Nottingham leads the way for clinical research
Clinical Research at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is amongst the best in the country according to new figures published today by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN).
The figures show that in the last year, Nottingham has achieved top 10 status for their increase in research activity as well as increasing the number of commercial research studies (5th and 6th position respectively according to national statistics).
Professor Steve Ryder, Clinical Director for Research and Innovation at NUH, and Clinical Co-Director of the CRN East Midlands, says:
Nottingham is benefitting from the development of world-leading centres of excellence, building on Nottingham’s reputation as a centre for technology, science and clinical research.
In the last year we have established the Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and the Nottingham Clinical Research Facilities which are both funded by the NIHR and which are attracting world class research to Nottingham. Our expertise, knowledge and team working across clinical, scientific and technology research means that we are leading the way in so many areas, with the result that more and more patients are able to take part in new and exciting research here.
Last year (2017/18) more patients than ever before took part in research trials at NUH – over 11,000 (an increase of more than 4,000 on the year before) and there were over 400 research trials completed.
After its first 12 months, the newly established NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facilities, based at NUH, had set up102 clinical studies focusing on early research into complex and high risk treatments and drug therapies. The NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, also hosted by NUH in partnership with the University of Nottingham, has in its first year established 379 active research projects, brought in an additional £36m of funding for research and published 549 research outputs.
Angela Yates is one of those patients who is taking part in new research looking at Parkinson’s Disease using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), one of the areas of research where Nottingham leads the world. She said:
Anything that helps future medical research is so useful and so valuable, not just to patients themselves, but to their carers and their relatives.
Jennifer Deakin is a participant in research trials for osteoarthritis and says the opportunity to take part is one that everyone should consider:
I think it’s a form of giving back and it’s important that we should be involved - you’re doing a good thing to help, so I would encourage everybody to just try it.
Nottingham recently launched a new strategy for public, patient and community involvement in research to continue to increase the numbers of people who volunteer to both support researchers to develop new studies, and also to participate in current trials. The People Strategy is available on the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre website.