Duncan Young

My research work centres on large multicentre clinical trials and cohort studies involving patients treated in intensive care units, with an emphasis on treatments for respiratory conditions. Our research group runs our own studies, and we actively participate as co-applicants in studies run from other centres.

The research group also has a strong link with the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. We investigate ways to locate patterns in physiological variables ('vital signs') which precede and predict clinical deterioration in hospitalised patients. This work is based on thousands of recordings of patients' vital signs in Oxford and elsewhere. As hospitals evolve electronic patient records, this work is being expanded beyond vital signs to include many more electronically-recorded descriptors of a patient’s condition.

Our research group also has an interest in the patient’s journey both during a stay in intensive care, and afterwards in the hospital and in their home. Current research work is looking at the effect of environmental noise on intensive care units on sleep patterns and delirium, with an overall goal of significantly reducing the ambient noise. On a longer time scale, we also look at the long-term effects of critical illnesses on patients’ quality of life.