Our research takes place across facilities accessible to patients involved in studies, in addition to purely focused areas where researchers undertake their work. Many of these facilities are jointly run with Newcastle University and funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR)
Newcastle Clinical Research Facility
Supported by the NIHR, the Newcastle Clinical Research Facility (NIHR CRF) is a partnership between Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University. It carries out complex medical research in adults and children to test new treatments for the first time (known as early phase trials).
Research takes place across three main sites:
- The CRF in the Leazes Wing of the Royal Victoria Infirmary
- The Clinical Ageing Research Unit (CARU), a patient-friendly facility which focuses on ageing and age-related conditions such as dementia, on the Campus for Ageing and Vitality in Newcastle.
- The Dental CRF, based at Newcastle Dental Hospital
The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre
This patient-friendly unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle carries out all phases of cancer trials. It is based within the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.
The centre is supported by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the generosity of local people and focusses on clinical research into new anti-cancer drug therapies and techniques.
Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)– ageing and long-term conditions
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) is a partnership between Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University.
The BRC is based at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality and focusses on improving lives through testing and developing new approaches to tackling health problems associated with ageing and long-term conditions.
Research themes include: dementia, liver disease, musculoskeletal disease, neuromuscular disease, skin and oral disease.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Patient Recruitment Centre: Newcastle
The Patient Recruitment Centre (PRC): Newcastle focuses on research in common, chronic conditions and contribute to improving our regional population health.
It is based at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality in a standalone facility. They aim to drive research participation and extend the reach of our traditional hospital settings to engage with the broader communities and populations we aim to serve.
The centre can provide a bespoke service to Trust investigators who wish to work in partnership with the facility, and deliver a late phase portfolio of research in common chronic conditions, extending the reach of Newcastle Hospitals and building additional capability.
Patients can register their interest through the Research+Me registry.
John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Centre
The John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre (JWMDC) runs multidisciplinary children and adult clinics for over 2500 NHS patients per year with a range of neuromuscular diseases (those that affect the nerves that control certain muscles in your body) throughout the north of England.
