The NIHR ARC East Midlands has begun a new funding tenure, enabling it to expand its work across the region.
Hosted by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, with the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham, and Health Innovation East Midlands, the NIHR ARC East Midlands is one of 10 ARCs to benefit from the NIHR’s latest £157 million investment. It has secured £9 million over the next five years to expand its proven record of delivering impactful research.
The funding will enable the NIHR ARC East Midlands to address the UK’s most pressing health challenges through research. This is a central focus of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.
The organisation’s work will focus on five key themes. These are: Multiple Long-Term Conditions, Building Resilience in Later Life, Ethnicity and Health Inequalities, Data4Health and Translation and Implementation Research.
Under this new tenure, the NIHR ARC East Midlands will also work to translate research into practice, delivering effective interventions.
This investment recognises the quality, relevance and real-world impact of the organisation’s work to date. It will enable deeper partnerships with the NHS, local authorities and communities. It will also expand capacity for applied health and care research and accelerate the translation of evidence into practice.
Since 2019, the NIHR ARC East Midlands has published more than 750 papers in peer-reviewed journals. It has delivered nearly 130 research projects, and developed over 60 partnerships with the NHS, academic institutions and local authorities.
It has also supported 60 PhD students and 30 Postdoctoral Fellows, securing £15.5 million for studies with real-world impact.
The work of the NIHR ARC East Midlands has been featured across the media. This includes coverage from The Times, BBC News, The Independent, The Sun, and more.
Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Co-Director of the NIHR ARC East Midlands and Professor of Primary Care, Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, said:
“We are thrilled to have secured this new funding, which allows us to continue our work tackling the region’s most pressing health and social care challenges.
“It is an exciting opportunity to build on our past achievements. It will also allow us to make an even greater impact for communities across the East Midlands.”
Professor Sam Seidu, Professor in Primary Care Diabetes and Cardio-metabolic Medicine at the University of Leicester, is the new Co-Director of the organisation.
Professor Seidu said: “I am delighted to join ARC East Midlands as Co-Director. It is a privilege to work alongside such a dedicated team, and I look forward to helping translate innovative research into practical solutions that improve health and social care across the region.”
Professor Nigel Brunskill, Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Leicester said:
“We are proud and excited to now be hosting the NIHR ARC East Midlands.
“It will be a real joy to see the organisation grow here, bringing together clinicians, researchers and communities to deliver evidence-based innovations that make a real difference to care.”
The NIHR ARC East Midland’s commitment to tackling health inequalities was clear from the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within weeks of the national lockdown, Professor Khunti was among the first to identify the virus’s disproportionate impact on ethnic minority communities. The team played a central role in the national response.
The NIHR ARC East Midlands funds vital work to tackle the region’s health and care priorities. It aims to speed up the adoption of research onto the frontline of health and social care. It also puts in place evidence-based innovations which seek to drive up standards of care and save time and money.
Find out more by clicking here to visit the NIHR ARC East Midlands the website.