As well as a BRC, Leicester hosts multiple parts of the NIHR infrastructure, which creates a seamless link from the laboratory to early phase clinical trials to late phase commercial research, together with the support of services to help design, co-ordinate and deliver high-quality research in the NHS.
NIHR Leicester Clinical Research Facility (CRF)
NIHR CRFs support the delivery of early-phase and complex studies in purpose built facilities in NHS hospitals. The Leicester CRF offers expertise in multiple key specialities, including cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer, lifestyle, and emergency and acute medicine.
NIHR Patient Recruitment Centre: Leicester (PRC)
Leicester hosts one of 5 PRCs in England, which are 100% dedicated to delivering late phase commercial research
NIHR Clinical Research Network East Midlands (CRN)
The CRN East Midlands is one of 15 regional bodies who support and co-ordinate the delivery of high-quality research
NIHR-CRUK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) Leicester
ECMCs drive the discovery, development and testing of new treatments to combat cancer.
Our BRC hosts one of 18 NIHR BioResource Centres across England. The NIHR BioResource recruits and maintains a resource of data and samples donated by over 200,000 people. Researchers can use this resource to call up potential participants for studies to understand the links between genes, the environment, health and disease.
NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) East Midlands
The RDS provides a network of skilled advisers offering free and confidential advice to develop competitive funding applications for health and social care research.
The NIHR Leicester BRC is part of the following Translational Research Collaborations (TRCs):
- Respiratory
- NIHR-British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Partnership
- Diet and Activity Research Translation Collaboration (DART)
TRCs are collaborative groups of world-leading investigators established via NIHR Biomedical Research Centres with significant expertise in specific disease areas. The TRCs enable NIHR to work together with industry, charities and other stakeholders to develop and deliver early-phase translational research at scale.
Read more about NIHR Translational Research Collaborations.
Leicester BRC is part of the Midlands Health Alliance. Its purpose is to facilitate industry access to leading experts within NIHR infrastructure across the region.
In addition, our BRC management hub is co-located with part of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands at Leicester General Hospital. ARCs support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems.