UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units are organisations which have expertise in developing and coordinating multi-centre clinical trials and other well-designed studies.
This site is an information resource providing details about the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units. It is aimed primarily at investigators based in the NHS, academia and industry who wish to develop new clinical trials or are seeking advice and assistance for their clinical research project.
UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units do not directly recruit participants into the clinical trials they coordinate; instead they develop links with investigators (for example, specialists and GPs) throughout the UK who are able to identify potential participants who might be interested in taking part in clinical trials.
Understanding Clinical Trials
The UK Clinical Research Collaboration has produced a booklet on Understanding Clinical Trials, and a leaflet called Clinical Trials: What they are and what they’re not. They are designed to answer the many questions people may have when deciding whether to take part in a trial.
What is a CTU
Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) are specialist units which have been set up with a specific remit to design, conduct, analyse and publish clinical trials and other well-designed studies. They have the capability to provide specialist expert statistical, epidemiological and other methodological advice and coordination to undertake successful clinical trials. In addition, most CTUs will have expertise in the coordination of trials involving investigational medicinal products which must be conducted in compliance with the UK Regulations governing the conduct of clinical trials resulting from the EU Directive for Clinical Trials.
CTUs which have been awarded UKCRC Registration were required to provide evidence to an international panel of experts of their capability to centrally coordinate multi-centre clinical trials (i.e. having overall responsibility for the design, development, recruitment, data management, publicity and analysis of a portfolio of trials), and that they had established robust systems to ensure conduct and delivery of clinical trials to the highest quality standards.
Interested in participating in a clinical trial?
If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial, you should contact your specialist or GP. Your specialist or GP will have detailed information about your current health and medical history and will be able to discuss options with you and advise if you are likely to be eligible for a clinical trial.
UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units do not have access to this detailed information about you and cannot advise whether you could take part in one of their trials. Therefore, please do not contact the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Units directly.
Other ways to get involved in clinical research
People can get involved in clinical research in a wide variety of ways. In addition to volunteering to participate in a clinical trial, they may get involved in the development of the research, for example by working with researchers to design research studies. For further information about patient and public involvement in clinical research, the following resources may be useful:
People in Research
For members of the public that would like to find out more about public involvement in research – http://www.peopleinresearch.org/
Find a Clinical Trial
The Be Part of Research website provides easy to understand information about clinical research trials running in the UK, and gives access to a large range of information about these trials. It is designed to enable patients and their clinicians to locate and contact trials of interest – https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/
