Our patients will soon benefit from cutting-edge treatments thanks to a new clinical research centre.

We, along with our partners at Barts Health and Homerton Healthcare, will form one of 14 hubs in England, including three in London, designated as a Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC).

The centre, which will be hosted by Barts at The Royal London Hospital, will give patients across north east London quicker access to advanced treatments and clinical trials. It will also help us address current inequalities amongst our patients in accessing clinical research.

Andrew Deaner, our Chief Medical Officer, said:

We are hugely excited about this project and the potential to increase the amount of clinical research we do at our Trust, while giving our patients quicker access to advanced treatments.

It’s also key that it will help us to address health inequalities and ensure more of our diverse groups of patients have access to clinical trials.

The centre has been made possible thanks to funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The £4.75m investment will fund staff over the next seven years, including a research nurse and data manager at our Trust.

Not only will the opening of the CRDC help us to increase the number of commercial trials we take part in by 25%, it will also help us reduce the time it takes to set up new studies by 30% in the first year, allowing to double patient recruitment within the next three years.

It is expected to be operational this April.

The announcement of the CRDC follows soon after we were awarded a huge £6.5million research grant for an ambitious study using ultrasound waves to stimulate the brain, with the goal of improving mood and reducing depression. The funding is shared with our partners Forest Neurotech and the University of Plymouth. Read the full story.