The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is a UK government body that coordinates and funds research for the National Health Service (England). Its tagline is "Improving the health and wealth of the nation through research". It supports individuals, facilities and research projects, in order to help deliver government responsibilities in public health and personal social services. It does not fund clinical services.[1]
NIHR has a specialist liaison team which works with industry - including companies manufacturing medical devices, diagnostics, biotech and pharmaceuticals - to ensure that industry needs concerning clinical research are considered in the development of new infrastructure, processes and practices. It offers support with feasibility assessments, patient recruitment and ethical approval.[2]
The NIHR has a Clinical Research Network that consists of six Topic-Specific Clinical Research Networks, a Primary Care Research Network and a Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. The specific topics include Cancer, Diabetes, Medicines for Children, Stroke, Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases (DeNDRoN) and Mental Health.[3] These networks aim to provide the infrastructure to support commercial and non-commercial high quality research in the NHS, including clinical trials.
The Clinical Research Network has a Coordinating Centre, which is responsible for managing the overall performance of the Networks. In addition to this, the Coordinating Centre team develops and delivers streamlined central systems (CSP), and undertakes specialist cross-cutting activities to support the commercial life-sciences industry, develop the research workforce, and promote patient and public involvement in clinical trials.[4]
A consortium from the University of Leeds, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Medical Research Council (UK) Clinical Trials Unit and University College London was selected to act as the NIHR CRN CC Coordinating Centre. The Clinical Research Network has Coordinating Centre offices in both Leeds and London.
The Mental Health Research Network is managed by a partnership between the Institute of Psychiatry and the University of Manchester.[5]