Major health charities collaborate on e-health research initiative

Ten charities and government bodies have joined forces to invest £19m to establish four e-health research centres across the UK to make better use of data.

The initiative is being led by the Medical Research Council and the medical research charities involved are Arthritis Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust. The government bodies backing the project are the Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Government Health Directorates), the Economic and Social Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (Welsh government).

Centres will be established in London, Manchester, Dundee and Swansea and open at the end of 2012. They will carry research into a range of conditions including diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and child and maternal health, using data available through the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to improve patient care and public health.

In addition a network will be set up to encourage wider collaboration between UK and international researchers and help them make better use of data sets. The centres will also provide career development and training opportunities.

Professor Sir John Savill, chief executive of the Medical Research Council described the initiative as “a watershed moment for data research”.

He added: “The way in which the partner organisations have come together to invest in e-health underpins its importance and will help establish the UK as a world leader in this field.”

Arthritis UK’s medical director, Professor Alan Silman said: “As a funder with a commitment to using electronic patient data in research we’re happy to support this exciting initiative.”