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Clinical Trials and Research

Together with Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust we have established the Newcastle Joint Research Office (NJRO), offering a network of expertise that helps businesses enable life-changing clinical and lab research.

What is the NJRO?

The Joint Research Office is our research partnership with the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Newcastle provides more nationally-accredited specialist services than any other centre in the country.

It supports researchers in the development, delivery and implementation of world class, clinical, translational and experimental research through these expertise:

  • over 400 research staff across many roles supporting research from concept to closedown
  • dedicated Oncology Research Team covering broad range of indications and therapeutic areas
  • embedded clinical delivery teams
  • research-active pharmacy team

Our expertise

  • phase 1 to 4 clinical trials capabilities with dedicated facilities
  • world leading research in rare diseases including Muscular Dystrophy, Mitochondrial and CAR-T
  • Cancer drug discovery through to clinical evaluation taking nine first-in-class agents into clinics
  • sponsor of international clinical trials for rare disease cohorts
  • regularly report global firsts in human studies
  • NIHR CRN Recruitment to Target measure - consistently 80%
  • quality improvement methodologies embedded to meet sponsor and researcher expectations
Newcastle Joint Research Office logo

Our industry links

  • UK’s first Pfizer INSPIRE Site
  • flagship site with Medpace
  • alliance site with Parexel
  • partner site with IQVIA
  • Cancer Research UK site
  • strong relationship with Novartis
  • strong relationship with Roche
  • collaborative working with Clinithink to improve patient recruitment to clinical trials

First and foremost our work is about patients. For all the science, discovery, and commercial aspects of our work, we never forget that people are at the heart of what we do.

Angela Topping, Head of the NJRO

Our networks

  • active patient groups (eg. VOICE, LIVErNORTH, YPAG ) promoting research opportunities
  • 3 million, relatively static patient population enabling longitudinal studies including genomics
  • Global Digital Exemplar
  • Great North Care Record
  • Northern Alliance Advanced Therapies Treatment Centre (NA-ATTC) consortium
  • NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (Ageing and Long-Term Conditions)
  • NIHR In Vitro Diagnostics Collaborative (Newcastle MIC)
  • NIHR Innovation Observatory (NIHRIO)
  • National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA)
  • National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD)
  • host to Local Clinical Research Network (North East and North Cumbria)
  • Academic Health Science Network (North East and North Cumbria)
  • Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA)
  • R&D Alliance working across the region to increase research opportunities
  • first NHS Trust to declare climate emergency in the UK
  • back-to-back Outstanding Care Quality Commission rating

Our infrastructure

  • broad spectrum of clinics covering multiple sites including RVI and Freeman Hospitals
  • International Centre for Life
  • proximity of Medical School to RVI Hospital
  • The Great North Children’s Hospital
  • Northern Centre for Cancer Care
  • dedicated Chemotherapy Unit
  • Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre
  • NIHR Clinical Research Facility and Clinical Ageing Research Unit
  • Dental Clinical Research Facility
  • Phase 3 Clinical Research Unit
  • Cellular Therapies Facility
  • Clinical Imaging Centre
  • robotics
  • laboratory medicine
  • biobanks