Friday, 29 January 2021
New era for clinical research in Nottingham
A new agreement to create a joint service for the support of clinical researchers in Nottingham is launched today (29 January 2021) by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham.
The new Nottingham Joint Research Office (NJRO) promises to significantly improve research and development activity across the two organisations benefiting patients and boosting the city’s world-wide reputation for advances in clinical care.
Medical Director for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Keith Girling, welcomed the new development and the ambition to bring the existing strengths of both organisations together to deliver greater benefit to patients: “The launch today of the Joint Research Office is testament to Nottingham’s commitment to patient-based research. Supporting clinicians and academics to set up and deliver clinical research projects quickly and efficiently will contribute significantly to the health and wealth of the greater Nottingham region and beyond. By combining our expertise and resources we will ensure that our world-class research directly benefits patients now and in the future. Our Joint Office will invest more time, resources, expertise and funding into research, which will transform lives.”
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange) for University of Nottingham, Professor Dame Jessica Corner, wholeheartedly endorsed the development and ambition of the new Joint Research Office which is integral in the further advancement of human and clinical research and will positively impact upon patient outcomes now and in the future.
Professor Dame Jessica Corner
“It is with great pleasure today that I endorse the launch of the Joint Research Office. There has been a long-standing mutually beneficial partnership between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. The Joint Research Office is an opportunity to formalise those relationships to enable us to deliver a joint ambition to become world-leading within the areas of clinical and biomedical research, and clinical innovation. This new combined single service will significantly improve research and development activity across the two organisations benefiting patients and clinical research now and in the future.”
The new service has evolved from the long-standing partnership between NUH and the University of Nottingham and comes in the year of celebration to mark 50 years of medicine and 30 years of nursing at the University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. The NJRO formalises our partnership and brings together world-leading clinical research, clinical and biomedical life sciences, and clinical innovation.
The NJRO will facilitate closer working between academics, clinicians and patients and aim to streamline the existing arrangements for research governance and ethics, funding and delivery of clinical research, which is currently managed separately by each organisation. Every year, hundreds of clinical research trials are developed by and take place in Nottingham across the two organisations. These cover the early development of treatments and vaccines, including most recently contributing to the research supporting the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine; to studies looking at diseases in whole population groups, with thousands of patients taking part.
Through the NJRO, researchers will be able to find the expertise and support they need to develop new research, access training and development to support their research careers and benefit from the NHS and University sponsored centres of excellence dedicated to translating research findings into better healthcare services.
The Nottingham Joint Research Office will be led by Co-Directors Dr Maria Koufali (NUH) and Ms Ruby Ali (UoN) supported by a growing team of 50 expert research and development managers working across both organisations to deliver seamless support to Nottingham researchers.
Research and clinical leaders welcome the launch of the Nottingham Joint Research Office here.
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About Nottingham University Hospitals
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the biggest and busiest acute hospitals in England, employing over 16,000 staff. We provide care to over 2.5million residents of Nottingham and its surrounding communities and specialist services to a further 3-4million people from neighbouring counties.
We are one of the most research-active Trusts in the country with world-leading clinical research delivered across our hospitals through over 400 clinical trials a year. Our NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre is translating research discoveries into new treatments for common diseases including asthma and arthritis. Central to our research is our expertise in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Supporting this is the NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility which provides the infrastructure, skills and knowledge essential to the delivery of high quality research into experimental medicine for adults and children. Our research expertise and resources are at the forefront of COVID-19 research into effective treatments and vaccines, as well as contributing to the world’s understanding of Coronavirus.
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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