Leukaemia Trial Team wins Patient Involvement Award

The IMPROVE Trial Team, led by Assoc Professor Helen Parry has been awarded the Lelia Duley Prize for Patient-Centred Research during the UK Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) Forum Clinical Sciences Day on the 8^th of October.

The IMPROVE Trial tested whether people with CLL would get better protection from a COVID-19 vaccine by temporarily stopping their usual treatment, known as a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor. BTK inhibitors are targeted medicines that slow the growth of abnormal blood cells involved in CLL, but they may also affect how the immune system responds to vaccines. The trial found no evidence that a short pause in BTKI medication improved immunity amongst the 99 adults who took part when having a COVID-19 vaccination.

The IMPROVE trial brought together expertise from NIHR BRC: Birmingham and NIHR BRC: Oxford, demonstrating the value of collaboration across the NIHR research infrastructure. The University of Birmingham sponsored the trial, while University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) served as the lead NHS site and highest recruiting centre. The Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU) provided specialist trial management and coordination. This partnership highlights how BRCs can combine their clinical, academic and research delivery expertise to deliver high-quality, patient-centred research.

Patients helped shape the trial from its earliest planning stages through to the communication of its results. A group of 6 people living with CLL contributed to the study and helped improve patient-facing material, supported recruitment planning, advised on how results should be analysed and shared, and provided a patient perspective on how the trial is run. Their feedback also helped make the study clearer and more accessible.

Professor Lelia Duley, was a key patient contributor for the trial and also a co-applicant. She was an internationally respected obstetrician and researcher whose work changed medical practice worldwide particularly in the treatment of eclampsia- a condition characterised by seizures in pregnant women. Lelia also lived with CLL herself, giving her a personal understanding of the uncertainty, treatment decisions and concerns faced by people with the condition. After retiring because of her health, she became an active patient advocate through the charity CLL Support Association and advised on many of the UK CLL research studies, bringing both her scientific expertise and lived experience. She passed away on the 10^th of December 2025.