The Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) was established in 2007 by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTHFT) in recognition of the unique research partnership between the primary and secondary care NHS Trusts in Bradford and Airedale and the universities of Bradford, Leeds and York. Since then the BIHR has developed and increased its expertise in clinical research and notably applied health research and now has a reputation of being one of the leading centres in conducting applied health research in the country.
The BIHR provides a critical mass of research expertise within the Trust which includes accommodation for the renowned applied health research teams (Born in Bradford, Centre for Ageing and Rehabilitation and the Yorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group) as well as some of the Trust’s clinical research teams while others are based within the clinical areas.
As part of the BIHR facilities the Trust also has its own Clinical Research Facility (CRF) which opened in 2008 after a £1 million renovation project. The CRF provides dedicated, high quality out-patient facilities for our researchers to conduct clinical research.
Due to the increase in the Trust’s research activity, grant success and partnerships both the BIHR and CRF have been extended to increase research accommodation and clinical research space for our researchers. A £2 million extension was completed in 2011 and £1 million extension to the CRF was completed in February 2016.
Building on the BIHR’s success in applied health research, the Trust are working in partnership with the Universities of Leeds and Bradford to create further facilities for applied health research through the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research.
Mission: Delivering research excellence together
To continue to be a leader in the delivery and translation of high quality, relevant health research and improve the health and wellbeing of our local population, nationally and beyond.
In delivering our mission for research we are focusing on the following priorities:
- To develop and maintain excellence in the quality, safety and governance of our research.
- To increase research capacity and capability, ensuring the effective deliver of research.
- To increase our research income and activity, meeting our local and national performance targets.
- To increase patient and staff participation in research studies that are focused on the needs of our patients and staff.
- To strengthen the integration and reach of research across our departments, embedding research as core business.
- To promote partnerships and collaborations that supports our research ambition.
- To strengthen and support the translation of research into practice to make a real and lasting difference to the quality of clinical care that we provide to our patients.
The intention of our research strategy, ‘A Research Strategy for Health and Wellbeing – Delivering research excellence together’, is to make a real and lasting difference to the quality of clinical care provided by us to our patients; further details are available in the full strategy.
Vision
The vision for research in the Trust and the BIHR is twofold:
- To develop a thriving, collaborative research culture and reputation where research is embedded in our core business, with the right infrastructure, capacity and capability, enabling us to deliver the highest quality and effective healthcare based on research evidence.
- To ensure that each patient cared for in our hospitals has the opportunity to participate in a research study, where appropriate, thereby allowing them access to the latest novel treatments.
Our research partners
Our research is largely collaborative including close working with our community, academia, research funders and networks. Our main academic research partners include: