Newcastle University has been selected as one of the nine leading academic centres for primary care research in England and invited to join the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research (NIHR SPCR).

The School is a partnership between nine top performing departments of primary care, supported by over £30million funding over five years.

Newcastle will join the other member universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Keele, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton and University College London in 2015.

The selection panel commended Newcastle University’s excellence and focus on ageing primary care related research.

The successful bid was led by Professor Louise Robinson, Professor of Primary Care and Ageing, with a team from the Institute for Health and Society, including Professor Eileen Kaner, Institute Director and Barbara Hanratty, Professor of Primary Care.

Professor Louise Robinson, who holds a prestigious NIHR Translational Professorship and directs Newcastle University Institute for Ageing, said: “This is a great boost for academic primary care in the north.  Older people make up a significant proportion of patients in primary care, and our research will help people to live better for longer.”

Background information on NIHR and the SPCR

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government’s strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (www.nihr.ac.uk).

The NIHR has established three national schools: the School for Primary Care Research, the School for Social Care Research, and the School for Public Health Research. They represent a unique collaboration between the leading academic centres in England. The School for Primary Care Research was founded in 2006, to increase and develop the evidence base for practice in the primary care, It supports high quality research and provides strategic leadership to support the development of primary care research. 

Newcastle has also been a member of the School for Public Health Research since 2012, through Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health: a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside universities.

published on: 20 November 2014