Why Manchester?

Manchester is one of the UK’s fastest growing cities and is the largest city region economy outside of London. With a population of nearly 3 million CRN Greater Manchester is committed to developing a broad research portfolio which is relevant to our local population needs and provides life-enhancing opportunities that our citizens can access near to where they live. In order to do this we work with our local partner organisations:

• Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

• Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust)

• Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

• The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

• Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Bolton NHS Foundation Trust

• Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

• Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

• Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

• Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

• North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

• East Cheshire NHS Trust

We work with local care organisations in all of our communities across Greater Manchester, East Cheshire and East Lancashire. These include:

Community mental health / Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

• Prisons

• Voluntary sector

• Community Hospitals

• Residential care, social care and domiciliary care

• Health visitors / schools

• GP practices / federations / networks

• Urgent treatment centres

• Community nurses

• NHS hospice care

• Urgent care at home teams

• Community based clinics

• Other independent contractors e.g. pharmacy

• Specialist community based clinics e.g. sexual health / drug / alcohol

• Local authorities

• Charities

Our research vision and values 

We have established research ambitions for the region following a wide-reaching consultation with our research communities and system leaders. This has allowed us to take a fresh look at how we work and what we are seeking to achieve in collaboration with our partner organisations and members of the public. As a result, we have created our CRN Greater Manchester research delivery vision and values which have been central to devising our future plans.  

Our vision

Is to change lives through research, by enabling the best care for our entire population through world-class collaboration, experiences and performance. 

Our values

• Relevant Research, our commitment to fully understanding the care needs of our local population and finding the best ways to make a difference to citizens and communities through research. 

• Inclusive Involvement, our focus on identifying underserved communities and recognising research involvement beyond participation.

• Exceptional Experience, our investment to service improvements which advance the practice of research delivery for participants, staff, investigators, partners and sponsors. 

 Our values are now the starting points that help us focus on specific pieces of work which meet the needs of our population and care services. 

Our leadership structure

We have created three leadership positions to expand operational development across our values. Dr Abdul Ashish is our lead for Exceptional Experience, Professor Phil Kalra our lead for Relevant Research, and Professor Kathryn Abel our lead for Inclusive Involvement. They work closely with our CRN Greater Manchester senior management team of Professor Martin Gibson, Professor Andy Ustianowski (Co-Clinical Directors), Sarah Fallon and Susan Neeson (Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer) who lead our CRN service and provide leadership across our network.  

Our Specialty Leads 

We support research delivered in all health and care areas. Each is headed by one of our Specialty Leads who play a central role in promoting increased delivery activity and development across our region. They also coordinate regional specialty networks consisting of local research professionals who are based at sites across our local footprint and share the same area of expertise. To connect with a Specialty Lead, you can find the specialty leads' contact details on our website, or contact us at researchsupport.crngm@nihr.ac.uk and specify your specialty area of interest.