UNICORNS

Families and clinicians from all across the UK have been helping us to answer important questions about what happens to children with uveitis, and why. Uveitis (inflammation inside the eye) is a rare disorder. UNICORNS is the first national, prospective study which will look at what happens to children after they are diagnosed with uveitis. 

Through UNICORNS, we have been collecting information which will be used to advise affected families, balance treatment decisions to help improve outcomes, and plan further research. 

What is the aim of the UNICORN study?

We want to collect information about children with uveitis in the UK so that we can better understand the disease. Although uveitis in children is rare, it has a high burden on the individual child and the adult they become, their family, and health service resource. There are unanswered questions about why children get uveitis and why some children with uveitis are more severely affected than others.  By analysing data on a large number of children, we hope to provide information that will help doctors and parents make decisions about the best care for affected children.

Who is organising and funding the research?

The study is organised by Lola Solebo, and funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research. UNICORNs is a CHOIR lab study. 

For more information contact us at unicorns@ucl.ac.uk

- Dr Ameenat Lola Solebo (Study Chief Investigator, NIHR Clinician Scientist and Consultant), UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, Tel: 020 7905 2250, Email: a.solebo@ucl.ac.uk

Recruiting clinical centres: 

Alder Hey Hospital, Edinburgh University Hospitals, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Sussex Eye, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cardiff Eye, Royal Free Hospital, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Guys & St Thomas' (Evalina) Hospitals, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Harrogate Hospital, James Paget Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals, Norfolk & Norwich Hospital, Nottinhgham University Hospital, Royal London / Barts, Oxford University Hospital, Sheffield’s Children Hospital, Ninewells Dundee Hospital, Hull Eye Infirmary, University Hospitals of Leciester, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Belfast, Birmingham Children's Hospital 

UNICORN publications: 

Incidence, sociodemographic and presenting clinical features of childhood non-infectious uveitis: findings from the UK national inception cohort study

Inclusive study design to better serve the needs of children and young people with rheumatological conditions

UNICORNS: Uveitis in childhood prospective national cohort study protocol

Pathways to detection of non-infectious childhood uveitis in the UK: Findings from the UNICORN cohort study

Recognising and managing childhood onset uveitis: a guide for primary care

Perceptions and experiences of health care service use during the pandemic for children with uveitis: UNICORNS-C19 study

Data saves lives: optimising routinely collected clinical data for rare disease research

Are you a family affected by Childhood Uveitis? Click here to see videos from one of our Childhood Uveitis Study Day

Our latEST UNICORNs newsletter is here: 

Other research 

UNICORNS is a CHOIR (Childhood ocular inflammation research) study. Other CHOIR studies include: 

CHOIR Biobank 

UVESCREEN 

Can we improve how we detect the most common form of childhood uveitis? Find out more here

Eyes on eyes

Members of the public have been helping us to analyse images of childhood uveitis, using Zooniverse (the world's largest Citizen Science platform). Find out more here

Uveitis videos

If you haven't already, please watch our Uveitis videos: 

Childhood uveitis - This video gives a brief overview of the disease, which part of the eye it affects and the resulting impact if left untreated

Childhood uveitis treatment - This video gives a look into how uveitis is treated using the ladder approach. It talks about the main types of medication given, how they are given and the possible side effects

Childhood uveitis research  - This video talks through some of the questions children and their families want answered by research.

Want to know even more? Check out our TEDx video, and follow our instagram accounts @uveitisunicorns (for families of children with uveitis) and @uveitisunicorns_yp (for young people with uveitis)