- Sheffield’s NIHR Clinical Research Facility has played a crucial role in testing a new meningitis B vaccine that has since been rolled out on the NHS, including to babies
- It was also pivotal in the development of dupilumab, a life-changing therapy which is now available to one million patients worldwide with a severe skin condition known as atopic dermatitis
- Over the past 20 years, the CRF team has supported research involving more than 49,000 patients and volunteers, 500 principal investigators, 300 commercial sponsors and 54 charities
A specialist NHS clinical research facility which has helped thousands of patients around the world access innovative treatments and therapies is marking 20 years advancing health and care.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facility (CRF): Sheffield, hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Sheffield, welcomed its first patients shortly after opening at its original site at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital on 2 September 2006.
Since then, the unit – and its sister site which opened at the Northern General Hospital in 2009 – have played a major role in helping to advance care in Sheffield and beyond.
Working closely with researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, volunteers and their families, the delivery team, including nurses, support staff and administrative colleagues, has played a remarkable role in advancing care. Over the past 20 years, the team have delivered over 147,000 participant visits, working with more than 500 principal investigators and 300 commercial sponsors, and 54 different charities.
All research is supported by the unit’s purpose-built facilities which include multi-bed bays, private rooms for treatments and consultations and on-site laboratories equipped with the latest technology to deliver cutting-edge treatments and trials.
Professor Jim Catto, Professor of Urology at the University of Sheffield, CRF Director and Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The CRF has offered our patients access to world leading care in Sheffield and helped many, many more through the findings from the studies we have run.
“The benefits from our CRF are long lasting and felt by many patients and their loved ones. We are hugely proud of what we have accomplished over 20 years and look forward to discoveries in the next 20.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Chris Newman, who provided stellar leadership for 19 years as CRF Director and leaves a tremendous legacy.”
As well as delivering pioneering new treatments and therapies, the facility has also enabled greater understanding of diseases and conditions, and provided crucial evidence as to what does and doesn’t work. This in turn means resources can be directed into treatments and therapies that make a difference to people’s lives both now and in the future.
Key research contributions include the CARRIAGE trial which tested a new meningitis B vaccine that has since been rolled out on the NHS, including to babies. Sheffield was the UK's highest recruiter to the study, recruiting 829 participants in 12 weeks.
The CRF also played a pivotal role in the development of dupilumab, a life-changing therapy which is now available to one million patients worldwide with a severe skin condition known as atopic dermatitis.
The drug, which was shown to significantly reduce symptoms and improve quality of life, was made available thanks in part to the efforts of the NIHR CRF: Sheffield who were the UK’s highest recruiter to three major trials investigating the drug’s effectiveness.
Other notable achievements include becoming an NIHR funded CRF with a £3.1 million funding investment in 2012, followed by renewed funding of £3.1 million in 2017 and £7.9 million in 2022, supporting haemophilia research, a groundbreaking programme rapidly screening potential drugs for evidence they can slow down damage to the nervous system in people with motor neuron disease, trialling a liver drug in Parkinson’s patients for the first time and rapidly establishing nationally important studies that helped shaped the global response to Covid-19.
Most recently the team’s work has been back in the spotlight with recruitment of one of the world’s first participants into an early-stage CAR T-cell therapy trial, a type of immunotherapy designed to treat cancer, in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).
Lisa, 43, who was diagnosed with the relapsing-remitting form of MS in 2016 and suffers with chronic fatigue, numbness, tingling, ‘fizzy’ feet, constant pins and needles, said taking part in research has changed her life.
In 2022 she joined the StarMS trial, where she opted for ocrelizumab, a prescription disease-modifying therapy used to treat relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults, after being randomly selected to receive active treatment, with the treatment stabilising her condition.
Earlier this year, this gave her the opportunity to participate in another trial, called RESHAPE, where she was again randomised to receive ocrelizumab.
Lisa said: “Without clinical research I know I wouldn’t be where I am today. The team here at the CRF are fantastic and being with the trial team has provided me with a lot more knowledge and understanding of my health condition and given me so much more confidence with managing the condition I have. They have been there for me throughout some very difficult and tricky times, being so kind, listening to me, and reassuring me. I feel cared for, looked after and supported.”
Karen French, CRF Head of Operations, said: “We are incredibly proud of the role the CRF has played in advancing clinical research over the last two decades. During this time, research undertaken within the CRF has contributed to life-changing outcomes for patients across a wide range of health conditions, helping to advance treatments, improve care and shape the future of healthcare.
“The impact of this work is reflected not only in research breakthroughs, but also in the experiences of those who take part in our studies, with participants consistently rating their experience within the CRF in Sheffield as excellent. We are extremely proud of all we have achieved, which is a testament to the passion and care of our staff and the trust shown by our patients.”
This year also marks the NIHR’s 20th year, celebrating the establishment of an organisation which marked a turning point for modern UK health research and the development of Clinical Research Facilities across the UK, of which Sheffield was among the first.