Our Vision

Our vision is to transform lives through world-leading research in ageing and multiple long-term conditions (MLTC).

We take 21st-century approaches to driving discoveries from the laboratory into the clinic to advance diagnosis, treatment and prevention for complex patient groups often not represented in experimental medicine research.

 

Our Rationale

One in four people in England are living with MLTC. These conditions can develop at any stage of life but become more common and burdensome with age, leading to significant personal and societal cost such as an increased need for health and social care. Ageing and MLTC have been consistently raised as clinical and research priorities, not only by the UK Government Life Sciences Vision 2021, the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2023, Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the National Health Service of England 2024 and research funders, but also by patients and members of the public.

Groups such as our BRC Public Partnership Advisory Group, VOICE and the James Lind Alliance on Multiple Conditions in Later Life have all emphasised the importance of inclusive engagement, particularly with these under-served populations, to ensure research meets patient need.

Our Aim

The NIHR Newcastle BRC is uniquely placed to deliver on our ambitious vision through the existing research capacity and capability of the research and clinical teams across our Partnership. Our eight research themes provide a breadth and depth of world-class experimental medicine that is focused on areas of high patient burden and innovative technology solutions.

We are committed to training the next generation of translational researchers in ageing and multiple long-term conditions. Our Research Capacity Development (RCD) strategy will establish the NIHR Newcastle BRC as a national centre of excellence committed to the development of a skilled interdisciplinary academic workforce focused on tackling the increasing health and societal challenges of ageing and multiple long-term conditions (A&MLTC) in the UK.

Our Research Capacity Building

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Our Strategy

Our BRC has five overarching strategic objectives which provide the structure for our strategy:

  • Excellence through themes with breadth and depth of world-leading research enabled by an actively inclusive research culture to foster diversity​

  • Impact through research meeting patient need and embedded patient and public involvement
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  • Synergy through BRC-wide programmes of research to maximise effectiveness of NIHR BRC funding and leverage funding for onward translation ​

  • Partnership building through a network of collaborations involving the AHSC, TRCs, other BRCs, wider NIHR infrastructure, research charities and industry​

  • Capacity building though collaborative leadership and training opportunities to build a flourishing interdisciplinary pipeline of translational researchers for the future

 

Our themes are broadening their focus beyond single long-term conditions (LTCs) to address the complexity and impact of additional diagnoses. This leads to a powerful unified voice on research evidence and an approach shared between university researchers, the NHS and the public to speed up the implementation of scientific breakthroughs into benefits for patients.

Our research excellence combined with synergistic working will enable the NIHR Newcastle BRC to realise the benefits of bringing the research together and maximise the effectiveness of NIHR's funding.

Discover our Themes