Launched in 2020, and now in its sixth year, the campaign continues to champion the critical role clinical research plays across all areas of healthcare.

The importance of clinical research has remained firmly in the spotlight since its launch. As the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) reiterates, research remains one of the most powerful tools we have to drive progress in healthcare—helping us to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease more effectively.

We are encouraged by continued government recognition of the value of research, affirming the UK’s commitment to clinical research excellence and our position as global leaders in early-stage and academic-led research.

We were delighted to see plans to speed up clinical research announced recently and are looking forward to the upcoming 10 year health plan!

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/unprecedented-boost-for-clinical-trials-under-10-year-health-plan

As experts independently assessed in high quality trial design, conduct, and reporting, CTU Network members are exceptionally well placed to support these ambitions and we continue to engage with policy makers, funders, and regulators on how to drive innovative research forward.

In 2025, Red4Research continues to spotlight and celebrate the dedication of everyone involved in clinical research—from participants and volunteers, to coordinators, clinicians, and support staff. Their work underpins the UK’s position as a global leader in health research and continues to transform care for patients and their families.

As we approach World Environment Day on 5th June, we are proud to mark one year since becoming a Supporter of the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research & Innovation Practice. This milestone highlights our ongoing dedication to embedding environmental sustainability throughout the clinical trials landscape.

In signing the Concordat, we committed to action across three key priority areas: leadership and system change, emissions from academic travel, and collaborations and partnerships.

Leadership and system change

We recognise that long-term research quality and impact depends on sustainable practices.

Over the past 12 months, we have been developing our Strategy for 2025–2030, ensuring that sustainability is not only reflected but embedded within our long-term goals. Our commitment to responsible, environmentally conscious research remains central to our strategic direction and future ambitions.

The Network also supports strengthening business models for long-term resilience while embedding environmental sustainability in all activities.

Read more about our strategy here.

Reducing emissions from academic travel

As a Network, we have reduced the number of face-to-face national meetings and transitioned to providing digital materials for all our events.  Where possible we combine meetings to remove the need for multiple journeys.

We have expanded our programme of webinars, roundtables, and discipline-specific online clinics, enabling more CTU staff to access shared learning and peer support without the need for travel. This shift has not only lowered our environmental impact but also greatly improved accessibility and inclusivity across the Network. 

In the last 12 months, our online programme has included 5 clinics, 6 webinars, 12 roundtables, and 15 user group meetings – allowing around 1200 people to share their knowledge and experiences without additional travel.

Collaborations and partnerships

Through collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we are supporting CTUs in advancing sustainable research practices — both by improving current systems and processes, and by exploring innovative approaches for the future.

Joint initiatives focused on simplifying and decentralising trials, harnessing emerging tools like AI, and promoting remote alternatives for activities such as trial monitoring, enable our members to benefit from shared expertise. This collective approach helps reduce duplication of effort and resources, driving more efficient and environmentally conscious research.

We are also proud to play our part in the work of wider groups in developing policies and practices that support our sustainability goals.  This includes supporting the development and piloting of a carbon footprinting tool for clinical trials, led by two of our member CTUs in as part of the TMRP’s Greener Trials Group.

The future

We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to advance more sustainable clinical research over the next 12 months and beyond.

Together we can make a difference!

Find out more

~ To learn more about the aims and ambitions of the Concordat click here.
~ To download the Network’s official letter of support from 2024 please click here.
~ You can find out more about World Environment Day, and this year’s call for collective action to tackle plastic pollution, here.

Today marks International Clinical Trials Day, an annual event celebrated worldwide to raise awareness of the vital role clinical research plays in improving health outcomes — and to recognise the contributions of those involved in it from participants to clinicians and beyond.

What better way for the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) Network to celebrate this important day than by announcing the launch of its new five-year strategy, setting the direction for clinical trials excellence through to 2030.

This forward-looking plan highlights the Network’s ambition to become an internationally recognised leader in the design, delivery, and analysis of high-quality trials that benefit both patients and the broader population. It also reaffirms its commitment to collaboration across health and social care, ensuring that trials remain patient-focused and methodologically sound. Read what our Network Director, Professor Kerry Hood, has to say about our vision for the future here.

Want to learn more about the global celebration of International Clinical Trials Day or find ways to participate? Visit the ACRP Clinical Trials Day website for information on events and initiatives.

If you’re curious about how to take part in a clinical trial yourself, explore the Be Part of Research platform to discover opportunities near you.

Network Director, Professor Kerry Hood, talks about the launch of the new five-year strategy taking the Network through to 2030. 

This is slightly different to our previous strategies – we have centred our values and clarified our value proposition as a network of highly experienced and innovative clinical trials units (CTUs). For me, as the new Network Director, having a clear set of values was important for the Network as everything we achieve is based on how we come together and create new ways of thinking, a common understanding, and the research culture of the future. How we then treat each other, and the broader communities we work with, is essential and reflects our commitments to respect and inclusion.  These will then drive a vibrant network in which we are able to challenge perceived wisdom and standards and support each other to move forward with new ways of doing things. Whilst these have been an integral part of our strategy development, I hope they will stand as the values of this network well past 2030 and continue to be a touchstone for our future.

But what are we actually going to be doing over the next five years? The field of clinical trials is rapidly moving, with major changes and developments in infrastructure across the UK.  For us, this means we need to focus on our collective approach to improving quality, efficiency and diversity in trials themselves, but also how we approach this in our governance, ways of working, and our workforce.  Sharing best practice and championing new approaches with sponsors and regulators is vital to see thorough uptake of new approaches.

We will continue to represent our member CTUs at a strategic and policy level and this has never been more important than now.  With a changing landscape for research globally, ensuring that academic trials that drive forward areas that are often not solved by industry have the infrastructure they need to deliver is vital.  We will also be exploring new ways of working in collaboration with industry to enhance the range of work undertaken and the ways in which it is done. However, an urgent priority for us is to ensure that the critical infrastructure provided by our members goes forward as a real strength of the research eco-system in the UK.  There are two ways in which we will address this – the first is to ensure we have a cohort of people coming through who can fill Director roles as people come up to retirement and the second is to develop our shared understanding of the best models to ensure sustainability of CTUs across a variety of types of host institutions (Universities, the NHS and Charities).

This strategy provides us with a focus to our activities and energy for the next five years, but also commits us to considerable effort to maintain and develop the health of this part of the research system which is internationally recognised as a driver of quality. As the person who sits in stewardship of this precious community of committed individuals and teams, I am enthused with what the next few years will bring and the direction this takes us.

You can learn more about the Network Strategy for 2025 – 2030 here.

Professor Kerry Hood
Director, UKCRC Registered CTU Network

Nurses are the foundation of patient care across the globe, and their vital contributions cannot be overstated.

In 1974, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) established 12 May—Florence Nightingale’s birthday—as International Nurses Day. The day was created to highlight the invaluable work nurses do for patients and to shed light on key issues facing the nursing profession.

Each year, the ICN chooses a theme to reflect current priorities in health care. Past themes have included strengthening health system resilience, advancing health through nursing research, and promoting access and equity. In 2025, they are focusing on the importance of supporting the health and wellbeing of nurses whether that be physical, mental, emotional, or ethical.

Nurses also play an essential role in clinical research, both in the UK and internationally. They are integral members of interdisciplinary trial teams, supporting participants, contributing their own research ideas, and helping educate peers and the wider community. Research nurses are key to the successful delivery of clinical studies and the ongoing improvement of patient care.

We are proud to stand with our nursing colleagues and to amplify their voices.

You can find out more about the ICN and this year’s campaign here: www.icn.ch/.

The UKCRC Registered CTU Network is pleased to celebrate Earth Day 2025, a day dedicated to environmental protection and sustainability. Earth Day, which began in the United States in 1970, became a global event in 1990, uniting people worldwide in the fight for a healthier planet.

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Over a number of years, the Network has supported work to identify and minimise the carbon footprint of clinical trials and promote a more sustainable approach both centrally and amongst our members.

In June 2024, we proudly became a supporter of the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice.

Sustainable Initiatives

As a network we have reduced the number of face-to-face national meetings we hold and transitioned to providing online meeting materials for all our events. 

We have increased the number of webinars, roundtables, and discipline-specific ‘clinics’ we host online, allowing more CTU staff to benefit from shared learning and peer-to-peer support without the need for travel. This shift not only reduces our environmental impact, but also significantly enhances accessibility.

Our Operations Groups work collectively to identify issues in their areas and find ways to mitigate against them. In August 2024, our Monitoring Group released a new resource aimed at helping Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) minimize the carbon footprint of their monitoring activities. Travel for on-site monitoring is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of clinical trials, for example, accounting for an estimated 10-15% of the total environmental impact. This work was highlighted in a debate in the House of Lords in March 2025, underscoring the importance of sustainability in clinical research.

A number of our member CTUs have taken part an initiative across the sector supported at various times by the NIHR and the TMRP to first quantify the carbon footprint of clinical trials, utilising the breadth and depth of leading trials expertise within CTUs to do so, complementing the knowledge brought by industry partners. More recently, they have developed tools to help researchers understand the impact of their intended trial protocol and make evidence-based decisions to minimise that impact.  These tools will be piloted across the Network.

Future Plans

We are also excited to announce the imminent release of our strategy for 2025-2030, which will embed environmental sustainability as a core value in all our activities.

As a Network, we foster collaboration among Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) to refine approaches, streamline processes, and share best practices. Our commitment to innovation and learning ensures that trials are designed and delivered with excellence, maximising impact while minimising waste.

Together, we can make a difference. Happy Earth Day 2025!

At the end of 2022, three CTUs from the network (Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU), Nottingham CTU, and Cardiff Centre for Trials Research received funding from the NIHR Efficient Clinical Trials Call for the EXPLAIN initiative (https://explain.octru.ox.ac.uk/). The EXPLAIN initiative was funded around the topic of Animated Explainer Videos (AEVs) – short videos/animations (up to 2 minutes) which can be used to help individuals understand more about taking part in a trial. 

To view the English versions of the animations please visit https://explain.octru.ox.ac.uk/animations.html and to request copies for any of your trials or CTU websites please complete the request form on that page.

The team will be looking at the usage of the animations – collecting metrics of their access and will also use a short questionnaire 12 months after creating individual links to each AEV to assess the usage and trial teams comments on the value of each AEV on their trial.

The EXPLAIN team wish to express their thanks to every CTU that responded to the survey, those that participated in the Delphi, and most important the PPI partners who co-produced the AEVs.  

The UKCRC Registered CTU Network is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Otavio Berwanger as the new Chair of its International Registration Review Committee (IRRC).

Professor Berwanger will oversee the Network’s registration process, working with the Network’s leadership to ensure maintenance of appropriate quality standards and helping to shape the strategic direction of the registration process and membership.

Professor Berwanger is cardiologist and clinical trialist with a strong background in leading large-scale, pragmatic, international randomised clinical trials.  He is the Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health UK and  Chair in Clinical Trials at Imperial College London.

Reflecting on the importance of the IRRC’s work, Simon Denegri, Chair of the Network’s Executive Group, welcomed Professor Berwanger’s appointment, stating:

“I am delighted that Otavio will be chairing our International Registration Review Committee (IRRC) and look forward to working with him on behalf of the UKCRC CTU Network Executive Group. Clinical trials units (CTUs) are at the forefront of excellence and innovation in trials across all four nations of the UK and the Network is internationally unique in bringing together the collective expertise of CTUs to ensure continuous improvement in the way the UK conducts trials  The Network’s shared commitment to excellence is underpinned by the  work of IRRC which is crucial in ensuring all members of our network are operating to the highest standards and for patient benefit. Otavio brings with him a wealth of expertise and experience which will ensure the registration process for CTUs is rigorous, fair and forward-looking.”

The IRRC undertakes and has oversight of the Network’s registration process.  This assesses the capability of a Clinical Trials Unit to design, conduct and analyse clinical trials. Registration acts as a hallmark of quality, excellence and integrity and provides assurance to the standard of studies undertaken by Registered units. 

Joyce Fox, a public contributor with extensive experience in public involvement in clinical research and member of the IRRC since 2022, noted:

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Otavio as the new chair of our International Registration Review Committee (IRRC). He has extensive experience in clinical trials and demonstrates a highly inclusive and forward-looking approach, including a strong commitment to supporting and further developing Patient and Public Involvement (PPI). I am excited to work with Otavio on the IRRC and to continue supporting the development of the Clinical Trials Network and strong PPI within it.”

Professor Berwanger joins a notable line of past chairs, including Dr Ian Hudson, former Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). His leadership is expected to further strengthen the integrity and excellence of the UKCRC Registered CTU Network’s registration process.

The importance of sustainability in clinical research was highlighted during a recent debate in the House of Lords.

Ms Bennett noted that, whilst bodies like the UKCRC CTU Network and the NIHR were publishing guidance and promoting sustainable practices, these were voluntary schemes.  She queried whether the Government was considering providing a statutory basis for such activities.

With growing awareness of the environmental impact of clinical trials, the integration of sustainable practices into core trial activities is becoming a key priority and by taking a considered approach, we can reduce environmental impact whilst maintaining the highest levels of quality and oversight.

A big thank you to everyone involved in driving these important conversations forward!  We look forward to seeing further progress in this area.

Find out more about the Network’s Guidance for Greener Clinical Trial Monitoring here.

These workshops are designed for current and aspiring Chief Investigators of clinical trials, with a clear objective: to equip you to excel in conducting clinical trials through effective collaboration with a clinical trials unit. Each event provides expert guidance and interactive activities within a collaborative learning environment.

Join us for this developmental experience, where you will gain valuable insights, forge essential connections, and expand your capabilities as a Chief Investigator.

Information on the 2024 workshops, including speaker information and previous agendas, can be found here.

Dates for the 2025 programme will be published shortly.