National Institute for Health Research

National Institute for Health Research

Established	April 2006
Region served	United Kingdom
Responsible officer	Chris Whitty[1]
Website	www.nihr.ac.uk

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is a United Kingdom government agency which funds research into health and care, and is the largest national clinical research funder in Europe. The NIHR was established in 2006 under the government's Best Research for Best Health strategy, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care.

In 2018 it was found that NHS trusts with increased NIHR-adopted clinical trial activity are associated with reduced mortality levels.

History[]

The NIHR was created in April 2006 under the government’s health research strategy, Best Research for Best Health.^[2] NIHR's mission is "improving the health and wealth of the nation through research". This strategy outlined the direction that NHS research and development should take in order "to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research". NIHR has identified nine strategic goals:

• Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
• Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services
• Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research
• Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges
• Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system
• Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries
• Programmes that award research funding to equitable partnerships between groups of researchers or groups of research institutions in LMICs and the UK.
• Partnerships with other global health research organisations, supporting existing, high quality funding schemes and co-creating new initiatives to respond to areas of need.
• Investment in People, funding the career development of researchers at all career stages and supporting research managers and support staff in LMICs and the UK.

Its budget was over £1 billion in 2015–16.^[3] As of 2016 it was the largest national clinical research funder in Europe.^[4]

In June 2021 NIHR published Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter.^[5] This document outlined the operational priorities for NIHR and built on the 2006 Best Research for Best Health strategy.

Infrastructure[]

The NIHR provides support and facilities to the NHS for delivery of research, by funding a range of infrastructure,^[6] including:

• Clinical Research Network (CRN): supports patients, the public and health and care organisations to participate in high-quality research. The CRN comprises 15 Local Clinical Research Networks across England.
• Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure: established and manages the Translational Research Collaborations, and provides access to the clinical research infrastructure throughout England.
• Biomedical Research Centres: conducts and supports translational research to transform scientific breakthroughs into life-saving treatments for patients.^[7]
• Patient Safety Translational Research Centres: conducts and supports research to investigate ways to improve the safety, quality and effectiveness of the services that the NHS provides to its patients.^[8]
• The Applied Research Collaborations:^[9] the 15 ARCs in England undertake research on a number of areas of need highlighted by the NIHR Futures of Health report, including: the challenges of an ageing society; multimorbidity; and the increasing demands placed on our health and care system.^[10]

Structure[]

Delivery of NIHR responsibilities is mainly managed by a number of Coordinating Centres contracted to the Department of Health and Social Care:^[11]

• The NIHR Academy in Leeds supports NIHR objectives by providing career development and support opportunities for researchers.
• Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) and NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC) support NIHR objectives to commission, fund and disseminate research to improve patient care.
• Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre (CRNCC) has offices in Leeds, London, Liverpool, Newcastle and Preston and support NIHR objectives to provide efficient and effective support for the initiation and delivery of funded research in the NHS. The CRNCC oversees the Local Clinical Research Networks who support clinical research infrastructure throughout England, which is working towards increased access for patients to new and better treatments in the NHS and social care.^[12]
• INVOLVE is a national advisory group that supports greater public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research.
• The NIHR Dissemination Centre supports NIHR objectives for dissemination of high quality evidence.
• Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI) in London supports NIHR objectives to help potential partners, including industry and charities, to navigate the NIHR's centres, facilities and expertise to work in collaboration. It established and manages the Translational Research Collaborations.

Key people[]

Responsibility for the NIHR lies with the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health. Professor Sally Davies (Dame Sally from 2009) held this post from 2004 to 2016, and led the founding of the NIHR in 2006.^[13][14]

The current holder of the post is Lucy Chappell, Professor of Obstetrics at King's College London.^[15] She succeeded Professor Chris Whitty (who has also been Chief Medical Officer for England since 2019) in August 2021.^[1]

Research programmes[]

The NIHR's commissioned research programmes offer a focused source of funding for researchers within the health system in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also participate in some of these programmes. The programmes give researchers from England, who work in all areas of healthcare, access to funding to undertake clinical and applied health and social care research which is focused on priority areas and topics.^[16] NIHR have an Open Access policy and were one of the original funders of Europe PubMed Central.^[17]

The NIHR programmes are:^[when?]

• Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation
• Health Services and Delivery Research
• Health Technology Assessment
• Invention for Innovation
• Policy Research
• Programme Development Grants
• Programme Grants for Applied Research
• Public Health Research
• Research for Patient Benefit
• Evidence Synthesis

The NIHR has established three national research schools: the School for Primary Care Research,^[18] the School for Social Care Research,^[19] and the School for Public Health Research.^[18] Each national school is a research collaboration between academic centres in England. The three schools aim to:^[20]

• Increase and develop the evidence base for practice in the primary care, adult social care, and public health sectors.
• Contribute to ongoing efforts to build research capacity in their respective sectors.
• Improve research awareness in their respective sectors.
• Create a ‘critical mass’ of research expertise and funding through coordinated and collaborative working across the country.

Career development and support[]

The NIHR Academy was launched in October 2018 to "future-proof the UK research workforce".^[2] Its launch was an output and recommendation of the strategic review of training^[21] which looked at the future training and support needs of researchers.

A wide range of NIHR training and career development awards are provided, from pre-doctoral level to research professorships. These are available to people from a variety of professional backgrounds. The awards are grouped into the following areas:

• NIHR Fellowship Programme
• NIHR Research Professorship
• HEE-NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Programme
• Integrated Academic Training (IAT)
• NIHR Infrastructure and NIHR Schools

As of 2020 the Dean of the NIHR Academy is Professor David Jones OBE.^[22]

Global health research[]

The NIHR funds research mainly in the United Kingdom. In 2016, and in line with the UK Government's aid strategy of diffusing development assistance spending across government departments, the Department of Health and Social Care was allocated money for global health research for the direct benefit of patients and the public in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using the research funding management experience of the NIHR, the Department was to support global health research units and groups comprising universities and research institutions from across the UK, working with LMIC research partners.^[23]

Achievements and recognition[]

• In 2016, NIHR commissioned the independent RAND Europe think tank and the Policy Institute at King's College London to collate and synthesise 100 examples of positive change arising from NIHR's support of health and care research in its first 10 years.^[24][25] The assessment found that the NIHR had "transformed research & development in and for the NHS and the patients it serves".^[26]

• In 2017, the NIHR was awarded one of the first 'Cochrane-REWARD prizes for reducing waste in research' for the Adding Value in Research Programme ^[27]

• In 2018, an article published in Public Health identified that NHS trusts with increased NIHR-adopted clinical trial activity are associated with reduced mortality levels.^[28]

See also[]

• Medical Research Council
• National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

References[]

External links[]

• Official website