CLiCIR
The Centre for Lifespan and Chronic Illness Research
Epidemiological studies which attempt to predict change of health status over lengthy periods of time ( e.g. measured in years), and where there appear to be multiple risk and protective factors require sophisticated research methods , especially statistical methods.
Expertise in these particular statistical methods is hard to find (e.g. ESRC prioritize studentships to train graduates in this field, 2006).
Many researchers working with cohorts of patients, or populations, do not have access to this kind of expertise.
Such methods often have core principles that apply to most research questions, across disparate illnesses (e.g. rheumatology, schizophrenia, renal failure), or cohort (young versus old).
Nevertheless, knowledge about specific illness related issues is essential for informative statistical analysis. There are a number of research projects in the fields of chronic illness and lifespan health which research staff within the University have been involved with.
The lead group of staff come from the Research Design Service (RDS) Hertfordshire, funded by an NIHR grant since 2007. This supercedes the HRDSU which has been operational at the university since 1996.
CLiCIR also consists of other staff, including NHS clinicians who have gained visiting professor status with the university through successful sustained collaboration with the Centre.
It has become apparent that when researchers working in related areas come together there is the potential for creating a group identity which ensures that the whole becomes more than the sum of the parts, and thereby raise the quality of research outputs, and attracting further research funding.
There can be considerable gain from a group of researchers, working in related fields of lifespan and chronic illness epidemiology, coming together in a research centre and sharing experience.
This group of staff have ambitions to become recognised internationally for their research expertise in their own field. This will require a considerable amount of peer support, and the creation of the appropriate research environment.
We have been disseminating and promoting the collegiate, inter-disciplinary research expertise of the CLiCIR staff for a number of years.
The formation of CLiCIR allows us to create a vibrant research environment allowing people to come together to provide a peer support structure to take us forward into the future.
