Pioneer Research
Who we are
As well as being a provider of clinical care across ambulatory, acute and community care and providing advice and support through telehealth, Pioneer Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres also conducts research studies. All studies are co-ordinated from Pioneer’s Research Centre based in the Life Sciences and Innovation Centre, Inverness, Scotland.
Pioneer Publications
Click the button below to browse through recent Pioneer publications:
Research is a core value to Pioneer – we ensure that all our staff actively engages with our research activities, ensuring full commitment to recruitment of trial participants and promoting a culture of innovation
Our Research department excels in delivering rigorous and meaningful Research within wound healing, lymphoedema and lipoedema diagnosis and management. We commit to share the results of this Research with the global healthcare community to drive innovation and best practice for better patient outcomes.
Pioneer’s Organisational Values
With clinical centres across the UK and Panama, combined with our existing research partnerships with colleagues across South-East Asia, Pioneer are uniquely placed to support organisations seeking to deliver real world evidence from truly diverse and international populations.
From the first steps in new device development through to clinical and laboratory studies for regulatory approval and post marketing studies, Pioneer are dedicated to working in collaboration with our Research Partners.
Chief Medical Officer
Prof. Steven Jeffery
(Consultant Burns and Plastic Surgeon)
Chief Executive Officer
Prof. David Gray
(Tissue Viability Nurse Consultant)
Research Director
Prof. Michael Clark
Nurse Director
Carla Leca
(Tissue Viability Nurse Consultant)
Lead Research Nurse
Prof. Steven Jeffery
(Senior Tissue Viability Nurse Specialist)
+ 100
clinicians
- Research activities from phase I to phase IV Clinical Trials (from healthy volunteer studies, bench and laboratory investigations, case series through to multi centred Randomised Controlled Trials)
- Single and multi- centred studies
- Exceptional recruitment rates
- Supporting protocol development to provide innovative, efficient studies, with relevant outcome measures and appropriate sample sizes
- Data management and analysis
- Creation of final reports and preparation of manuscripts
- Creation of journal publications and conference presentations
- Ability to manage studies from planning to implementation and reporting, providing the full services of a CRO
Clinical trials
Research Objectives
Study Design
Informed Consent
Randomisation and Blinding
Data Collection and Monitoring
Analysis and Reporting
Our Research portfolio ranges from studies on fish skin, lasers, chemical debridement, compression methods, nutritional supplements, to sub-bandage pressure sensors and neuro-stimulation devices amongst other advanced wound care technology and lymphoedema management products or pathways.
See our most recent publications below.
If you would like to contact us regarding future Research collaborations, please contact info@pioneer-whlc.org.
Exploring the impact of non-healing wounds on primary care workload in Scotland
Cold Atmospheric Plasma Disrupts Microbial Wound Bioburden: In Vitro, Porcine MRSA Biofilm, and Clinical Fluorescence Evidence from Bench to Bedside
McRoberts J, Jeffery S, Dellison D. Debrichem: A guide to debriding infected and hard-to-heal wounds. JWC 2024 Supp 5a
Arif A, Humphreys I, Jeffery S. Vulnamin as an adjunct to standard of care in hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers: clinical effectiveness and cost modelling. Journal of Wound Care 2025 34:8, 623-630
Hassan S, Humphreys I, Jeffery S. J Wound Care. The clinical and cost analysis of laser therapy for healing hard-to-heal leg ulcers: a self-control service evaluation study. 2026 Mar 2;35(3):268-279
Sapre A, Jeffery, S. “Use of a Biosynthetic Cellulose Dressing in Chronic Venous Leg Ulcer Healing: A Self-Controlled Clinical Service Evaluation”. International Journal of Tissue Repair 2, no. 1 (March 25, 2026).
Promoting patient concordance to support rapid leg ulcer healing
Venous and lymphovenous lower limb wound outcomes in specialist UK wound and lymphoedema clinics
Impact of specialist intervention on VLU healing rates in the community
Wound discharge outcomes of a specialist wound telehealth service in 38 nursing homes over a three-year period
Telemedicine in wound care: improving patient outcomes