filling
- Child and parent acceptability scores for BlaST versus urodynamics
- A conference abstract (eg BAPU/ESPU) and a manuscript with student authorship
Type of project
Clinical or Surgical project - based in the clinical environment with patients/including service evaluation
Additional training or teaching
- Good Clinical Practice (NIHR e-learning) and informed consent/assent in paediatric research.
- Principles of paediatric urodynamics and interpretation of traces, including recognition of detrusor overactivity to ICS standards.
- Basic bladder ultrasound anatomy and hands-on use of the portable bladder scanner or ultrasound under supervision. Image analysis to derive sphericity, ellipticity and curvature indices, with introduction to the medical physics team's automated algorithms.
- Research data management (secure Trust database, pseudo-anonymisation).
- Statistical analysis in STATA, including feasibility metrics, intraclass correlation and ROC curves.
- Support with abstract writing, poster presentation and manuscript preparation.
Ethics requirements
Original research involving human tissues/human participants and/or patient details and information - UREC or NHS REC ethics approval needed