Working across the NIHR infrastructure to accelerate world-leading research, translate discoveries into improved health and care, and deliver greater benefits for patients, the NHS and communities across the South West.
NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) are collaborations between world-leading universities and NHS organisations that bring together academics and clinicians to translate lab-based scientific breakthroughs into potential new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies.
The NIHR has awarded nearly £800 million to 20 Biomedical Research Centres (2022-27) across England, to translate scientific discoveries into new treatments, diagnostic tests and medical technologies to improve patient lives.
NIHR funding supports BRC researchers of the highest calibre to drive innovative research ideas that can attract investment from other funders, furthering the nation’s economic growth. BRC researchers support academic capacity development and training across the full career spectrum, from pre-doctoral to post-doctoral, that supports greater equity of opportunities for all.
We work closely with NIHR Biomedical Research Centres across the South West, including our alliance with colleagues in Bristol and Southampton. By sharing expertise, developing collaborative research and tackling common health challenges together, we strengthen translational research and maximise benefits for patients, the NHS and the wider region.
The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people’s health and wellbeing, and promotes economic growth. The NIHR experimental medicine infrastructure enables researchers to develop clinical applications from scientific breakthroughs, to translate these discoveries into new treatments for patients.
The system-wide investment in experimental medicine builds links between researchers in universities and the NHS, creating a national community of expertise in early-phase research. The NIHR infrastructure funding supports the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver programmes of work that are funded by the NIHR’s research programmes, other public funders of research, charities and the life sciences industry.
Watch this animation for an explanation of NIHR infrastructure
The NIHR invests significantly in people, centres of excellence, collaborations, services and facilities to support health and care research in England collectively these form the NIHR infrastructure. This infrastructure funding creates an environment where early-phase, clinical and applied research can thrive and facilitates the translation of discoveries into improved treatments and services for the benefit of patients and the NHS.
The NIHR Exeter CRF is based at the Research Innovation Learning & Development (RILD) Building at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and is a partnership between the Royal Devon and the University of Exeter.
Focusing on supporting and conducting clinical research studies, the Centre has bespoke wards and consulting rooms, sample-handling laboratories and specialist equipment for investigating exercise, physiology and metabolism. Research-dedicated nurses, scientists,doctors and support staff carry out clinical studies with the aim of improving patient care by increasing understanding of the causes, and improving diagnosis and treatment of, disease. Involving patients and the public is key to the Centre’s outstanding research.
We’re working with the CRF to increase the number of experimental clinical trials across the partnership and translate scientific discoveries quickly to patient care.
“Working together across the NIHR infrastructure means that we can bring scientific breakthroughs from the lab to where they are most needed – to the bedsides and clinics of the region, helping patients to benefit quickly from world-leading translational research.” Professor Angela Shore is the Director of the CRF and helps to provide strategic oversight of the BRC through her role on the BRC Management Board.
“Working together across the NIHR infrastructure means that we can bring scientific breakthroughs from the lab to where they are most needed – to the bedsides and clinics of the region, helping patients to benefit quickly from world-leading translational research.”
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Sustainable Innovation is hosted by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Exeter. It is one of 14 NIHR HealthTech Research Centres across England, bringing together researchers, clinicians and industry to develop, test and evaluate innovative medical devices, diagnostics and digital technologies that improve patient care.
Working across the NIHR infrastructure and with NHS partners, the HRC helps accelerate the development and adoption of new health technologies, ensuring innovations are safe, effective and responsive to the needs of patients, the NHS and industry.
The HRC’s research focuses on five core themes that reflect the needs of the South West Peninsula:
Through close collaboration with businesses, researchers and healthcare providers, the HRC supports the development of sustainable health technologies that improve health outcomes, strengthen NHS services and accelerate innovation across the region and beyond.
"The HRC dovetails perfectly within the established NIHR-funded infrastructure across the South West. It enables us to accelerate the development, approval and clinical adoption of innovative health technologies, ensuring they are accessible where they are needed most to deliver maximum benefit for patients. It also strengthens the Royal Devon's reputation as a centre for innovation and helps attract outstanding researchers, clinicians and industry partners from across the UK to work with us." Dr Mike Spiro, Co-Director of the South West Healthtech Research Centre
"The HRC dovetails perfectly within the established NIHR-funded infrastructure across the South West. It enables us to accelerate the development, approval and clinical adoption of innovative health technologies, ensuring they are accessible where they are needed most to deliver maximum benefit for patients. It also strengthens the Royal Devon's reputation as a centre for innovation and helps attract outstanding researchers, clinicians and industry partners from across the UK to work with us."
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Explore the BRC network in England
Explore the NIHR BRCs
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