We support the delivery of clinical research in all 30 health specialty areas. Each is overseen by a nominated Specialty Lead. These clinicians lead research groups to promote and support research within their specialty across the region. Want to work with them? They would be delighted to hear from you.
The NIHR supports research being delivered through 30 specialty therapy areas. Each specialty is made up of expert clinical leaders and practitioners who work at both national and local levels to ensure that studies are delivered successfully and to promote awareness of research opportunities for participants to take part in.
The specialty groups also support the dialogue between the life sciences industry and charities to ensure the pipeline of research studies and to facilitate the involvement of participants to make research more effective. Visit the main NIHR website to find out what is happening nationally in the different specialties.
We offer support to enable research to be carried out in Primary Care centres such as GP practices, pharmacies and dentists. Our dedicated Primary Care team can help at every stage - including staff training, the set-up of studies and recruitment of patients.
We work with Primary Care partners across Greater Manchester and East Cheshire to support a wide range of research including studies which look at:
Gill Heneghan took part in studies looking at diabetes and cholesterol at her local GP practice in Manchester. She says:
It’s been really easy for me to take part in these studies because they are at my own GP practice which is near to me. It’s really convenient for me. The team who look after you, and who look after the studies, are really fantastic and I feel quite happy that I’m having a thorough health check every time I go."
Dr Stephen Tomkinson is a research-active GP at The Bodey Medical Centre in Manchester...
As a GP, it’s great to have different research projects to get involved with. Not only does it benefit our practice, but most importantly it benefits our patient population. It gives patients different choices about managing their condition and they are usually very excited about getting involved in cutting edge research which could make real differences."
The Bodey Medical Centre, in Fallowfield, Manchester, has a wealth of experience in delivering research in primary care. Being involved in research has resulted in a range of benefits for the practice and its patients.
General enquiries: researchsupport.crngm@nihr.ac.uk
Assistant Research Delivery Manager: Danielle Wilcock danielle.wilcock@nihr.ac.uk
We help researchers to deliver studies in social care settings. We also support social care settings to become accredited research delivery sites so people receiving this care can benefit from research.
We deliver the NIHR’s Enabling Research in Care Homes (ENRICH) programme in Greater Manchester. Our ENRICH network brings together care home staff, residents and their families with researchers. It provides a toolkit of resources to help care homes make the most of research and researchers to set up and run studies effectively and collaboratively in care homes. Your local contact can be found here.
We enjoy a strong collaboration with Greater Manchester’s Higher Education institutions to help the region’s university researchers readily connect with suitable, local care homes to carry out studies with consenting residents and families.
Studies in our region have included research into palliative care, cognitive stimulation, drug trials and questionnaires on topics such as a person’s transition from home care to residential care.
Dr Sibylle Thies, a researcher from the University of Salford, has provided a good practice guide for involving care homes in research.
We deliver Supportive Care and Community-based Research in Greater Manchester. Our aim is to increase recruitment from the hospice and community sectors to research studies supported by the Clinical Research Network.
We help to connect researchers with suitable local hospices where research studies looking at palliative care can be conducted with the consent of patients and their families.
We also support the delivery of research in other non-NHS settings including schools, colleges and prisons.
Dr Mark Hayes is a Research Fellow in Communication Disability at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Chief Investigator for the ‘Mental Capacity Assessment in Care Home’s study. He says:
Thank you to the ENRICH team in Greater Manchester for all your support with recruiting to my recent care homes study. We managed to recruit enough for completed data collection and analysis."
General enquiries: researchsupport.crngm@nihr.ac.uk 0161 701 5600
Specialty Lead: Professor Arpana Verma Arpana.Verma@manchester.ac.uk
Assistant Research Delivery Manager: Emma Oughton emma.oughton@nihr.ac.uk
Respiratory conditions are a key health challenge facing Greater Manchester. Research into this area is an important local priority.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), in particular, is very prominent among people living in our area. The city-region has the second highest admission rates for COPD in England, as well as poor outcomes and unwanted variation between GP Practices and localities.
The Salford Lung Study is an example of a ground-breaking trial that we have supported. The study examined the safety and effectiveness of a new treatment for COPD. From early engagement co-ordinating all of the GP practices and pharmacies involved with the study, through to running training sessions for the nurse teams, we were heavily involved throughout.
Greater Manchester is home to the North West Lung Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, the largest clinical respiratory department in the UK.
Our colleagues at Research for the Future run the Help BEAT Respiratory Disease campaign. This campaign encourages people from across Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas with respiratory conditions such as COPD, asthma or bronchiectasis to take part in local research opportunities.
By signing-up, people add their name to a consent-to-approach database which helps local researchers identify potential study participants. This service is designed to support respiratory research across Greater Manchester.
Our Respiratory Disorders specialty group has provided proportionate research training for 50 North West respiratory registrars to enable them to participate in selected trials running locally.
The training has been very well received and we plan to form a respiratory trainee research collaborative to develop more Early Career Researchers in respiratory medicine.
Dr Abdul Ashish was appointed Respiratory Disorders Speciality Lead for CRN Greater Manchester in 2019. Dr Ashish is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. He says:
It is my belief that access to clinical research should be equitable and accessible to all sites for all patients across Greater Manchester (GM). I want to support our academic centres by recruiting patients from across GM into clinical trials led by them and promote research across the district general hospitals.
"I see Greater Manchester as a rich resource for respiratory research. We are already recruiting well with the populations around Salford and Wythenshawe, but we have an excellent opportunity to reach out more widely into the other boroughs.”
General enquiries: researchsupport.crngm@nihr.ac.uk 0161 701 5600
Specialty Lead: Dr Abdul Ashish abdul.ashish@wwl.nhs.uk
Assistant Research Delivery Manager: Holly Monaghan holly.monaghan@nihr.ac.uk
Professor Phil Kalra is our Theme Lead for Relevant Research - philip.kalra@nca.nhs.uk
Professor Kathryn Abel is our Theme Lead for Inclusive Involvement - kathryn.m.abel@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Abdul Ashish as Theme Lead for Exceptional Experience - abdul.ashish@wwl.nhs.uk
These leaders work across care structures and specialty areas to change lives through research. They facilitate key development programmes that improve the delivery of research across Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and East Cheshire.
Our Specialty Leads lead research delivery in our 31 health specialty areas. They are available to support, advise and collaborate with colleagues working in research across our region.
Children and Young People - Professor Clare Murray clare.murray@manchester.ac.uk
Kidney Disorders - Professor Darren Green Darren.Green@nca.nhs.uk
Primary Care - Dr Naresh Kanumilli nkanumilli@nhs.net
Neurological Disorders - Dr David Rog david.rog@srft.nhs.uk
Diabetes - Dr Shazli Azmi shazli.Azmi@mft.nhs.uk
Cancer - Dr Kalena Marti kalena.marti@nhs.net and Dr Yvonne Summers yvonne.summers@christie.nhs.uk
Trauma and Emergency Care - Professor Richard Body richard.body@mft.nhs.uk and Professor Dan Horner daniel.horner@mft.nhs.uk
Critical Care - Professor Andrew Bentley andrewbentley@nhs.net
Surgery - Miss Gemma Faulkner Gemma.Faulkner@boltonft.nhs.uk
Dermatology - Professor Richard Warren richard.warren@manchester.ac.uk
Dementias and Neurodegeneration - Dr Ross Dunne ross.dunne@gmmh.nhs.uk and Professor Monty Silverdale monty.silverdale-2@manchester.ac.uk
Gastroenterology - Professor John McLaughlin john.mclaughlin@manchester.ac.uk
Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders - Dr Claire Higham claire.higham@christie.nhs.uk
Ear, Nose and Throat - Ms Sadie Khwaja sadie.khwaja@mft.nhs.uk
Stroke - Professor Craig Smith craig.smith-2@manchester.ac.uk
Anaesthesia, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management - Dr Anton Krige anton.krige@elht.nhs.uk
Musculoskeletal Disorders - Dr James Bluett james.bluett@manchester.ac.uk
Social Care - Dr Paul Clarkson Paul.Clarkson@manchester.ac.uk
Public Health and Prevention - Professor Arpana Verma Arpana.Verma@manchester.ac.uk
Genomics and Rare Diseases - Dr Catherine Breen catherine.breen@mft.nhs.uk
Liver - Dr Varindar Athwal varinder.athwal@manchester.ac.uk
Infection - Dr Alison Uriel alison.uriel@mft.nhs.uk
Mental Health - Dr Paul French p.french@mmu.ac.uk
Ageing - Dr Emma Vardy emma.vardy@srft.nhs.uk
Health Services Research - Professor Pete Bower peter.bower@manchester.ac.uk
Cardiovascular Disease - Dr Fozia Ahmed fozia.Ahmed@mft.nhs.uk
Respiratory - Dr Paul Marsden paul.marsden@mft.nhs.uk
Haematology - Dr Satarupa Choudhuri satarupa.choudhuri@nca.nhs.uk
Oral and Dental - Professor Tanya Walsh tanya.walsh@manchester.ac.uk
Ophthalmology - Dr Marta Ugarte Marta.Ugarte@mft.nhs.uk
The GP Excellence (GPEx) website is your starting place for sharing knowledge, finding information, identifying resources and learning opportunities designed for improvement and development of GP Practices across Greater Manchester.
