University of Bath · Royal United Hospitals Bath (RNHRD)
Bath SPARC is a collaboration between researchers in health, computer science, and psychology, working alongside clinicians to study axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) — improving diagnosis, treatment, and day-to-day self-management through clinical and digital health research.
Living with axSpA means managing a condition that changes from one day to the next — and much of that day-to-day experience never makes it into a clinic appointment. Bath SPARC exists to close that gap.
The consortium pairs long-running clinical research — biobanking, biomarkers, and rehabilitation studies — with computational and digital health approaches, from smartphone symptom tracking to biomechanical modelling of the spine. The aim throughout is practical: better diagnosis, better-targeted treatment, and tools that help people manage axSpA on their own terms.
Bath SPARC is a partnership between the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) at the Royal United Hospitals Bath and the University of Bath.
From biobanking and biomarkers to spinal biomechanics and app-based self-management — each project looks at a different facet of axSpA.
A database storing routine clinical information for consenting patients with axSpA, used to investigate which genetic, clinical, or biological factors influence disease severity and treatment outcomes. Clinical assessments, questionnaires, and blood biomarkers are all held within the biobank to improve diagnosis, severity assessment, and treatment response.
Reviewing the evidence base for digital self-management interventions in rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease, alongside routine-care data on whether the Project Nightingale app affects outcomes, self-efficacy, exercise motivation, or medication adherence.
Using 3D ultrasound to build patient-specific virtual spinal models, estimating vertebral joint forces and muscle contributions to movement, and comparing them against X-ray and mSASSS progression data.
Identifying the most effective non-pharmacological therapies at different stages of axSpA, and their impact on disease activity, spinal mobility, and function.
A self-management study using the uMotif app to track pain, fatigue, sleep, stress, and exercise day to day — supporting research such as predicting flares, and working toward personalised axSpA management.
A cross-sectional study of serum biomarkers in axSpA, mechanical back pain, and healthy controls, exploring their role in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring.
Two linked projects examining what remission looks like in axSpA, and how the RNHRD's two-week AS rehabilitation course affects the natural progression of the disease.
Clinicians, physiotherapists, and researchers across rheumatology, health, computer science, and pharmacy.