The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) unites leading NHS and academic institutions in the UK’s biggest and most diverse city outside London, serving more than 5 million people.
Our regional partners
Our BRC is part of the NIHR and hosted by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Birmingham.
Our associate partners bring additional expertise, increase our research capacity and add regional capability. They include:
- Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
- Aston University
- Keele University
- University of Oxford
Explore our interactive map to find out more about how we work with our partners.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB)
Our BRC is hosted by UHB, which gives us access to exceptional clinical facilities and staff, as well as the uniquely diverse patient cohorts in our region.
UHB runs Good Hope, Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals. UHB cares for 2.2 million patients each year, serving a regional, national and international population, and has one of the largest critical care units in Europe.
University of Birmingham
Our BRC relies on the thriving research culture at the University of Birmingham. Our facilities are located in both the University and UHB hospital sites, allowing translational research to be carried out in both clinical and academic environments.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
Keele University
Keele University supports our BRC Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement strategy thanks to their outstanding expertise in the field. We also collaborate via our Inflammatory Arthritis, Thrombo-inflammation, Next Generation Therapies, and Data, Diagnostics and Decision Tools themes.
Keele was founded to meet the demands of a new kind of society, economy and world. 75 years later, this mission still drives them, and Keele’s research seeks to improve lives and address the most pressing challenges across our region, country, and the world.
Aston University
Our links with Aston University mainly involve our Next Generation Therapies theme, with shared projects in biomaterials and systems for treating eye disease. Aston University also supports the entrepreneurship element of our BRC.
Aston University’s vision is to be a leading university of science, technology and enterprise, measured by the positive transformational impact they achieve for the people, students, businesses and communities they serve.
University of Oxford
We have been working closely with the University of Oxford for over 10 years, with shared landmark studies within our Inflammatory Arthritis, Next Generation Therapies, and Inflammatory Liver Disease research themes. Our partnership is especially strengthened by the collaboration of colleagues from across the Oxford BRC and Birmingham BRC on these key projects.
The University of Oxford is one of the world’s leading academic institutions and one of the oldest, with a unique heritage that dates back to the 11th century. Today its reputation, like its longevity, reflects a deep and abiding commitment to excellence in every area of teaching and research.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWBH)
Our long-standing partnership with SWBH builds on our joint work in Inflammatory Arthritis, that has led to outputs with significant clinical impact.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is an integrated care organisation. They are dedicated to improving the lives of local people, to maintaining an outstanding reputation for teaching and education, and to embedding innovation and research. They employ over 8,000 staff across two acute hospitals and at several community settings, including GP practices, serving a population of more than 550,000 from west Birmingham and all the towns within Sandwell.
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust (BCHC)
We collaborate with BCHC through our Oral, Intestinal and Systemic Health theme, with additional links via our Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity, Thrombo-inflammation and Patient-reported Outcomes research areas.
BCHC aims to deliver best care for healthy communities. They serve people from birth through to older years across diverse groups and communities. Reflecting BCHC’s organisational aims and footprint, their Research and Innovation function delivers upon a broad project portfolio.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC)
We primarily work with BWC through our Women’s Metabolic Health theme, with further collaborations in other BRC research areas.
On 1 February 2017, Birmingham Women’s Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital joined to create Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – the first of its kind in the UK. Their united team works to provide the best possible care to our women, children and families.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB)
Our BRC is hosted by UHB, which gives us access to exceptional clinical facilities and staff, as well as the uniquely diverse patient cohorts in our region.
UHB runs Good Hope, Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals. UHB cares for 2.2 million patients each year, serving a regional, national and international population, and has one of the largest critical care units in Europe.
University of Birmingham
Our BRC relies on the thriving research culture at the University of Birmingham. Our facilities are located in both the University and UHB hospital sites, allowing translational research to be carried out in both clinical and academic environments.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
Keele University
Keele University supports our BRC Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement strategy thanks to their outstanding expertise in the field. We also collaborate via our Inflammatory Arthritis, Thrombo-inflammation, Next Generation Therapies, and Data, Diagnostics and Decision Tools themes.
Keele was founded to meet the demands of a new kind of society, economy and world. 75 years later, this mission still drives them, and Keele’s research seeks to improve lives and address the most pressing challenges across our region, country, and the world.
Aston University
Our links with Aston University mainly involve our Next Generation Therapies theme, with shared projects in biomaterials and systems for treating eye disease. Aston University also supports the entrepreneurship element of our BRC.
Aston University’s vision is to be a leading university of science, technology and enterprise, measured by the positive transformational impact they achieve for the people, students, businesses and communities they serve.
University of Oxford
We have been working closely with the University of Oxford for over 10 years, with shared landmark studies within our Inflammatory Arthritis, Next Generation Therapies, and Inflammatory Liver Disease research themes. Our partnership is especially strengthened by the collaboration of colleagues from across the Oxford BRC and Birmingham BRC on these key projects.
The University of Oxford is one of the world’s leading academic institutions and one of the oldest, with a unique heritage that dates back to the 11th century. Today its reputation, like its longevity, reflects a deep and abiding commitment to excellence in every area of teaching and research.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWBH)
Our long-standing partnership with SWBH builds on our joint work in Inflammatory Arthritis, that has led to outputs with significant clinical impact.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is an integrated care organisation. They are dedicated to improving the lives of local people, to maintaining an outstanding reputation for teaching and education, and to embedding innovation and research. They employ over 8,000 staff across two acute hospitals and at several community settings, including GP practices, serving a population of more than 550,000 from west Birmingham and all the towns within Sandwell.
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust (BCHC)
We collaborate with BCHC through our Oral, Intestinal and Systemic Health theme, with additional links via our Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity, Thrombo-inflammation and Patient-reported Outcomes research areas.
BCHC aims to deliver best care for healthy communities. They serve people from birth through to older years across diverse groups and communities. Reflecting BCHC’s organisational aims and footprint, their Research and Innovation function delivers upon a broad project portfolio.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC)
We primarily work with BWC through our Women’s Metabolic Health theme, with further collaborations in other BRC research areas.
On 1 February 2017, Birmingham Women’s Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital joined to create Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – the first of its kind in the UK. Their united team works to provide the best possible care to our women, children and families.
We are part of Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), a strategic alliance dedicated to jointly accelerating and implementing healthcare innovations.
Our BRC is strategically placed within Birmingham’s integrated life science campus, which creates a fertile environment for collaborations with industry and charity partners.
Our role within the NIHR infrastructure
We are one of 20 Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) across England funded by the NIHR. NIHR BRCs are collaborations between NHS organisations and universities. They bring together academics and clinicians to translate scientific discoveries into potential new treatments, diagnostics and technologies.
We are also linked with the following parts of the NIHR:
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NIHR BioResource
We host one of the NIHR BioResource centres across England. As well as hosting the NIHR Birmingham BioResource Centre, we are also the lead organisation for the NIHR Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) BioResource.
The NIHR BioResource recruits and maintains a resource of data and samples donated by over 200,000 people. Researchers can use this resource to call up potential participants for studies to understand the links between genes, the environment, health and disease.
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NIHR Translational Research Collaborations
We are part of:
- NIHR-British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Partnership
- NIHR Oncology Translational Research Collaboration
- NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration
- UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration
NIHR Translational Research Collaborations (TRCs) are collaborative groups of world-leading investigators established via NIHR Biomedical Research Centres with significant expertise in specific disease areas. The TRCs enable NIHR to work together with industry, charities and other stakeholders to develop and deliver early-phase translational research at scale.
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NIHR/Wellcome Trust Birmingham Clinical Research Facility
We share staff, strategies and initiatives with the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Birmingham Clinical Research Facility (CRF). The Birmingham CRF provides a regionally leading high-quality clinical environment where patients can take part in experimental and complex clinical research studies.
More than 400 active trials are currently running through both the adult and paediatric facilities at the CRF which generate more than 15,000 research appointments per year.
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NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands
We share staff and initiatives with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands (ARC WM). ARC WM is an initiative aiming to create lasting and effective partnerships across health and social care organisations and universities (Birmingham, Keele and Warwick) in order to improve care services across the West Midlands.
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NIHR Midlands Patient Safety Research Collaboration
We share initiatives with the NIHR Midlands Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC). NIHR PSRCs are partnerships between universities and NHS trusts that carry out research to improve patient safety. They look at topics including service delivery, patient safety behaviours, clinical decision making, and transitions between care settings.
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NIHR Research Delivery Network
We work with the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), which supports the delivery of high-quality research that enables the best care for our population.
