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Staff Profile

Sola Akinbolade

Research Associate, Horizon Scanning and Evidence Synthesis, NIHR Innovation Observatory

Background

I am a Research Associate in Horizon Scanning and Evidence Synthesis. My role involves leading and collaborating within a team to design and conduct comprehensive literature searches across medical, health, and social science databases, as well as clinical trial and research registries. We aim to identify, assess, and report on new and emerging health technologies that address unmet clinical needs.


I am deeply committed to enhancing patient access to innovative therapies, including new or repurposed medications that can prevent, diagnose, and treat various conditions. In my work as a health researcher, I focus on identifying and reporting on emerging health technologies to provide timely information for national stakeholders, such as NICE, DHSC, OLS, NHS England, MHRA, and IRLSS; this supports informed decision-making and strategic planning regarding health technologies. I also conduct clinical effectiveness reviews of new technologies for the production of Technology Assessment Reviews (TARs) for NIHR to support the NICE technology appraisal process. Additionally, I conduct trend analyses and identify research gaps to offer valuable insights and help guide future research efforts.


My background is in pharmacy, with experience across community and hospital settings, as well as within the pharmaceutical industry. I also have experience with a Contract Research Organisation, where I supported the clinical research team in patient recruitment, clinical trial activities, and administrative tasks.



About the NIHR Innovation Observatory


Home - NIHR Innovation Observatory


The NIHR Innovation Observatory is a world leading health and care innovation scanning centre providing data-driven insights to foster innovation and equitable access to high quality care. We aim to transform health systems and improve population health by providing advanced data-driven insights that foster innovation and equitable access to high quality care. At the core of our work is the development of data-driven methods to identify, capture and synthesise intelligence on new health innovations. We develop and share cutting edge methods in horizon scanning, building capacity in the systems across the public, voluntary and industry sectors.

 

We deliver essential intelligence and insights about medicines and MedTech innovation to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the NIHR, the UK Health Security Agency, the Department for Health and Social Care and industry - allowing these organisations to prepare for policies, regulation and frontline delivery for new, emerging and disruptive technologies.


Research

Previous projects

  • COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) combination therapies
  • Horizon scan for the obesity medicine pipeline to inform the Office for Life Sciences
  • Drug repurposing for COVID-19 as an efficient approach to exploring new indications for approved therapeutic agents towards the prevention and treatment of COVID-19


Current projects

  • Repurposed Medicines Horizon Scan. I lead this ongoing project, providing regular insights and intelligence on repurposed medicines in clinical development by non-commercial organisations such as universities, charities and research institutes; this work informs and supports the NHS England Medicines Repurposing Programme
  • Rare disease treatments: insights and intelligence on emerging therapies
  • Rapid horizon scans to inform national stakeholders





Publications

  • Articles

    • Akinbolade, S, Fairbairn, R, Inskip, A, Potter, R, Oliver, A, Craig, D. Repurposed Medicines: A Scan of the Non-commercial Clinical Research Landscape. Pharmacology Research & Perspectives 2024, 13(1), e70049.
    • Fairbairn, R, Akinbolade, S, Coughlan, D, Ogunbayo, D, Meader, N, Craig, D. New or repurposed: a novel classification system for the horizon scanning of innovative medicines. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 2024, 40(1), e71.
    • Akinbolade S, Coughlan D, Fairbairn R, McConkey G, Powell H, Ogunbayo D, Craig D. Combination therapies for COVID-19: An overview of the clinical trials landscape. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2022, 88(4), 1590-1597.
    • Akinbolade O, Husband A, Forrest S, Todd A. Deprescribing in advanced illness. Progress in Palliative Care 2016, 24(5), 268-271.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Online Publication

    • O'Connor N, Inskip A, Haston S, Ewedairo O, Ogunyemi A, Forsythe I, Nesworthy J, Twentyman K, Yousefzadeh N, Khan S, Akinbolade S, Beyer FR, Norman G, Craig D, Campbell F. A Rapid Scoping Review of Rapid Scoping Review Methods: A protocol. 2024. Available at: https://osf.io/5pg98/. In Preparation.