NIHR Exeter CRF

Background: The Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) NHS Foundation Trust is committed to improving patient care through research.

It is increasing the scale and relevance of its research and the diversity and number of clinical professions undertaking research. Facilities to support research are crucial.

NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility (CRF) supports externally funded, peer reviewed, early phase (I/II) clinical trials and experimental medicine research.

Located at RD&E, it is a research partnership between RD&E and College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter (CMH, UoE).

The CRF complements other NIHR clinical research infrastructure at RD&E, enabling clinical research from experimental medicine and early phase complex studies (NIHR-CRF), through local clinical research network studies (NIHR CRN-SWP) to late phase commercial clinical trials delivered at pace and speed (NIHR-Patient Recruitment Centre).

The CRF s outstanding facilities including research wards, single clinical investigation rooms, outpatient consultation rooms, and specialised equipment with MRI and PET-CT located in the adjacent University Imaging Centre.

It occupies two adjacent, purpose-built facilities (RILD building (Level 2) and Vascular Research Centre (VRC)) with research laboratories on the floors above.

A team of highly experienced and dedicated research experts- nurses, scientists, doctors, managers and professional support staff- ensure the CRF is a well managed, safe environment in which to do research.

They provide expertise to enhance the delivery of research, so that bureaucracy for researchers is minimised, the safety of patients is ensured, and studies run swiftly, with excellent data quality, complying with all regulations. Established in 2007, the CRF is highly successful.

The research has received £45m external funding (a 3.8 fold return on NIHR CRF investment) with annual external income increasing 6 fold from £1.1m (2008/9) to £7.0m (2020/21).

It has outstanding patient recruitment and has published extensively (678 research papers) including in top journals (e.g.Lancet, Nature).

The quality of the research is evidenced by the award of numerous international prizes and fellowships to senior and junior researchers (including Wellcome Senior Fellowships and Clinical Career Development Fellowship; NIHR Clinical Scientist and Clinical Lectureship, and Diabetes UK Fellowships).

Directors, Professors Hattersley and Shore, will continue to lead the CRF, building on the success to date, ensuring the CRF provides outstanding opportunities for research.

Aim: To facilitate early clinical trials and experimental medicine research by providing: an environment welcoming to all research participants, well-managed, safe, fully equipped to undertake research; and research experts who can enhance research delivery. Key Objectives: 1. To increase the CRF study portfolio, through proactive engagement with academics, clinical and industry contacts. 2.

To provide an excellent service, enhancing research delivery and removing barriers. 3.

To ensure the patient/public voice is central to all that we do, by active engagement with communities (including those who do not normally participate in research), regular discussions and making decisions with our PPI groups, and increasing research participation. 4.

To develop skilled clinical researchers by providing: expert input to educational courses; individualised hands-on training in research delivery, mentorship and supervision; identifying peoples skills development needs and sourcing opportunities to achieve them.