New £1m South West SDE Fund to Accelerate Access to Health and Care Data for Research

  • December 5th 2025

NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre is pleased to support the launch of a new £1 million funding call from the South West Secure Data Environment (SDE), designed to accelerate research access to currently untapped health and care datasets across the region.

The DAFNEA (Data Accelerator Fund for Novel and Emerging Assets) funding call aims to help health and care organisations and universities in the South West make the data they hold ‘research ready’. Successful applicants will receive support to prepare their datasets for secure access within the South West SDE, enabling approved researchers to explore high-quality, real-world data that can drive innovation and improve patient outcomes.

The funding call is part of an ongoing regional effort to ensure data can be used responsibly, securely and transparently to support impactful research.

More details and how to apply can be found on the South West SDE website

Upcoming webinar
The South West SDE team will host an information webinar on Tuesday 16 December, 10–11am.

Register here

Exeter BRC encourages partners and researchers across the region to explore this opportunity to unlock the potential of health and care data for the benefit of patients and communities.