University of Warwick: Thanks to NIHR funding, the University of Warwick is among the institutions promoting health and social care research in the United Kingdom.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded over £100 million to 20 new Policy Research Units (PRUs) in England to address emergent health and social care issues such as reproductive health, addiction, and dementia.
The PRUs, which are funded by the Policy Research Programme of the NIHR, play a crucial role in ensuring that the government and independent bodies have the best available information and evidence when making health and social care policy decisions.
Each university-based unit will assemble a multidisciplinary team of researchers from collaborating institutions to form a critical mass of experts in health and social care policy priority areas. Responding to policy research requirements, the PRU researchers will develop research programmes that provide empirical evidence for current and emerging research priorities.
Clemson University Expenses: Tuition Fee, Living Expenses and other details
University of Warwick receives £100 million from NIHR
The National Institutes of Health (NIHR) presently funds fifteen PRUs covering a wide range of topic areas. While these areas will continue to be covered by the new Units, two of the previous PRUS (Obesity and Older People and Frailty) have been renamed to more accurately reflect their focus area. They will be renamed Healthy Weight and Healthy Ageing for this funding round. The extant units’ contracts will expire in December 2023.
In order to address emergent issues within the health and social care systems and to support the Department’s strategic priorities, NIHR has increased the number of PRUs it will fund during the next funding cycle. Twenty new units will begin operations in January 2024, with each unit receiving between £2 and £5 million over the span of a 3- to 5-year contract.
University of Warwick Topics to be Covered
The following subject areas will be covered by the emerging PRUs:
- Addictions in Palliative and End-of-Life Care
- Neurodegeneration and Dementia in Reproductive Health
The new PRU in Reproductive Health was established in 2022 as part of the government’s Women’s Health Strategy. In accordance with the objectives of the strategy, the new Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care PRU will also contribute valuable new evidence to inform policy decisions that will enhance the health and wellbeing of women and girls.
Assistant Professor Abimbola Ayorinde, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, remarked, “We are thrilled to be a part of the new Policy Research Unit focusing on reproductive health, which affects the entire population. We will provide policymakers with robust scientific evidence to enable them to make well-informed decisions regarding a broad spectrum of reproductive health issues throughout the life span of individuals. We are committed to involving individuals with lived experiences in every aspect of our work by adopting a co-production strategy. Our ultimate goal is to improve reproductive health for all and eliminate disparities in this vital area.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), stated, “At the NIHR, we have a variety of strategies to ensure that health and care research benefits patients and the general public. The new Policy Research Units of the NIH are intended to conduct rigorous policy evaluations. This allows the government and related organisations to make decisions about health and social care that could affect us all based on the most recent evidence.
“We are funding Policy Research Units in a variety of important policy areas, including cancer surveillance and social care. Several new topics will expand the units’ capacity to address the most pressing healthcare issues we face, including enhancing reproductive health, combating addiction, and addressing dementia and neurodegeneration.
Minister of Women’s Health Strategy Maria Caulfield stated, “We are investing £100 million in 20 new research hubs that will bring together key experts to address a variety of issues, including end-of-life care, addictions, dementia, and neurodegeneration.”
“As part of the Women’s Health Strategy, we promised that more research would be conducted to improve understanding and treatments for women’s health issues; today, we’re introducing a new unit focusing on reproductive health.”
Providing evidence to support policy research
Since the 1970s, the PRU system has provided the DHSC with direct access to leading academics in various disciplines. The units have played a significant role in shaping a variety of policies.
The 15 current PRUs have provided evidence for a variety of policy priority areas over the past five years. They have provided both a long-term resource for policy research and a swift response service to provide evidence for new policy requirements.
The PRU in Cancer Awareness, Screening, and Early Diagnosis of the NIHR provided assurance that the benefits of participating in the NHS breast cancer screening programme outweigh the minor risk of overdiagnosis. The PRU also participated in the first lung cancer computed tomography (CT) screening trial in the United Kingdom, which provided significant support for lung cancer screening in high-risk groups such as smokers.
