STREAM - To identify older people (75 and over) who live in their own homes who may be at risk of malnutrition.  We have developed an intervention for older people and for healthcare professionals who work in Primary Care. 

Aim of study: To identify patients who may be at risk of malnutrition, based on diagnostic criteria, and then compare our intervention with usual care, to see what effect it has on the participants’ quality of life and infections over 18 months. 

"We, The STREAM Team, wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your help with our research - we really could not have done it without you! We are so very grateful for all the hard work and extra support you have given, to ensure STREAM's success. It has been a genuine pleasure to have worked with you all, thank you!" 

RELIEF - To determine the clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and acceptability, of replacing short-acting beta agonists (SABA) inhalers, containing Salbutamol, with inhalers containing ICS/formoterol in patients with asthma treated with low dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) maintenance treatment (CPMS 54357)

Aim of the study:  To compare the time to first severe asthma exacerbation (defined as treated with 3 or more days of systemic corticosteroids) in patients using regular low dose ICS and randomised to either SABA (Salbutamol) or ICS/formoterol for symptom relief 

"The East of England RRDN team have been exemplary in supporting us to achieve our site opening and participant targets.  Site opening was a concern for us at the beginning of trial set-up, we had no idea how we would deliver such a challenging trial post COVID-19.  I was reassured by colleagues both internally and externally that the RRDN s would be invaluable in supporting us with this aspect of trial set-up.  The East of England RRDN team were cited as one of the ‘go to’ teams for advice and support for trial set-up in Primary Care" 

Together2 - Evaluating video and hybrid group consultations in general practice: mixed methods, participatory study (CPMS 52286)

Aim of the study:  To better understand how group consultations for chronic conditions can benefit patients and the health service when delivered on video and/or in-person sessions in general practice

“really helpful and responsive in supporting our research – above and beyond”

Prodemos - Prevention of Dementia using Mobile phone Applications (CPMS 40549)

Aim of the study: To investigate whether optimisation of management of Dementia risk factors using an interactive mHealth intervention (App) leads to reduction of dementia risk and to evaluate the implementation of an App for dementia prevention

“Thanks to all for your ongoing support, we truly couldn't have achieved what we have without you”

Active Brains – use of web based games (CPMS 44571)

Aim of the study: to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a digital intervention to help in making healthy changes to maintain cognitive function and prevent cognitive decline

“The Active Brains Study had an ambitious recruitment target, and the team at East of England RRDN have been instrumental in helping us reach this. The research nurses’ close relationships with their local GPs enabled a high level of practice engagement and the core team were always keen to support ways to increase recruitment resulting in East of England being the top recruiting RRDN for the Active Brains Study – thank you for all of your help!”

East of England RRDN are extremely proud to be the highest recruiting RRDN for the Active Brains study, this enabled them to exceed their recruitment target of 21,500 participants for the study🎉 

Research Site Initiative: 2025-2026

For Primary Care research across the region we use the annual Research Site Initiative (RSI) Scheme.  This helps us to work with staff in a Primary Care setting and to identify appropriate studies with the relevant teams to ensure that studies are inclusive for patients with lower literacy levels, a key target demographic.

RSI funding is to enable such organisations to be research active and to undertake study feasibility assessments, act as a Participant Identification Centre (PIC) and to enable NIHR RDN Portfolio study delivery.  This funding is in addition to the study specific patient-related payments which a practice receives as reimbursement for service support activities.  Further details are outlined on our Finance page. 

Available Training for Healthcare Professionals

Useful Resources for our RSI Practices

The NIHR has awarded more than £14 million to GP-led primary care organisations across England to expand commercial research delivery and improve access to ground-breaking clinical trials. 

Aligned with the government’s health and growth missions, Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres (PC-CRDCs) will support the shift of research and care from hospitals into community settings. They will enhance access to clinical trials for people across England, particularly those in underserved groups and communities experiencing the greatest burden of ill health. 

The investment will establish 14 new NIHR PC-CRDCs across England and I am delighted to say that we have three here in the East of England:

Grove Surgery, Thetford, Norfolk

Mereside Medical, Ely, Cambridgeshire

Wansford Surgery, Wansford, Peterborough

Congratulations to all of our successful sites and their collaborators, this is a great achievement and will give people living in the East of England access to cutting-edge treatments and innovations to help them to live healthier, longer lives. 

Read more about this on the PC-CRDC website here.

NIHR RDN strategic plan sets ambitions for the next 5 years

The NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) has developed a strategic plan for 2025 to 2030, after extensive collaboration across the research community.  The plan sets out how the RDN will deliver on its primary purposes and focus its activities in supporting the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.  It will also support the delivery of the Life Sciences Sector Plan vision to be at the forefront of global innovation. 

Join Dementia Research - How you can help:

• Encourage everyone to sign up to Join Dementia Research

• Post your own content, photos or videos and, using the hashtag #AskAboutDementia, tag us on X and Facebook

• Let us know about any events you are hosting or attending and take photos for our social media channels. Please send photos to eoe.rrdn@nihr.ac.uk

• Order Join Dementia Research resources from the NIHR shop to display in public areas and use in local events

Find out more about the campaign »

Message from Assistant Director - NIHR RfPB Programme - jennie.hejdenberg@nihr.ac.uk

To colleagues that are research active registered health and care professionals, allied health colleagues and research methodologists.

Building on NIHR’s Strategic Focus - Strengthening careers for under-represented disciplines and specialisms, we are delighted to announce that the NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) Funding Opportunity, opening in October 2025, will be a ring fenced call dedicated to ‘Research inspired by under-represented disciplines and specialisms to drive transformational changes for patients and the public’.

Through this ring fenced funding call, NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) is seeking to grow a portfolio of applied health and care research programmes with leadership/co-leadership from underrepresented disciplines, specialisms and/or methodologists, that is: 

• Registered health and care professionals (HCPs), who are not doctors or dentists (i.e. proposals cannot solely be led by doctors or dentists but in alignment with the above, a co-lead arrangement is permitted given the scale and complexity of research programmes)

• Allied health professionals

• Research methodologists specifically the following disciplines: medical statistics, health economics, clinical trial design, operational research, modelling, bioinformatics, qualitative research, mixed methods and epidemiology.

The funding opportunity offers multidisciplinary research teams considerable flexibility to focus on any health and care topics within remit and scope of the NIHR PGfAR programme.  We welcome applications with leadership from underrepresented disciplines, specialisms and/or methodologists that present a coherent applied research programme of interrelated, multidisciplinary projects which individually and together produce outputs and outcomes that are likely to realise a transformative step change in the way the health and care services can meet the needs of the UK public.

The timing of this ring fenced funding aligns with highly relevant initiatives that we look to research applicants to reflect on and respond to as they shape their research proposals including the UK’s Government’s Health and Growth Missions, and the DHSCs Area of Research Interest (ARI) 3 shaping and supporting the health and social care workforce of the future.   Applicants are encouraged to align their research to these policy ambitions.

The amount awarded and the length of the funding period depends on the nature of the proposed work.  In recent competitions PGfAR awards attract funding of around £2.0-£3.5 million across 4-6 years.

More details can be found in the PGfAR Funding Opportunity -October 2025 Summary webpage and also the Research Specification with the accompanying supporting information. 

We are hoping that by giving as many people as possible advance notice, a strong field of proposals can be collaboratively conceptualised and developed ahead of the October launch.

Another opportunity: 

Following the HCP oversight board, we are sharing the news item announcing the funding awarded for RfPB's AHP call:  https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/allied-health-professionals-awarded-ps63m-nihr-research-patient-benefit-programme-across-27-projects.  There is also a LinkedIn post here.

Why NCVR is a 'no-brainer' for general practices seeking to deliver commercial research - website article 

Invisible - Be VIsible! - a film on why we need more diverse voices involved in health research