Herts receives share of £15 million to advance research tackling health and care challenges
The five-year investment, awarded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), forms part of a wider £157 million package supporting 10 Applied Research Collaborations (ARC) across the UK.
At Herts, the investment will fund research - broken down into programme themes and workstreams - focusing on some of the most pressing challenges in social care, including dementia, alongside work responding to emerging national health and care priorities.
The Social Care, Ageing and Dementia research theme will be led by Kathryn Almack, Professor of Family Lives and Care at the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care.
The theme’s work will focus on social care for ageing populations including research in care homes and about digital technologies, and age-related conditions such as dementia and vision loss.
Prof Almack said:
“Social care is facing some of its most pressing challenges in a generation. This funding allows us to generate the high-quality evidence needed to address them. And crucially, it will involve views and opinions of the people at the heart of it, such as those who use services, those who provide unpaid care, and the workforce delivering it every day."
Dr Elspeth Mathie, Reader in Health and Social Care Inclusion at the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care, will lead the Research Inclusion workstream.
The workstream will focus on ensuring that the design, conduct, participation, and impact of research include and benefit diverse populations.
Dr Mathie said:
“The communities who stand to benefit most from health and social care research are often the least likely to be involved in shaping it. Our workstream changes that, embedding inclusion at every stage, from design to impact, so that research reaches the people who need it most.”
The Prevention and Early Detection research theme is being led by Dr Claire Thompson of the University of Hertfordshire’s Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care.
Dr Thompson said:
“With challenging health and social inequalities ever present, we will be working with local services and organisations to find ways to support community priorities.”
The NIHR ARC East of England is hosted by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, working in partnership with five regional universities (University of Hertfordshire, UEA, the University of Cambridge, University of Essex, and Anglia Ruskin University), Health Innovation East, NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems, local authorities, patient led organisations, charities and industry partners to deliver research that improves outcomes, experiences and access to care.
Since its inception in 2019, ARC East of England has delivered impactful research across the region, building on earlier collaborative work that helped establish long lasting partnerships with researchers, communities, and health and care organisations.
Professor Wendy Wills, current Director of the NIHR ARC East of England and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Hertfordshire, said:
“The East of England has a large geographical footprint, encompassing diverse communities and services across urban, rural and coastal areas.
“As an ARC, we have worked to understand how best to meet these varied needs through high‑quality research that makes a real difference.
“This has meant ensuring that patients and the public are actively involved in our research and in helping us train researchers.”
The latest £15.3 million NIHR investment builds on an initial £9 million awarded in 2019, which enabled the partnership to generate around £62 million in additional research funding and deliver more than 260 research projects between 2019 and 2025.
Professor Stephen Morris, from the University of Cambridge, who will take up the role of ARC East of England Director on April 1, said:
“It is an honour to lead the NIHR ARC East of England into its next phase. Our work is most powerful when it is rooted in partnership with patients, the public, practitioners and researchers across the region.
“This new funding allows us to build on strong foundations and ensure that the research we deliver genuinely responds to the priorities of our communities and improves lives across health and social care.”
Learn more about CRIPACC here.