The Consultation on R&D infrastructure closed 12 April 2017 |
The Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency funds the core infrastructure which supports Clinical and Social Care Research in Northern Ireland.
This includes Research Offices in each of the five HSC Trusts, the Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network (NICRN), the Northern Ireland Clinical Trials Unit (NICTU), the Northern Ireland Cancer Trials Network (NICTN), the Northern Ireland Public Health Research Network, the Northern Ireland Biobank and the Wellcome Trust – Wolfson Foundation Northern Ireland Clinical Research Facility (NICRF), in addition to other smaller units.
In many respects, current research infrastructure has been extremely successful in supporting and facilitating research. A number of examples have been highlighted nationally where critical studies have opened much more rapidly in Northern Ireland than the other devolved nations. NICTU has rapidly expanded over the last two years and is now working at full capacity, with a substantial portfolio of studies mainly funded by NIHR.
Nonetheless, we believe that it is timely to review current arrangements for research infrastructure and support, with the aim of providing even better and more flexible support for clinical research within our current budget, and national legislation and governance requirements.
With this in mind, the purpose of this consultation is to seek input from key stakeholders, the wider research community, patients and the public on current research infrastructure and support arrangements. Following this initial survey, there will be an externally led process of more detailed engagement in the form of interviews and focus groups with respondents, to be followed by a written consultation on proposals for future core infrastructure support.
We would like to thank you for your engagement in this process, and assure you that your views will be a critically important influence on our future plans.
Professor Ian Young (Chief Scientific Advisor, DoH (NI) & Director, Health & Social Care R&D)
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Click on the images below to find out more about our research infrastructure and the wider R&D infrastructure in NI
