A PUBLIC-SPIRITED musician has encouraged people to take part in clinical trials after his role in an Ebola vaccine trial led to a life-changing discovery.

Ian Miles, 59, who also previously donated blood for 25 years, took part in the Oxford University clinical trial last year as a healthy volunteer.

But after giving a routine blood sample at the Churchill Hospital as part of the trial, he was sent for an ultrasound and MRI scan and learned he had liver disease.

Mr Miles, a wedding organist and freelance tutor, said he was 'quite surprised' on being diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a type of inflammation.

He was then offered the chance to go on another university trial into NASH, comparing the usefulness of the weight loss drug Liraglutide compared to a healthy lifestyle.

Mr Miles was randomly allocated into the latter course and through a series of diet and activity changes dropped from 15 stone to 13 stone.

He said: "Had you told me six months ago that I would be going to a slimming class, then I would have laughed, but it was a no-brainer.

"It’s entailed a managed, but feasible and hardly punitive diet. In essence you can still eat and drink many things, while others you need to be more wary of."

Over three months Mr Miles, of Abingdon, dropped four inches from his waistline, as many points from his body mass index (BMI) and saw his liver fat greatly reduced.

He was supported in his efforts through a weight-loss programme at Didcot Civic Hall, which saw him named Slimmer of the Week and Slimmer of the Month.

After his triumph, Mr Miles urged others to consider taking part in research to help develop new treatments, improve the NHS and save lives – possibly even their own.

He said: "Apart from the weight, of course, you really have nothing to lose.

"It’s a way of contributing more or less anonymously to something for the public benefit, while potentially gaining some individual benefit out of it as well."

Dr Ahmad Moolla, the clinical research investigator co-ordinating the Liraglutide study, said: “Clinical research is vitally important.

"Without the kind support and willingness of participants to take part in clinical research studies such as our LiLi study, the task of tackling conditions such as fatty liver disease, which poses a considerable burden to both patients and to the NHS, would be even more challenging."

The study is supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, a collaboration between Oxford University scientists and the local NHS.

For more information on research and trials seeking volunteers visit the UK Clinical Trials Gateway at ukctg.nihr.ac.uk