NIHR Nottingham BRC

The National Institute for Health Research Nottingham (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) launched in 2017.

The Nottingham BRC is a partnership primarily between the University of Nottingham (UoN) and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH). We develop new treatments for diseases that affect millions of people in the UK and world-wide.

We take discoveries from scientists in Nottingham, and other, world-leading universities, and develop them into new drugs and medical technologies.

Since our launch, we have added to scientific knowledge by publishing 2,342 papers, helped build the research community of the future by supporting 383 trainees and leveraged £182m of external funding.

Our research is focused on health problems where there is the greatest international, national, and local need, where our research teams are internationally renowned, and where we have already invested.

Examples of our investment include the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre (SPMIC) and the £100M BioDiscovery Institute at UoN. Internationally, we work with the UoN s Malaysian and Chinese campuses.

We also work with the local and NIHR research infrastructure, such as the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands.

Our research themes are: respiratory disease; gastrointestinal and liver disease; hearing; mental health and technology; musculoskeletal; and magnetic resonance and precision imaging. In this application we describe our plans to build on the success of these themes and work more closely together.

We will convert the current cross-cutting imaging theme into a full theme, and we will develop the musculoskeletal theme to embrace our growing strength in trauma, surgery and rehabilitation research.

We will also create a Health Informatics platform to maximise the use of healthcare data for research across all our themes. Our research is also about improving prosperity by working with industry.

We will continue to grow our partnerships with the regional industry economy by working with the Midlands Academic Health Science Network, the Midlands Health Alliance, the new National Rehabilitation Centre (opening 2022) and the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF) hosted by Nottingham Trent University.

We believe that the quality, value and impact of our research will be maximised by strong public and patient involvement and engagement.

Our research must involve communities who are at greatest risk from the diseases we study, and aim to reduce health inequalities.

The life expectancy in Nottinghamshire is below average, with people in the most deprived areas having a life expectancy 14-years lower than other areas.

There are also big differences in access to healthcare and an increased number of patients with mental health, respiratory and liver diseases.

We have therefore developed a dedicated programme for increasing the diversity of people who contribute to and take part in our research, as well as ensuring that our BRC is directly linked to our communities.

We are working to remove the barriers to taking part in research, and we are setting up a new Stakeholder Advisory Group to help shape our research and ensure equal access to research careers. (Co-produced with members of the BRC PPI writing group.)