National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research and provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive. Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public, the NIHR delivers and enables world-class research that transforms people’s lives, promotes economic growth and advances science.
The NIHR are primarily funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, but also receive UK Aid funding to support research for people in low- and middle-income countries.
The NIHR invests significantly in people, centres of excellence, collaborations, services and facilities to support health and care research in England. Collectively these form the NIHR infrastructure.
One part of the NIHR infrastructure are the 20 funded Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) – of which Newcastle is one. These are collaborations between world-leading universities and NHS organisations that bring together academics and clinicians to translate lab-based scientific breakthroughs into potential new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies.
The centres receive substantial levels of sustained funding – £816 million over five years – to create an environment where experimental medicine can thrive. They attract the best scientists and produce world-leading research, contributing to the local and national economy.
BRC funding supports researchers of the highest calibre to develop innovative research ideas that can attract investment from other funders, furthering the nation’s economic growth.