Research Infrastructure & Information

The trusts supports research in a number of specialties across the range of our clinical services.  Between 2023 and 2024, the trust has engaged in 24 trials across various specialties led by our diverse workforce, including doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals (AHPs). The contribution of non-clinical staff is also of note and showcases the commitment to research in the trust.

The specialties involved with these trials include: cancer, emergency care, *paramedic medicine, meds for children, respiratory, surgery, maternity, hepatology, diabetes, dermatology, dementias and neurodegeneration, health services and delivery research, infection, mental health, frailty, microbiology and primary care. For more information click here.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust conducts research into many areas of mental and physical health. These have included, but have not been limited to, research into psychosis, diabetes, cardiac conditions, depression, stroke, anxiety and long term neurological conditions. Find out more, including how to get involved in various research trials, on our website. 

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing a wide portfolio of research studies that are both relevant and accessible to our patients as we strive through research to continually find new knowledge to improve patient treatment and patient care. 

They have a dedicated clinical research team who support the delivery of both multi-centre studies, and the development of their own research.

Click here to find out about their latest news. This includes information about conducting research, including funding, clinical academic roles, partnerships, the researcher pack, and research developed by their clinicians, and information for patients and the public about taking part in research, what happens to your data, and their PRAs. You can even meet some people who have taken part in research studies here at HHFT, and some research active clinicians.

As a Trust, they have consistently recruited thousands of patients a year into clinical trials. In the each financial year since 2020, they have recruited over 8,000 participants each year, peaking at over 14,000 in 21/22. The Trust is consistently one of the highest recruiting large acute Trusts and is in the top 12 of all Trust types. To find out more click here.

The University Hospital Southampton (UHS) Research and Development (R&D) department is responsible for clinical and translational research at the hospital. The department's vision is to improve patient outcomes and healthcare by embedding research into all clinical services. To find out more, click here. 

Solent University has four areas of research priority that include: Enviroment and Engineering, Human Function and Health, Media, Culture and the Arts and Social Research and Policy. To find out more about their Human Function and Health theme click here. 

At University of Winchester staff and students across their five faculties carry out transformative and innovative research. They collaborate with a wide range of organisations and regularly share their expertise and passion for their subjects through public engagement and consultancy. To find out more about their research areas click here. 

University of Portsmouth covers a wide range of research topics across 5 faculities including Medicine, Pharmacology and Biomedical sciences, Dental and Oral Health and Health Informatics. To find out more about their areas click here.

Univesity of Southampton hosts a vast amount of research, across multipies research areas. To find out more about their health sciences research, which looks at improving wellbeing after cancer, enhancing patient safety and dignity, and influencing prescribing legislation click here. 

NIHR ARC Wessex conducts applied health research with its partners and others in the health and care sector, alongside patients and members of the public. Its applied research helps address the immediate issues facing the health and social care system.

The NIHR Southampton BRC takes new discoveries, treatments and technologies into the clinic, using unique tools, facilities and world-changing expertise across five key research areas.

Embedded at the heart of Southampton General Hospital, the NIHR Southampton CRF is where the latest developments first enter the clinic, both from its own laboratories and leading companies. It is one of 28 CRFs networked across the UK, giving access to sites, expertise and research infrastructure.

Southampton ECMC is internationally recognised for its expertise in delivery of early phase cancer studies. The centre has a strong global reputation in the design and delivery of studies in lymphoid malignancies, urological tumours and immunotherapy.

The new HDRC is expected to commence in January 2025, after a successful bid for NIHR funding. Hosted by Portsmouth City Council, it will bring together local government and community knowledge with research skills from the academic field, with the aim of improving the evidence base on which policy decisions are made in important areas that impact on health and health inequalities

The new HDRC is expected to commence in January 2024, after a successful bid by Southampton City Council (SCC), the University of Southampton, Solent University and Southampton Voluntary Services. Hosted by SCC, it will bring together local government and community knowledge with research skills from the academic field, with the aim of improving the evidence base on which policy decisions are made in important areas that impact on health and health inequalities.

Southampton PCRC is a world-leading centre of excellence offering a supportive and friendly multidisciplinary research environment with methodological expertise across a range of research areas including diagnosis and prognosis, improving the use of medicines and data science.

The RDN is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to enable the health and care system to attract, optimise and deliver research across England. It replaced the Clinical Research Network (CRN) on 1 October 2024. 

Hampshire and Isle of Wight is covered by the NIHR South Central Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN). 

The NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) provides free and confidential support for researchers to apply for funding and develop and deliver clinical and applied health and care research. The RSS provides support at every stage, from pre-application through to post-award delivery. Amongst other things, the RSS offers one-to-one advice, opportunities to meet with groups of methodologists, mock interviews, pre-submission reviews and support for clinical trial development and delivery. Online workshops are held throughout the year to introduce early-stage researchers to the grant-writing process.

The RSS is delivered collaboratively through eight hubs, each a partnership of research groups and organisations. Researchers do not need to be based in the same region as the RSS hub; however, the hub located in Wessex is the one delivered by University of Southampton (in partnership with the Universities of Portsmouth and Oxford, Oxford Brookes and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust).

The RSS Hub Delivered by University of Southampton and Partners also houses a Specialist Centre for Public Health, which works nationally to support the development of research capacity and capability to enable practitioners, researchers and anyone working outside of the NHS to carry out high quality public health research. The specialist centre also offers training, support with governance and ethics and resource to support research in local authorities.

Southampton CTU is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) registered academic specialist trials unit with a specific remit to design, conduct, analyse and publish clinical trials. SCTU works in partnership with investigators to deliver high quality trials that will directly influence routine clinical practice. The Unit receives NIHR support through the South Central Research Support Service and Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, as well as core funding from Cancer Research UK, with further NIHR funding awarded to support the unit in developing and running NIHR trials.

A collaborative network of clinical trial facilities delivering research at scale and pace. The network consists of: 

• Portsmouth Research Hub - working out of a community centre, this hub offers later phase trials and is embedded in city life.
• Southampton Research Hub - based in the Royal South Hants community hospital, this hub caters for trials from phase one onwards.
• Wessex Research Hubs on the move - two research buses offering mobile clinics across Wessex, vastly increasing reach and flexibility.