The National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR) Research Leeds Clinical Research Facility carries out high quality early stage and experimental clinical trials to help new treatments and tests reach patients more quickly.
The NIHR Leeds CRF consists of the CRF Core (senior management and administrative staff) at the Research and Innovation Centre based at St James’s Hospital in Leeds and two CRF sites:
St James’s Hospital CRF: Our largest facility delivering high quality experimental medicine research, including first-in-human trials in oncology, haematology and immunology.
Leeds General Infirmary CRF: Specialist focus on people with cardiovascular diseases, located in the Yorkshire Heart Centre.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has two additional CRFs that collaborate with the core NIHR Leeds CRF but do not currently deliver trials as part of the wider NIHR CRF.
The Leeds Children’s Hospital CRF is a purpose built, age-appropriate facility supporting delivery of paediatric experimental medicine research in a comprehensive range of illnesses, from antenatal conditions through to adult variants of childhood diseases.
The Dental Translational and Clinical Research Unit (DenTCRU) CRF is a purpose built, self-contained, state-of-the-art dental CRF co-located on the LGI campus (as part of the University of Leeds Dental Hospital).
The Chapel Allerton CRF opened in Spring 2022. This centre supports clinical and translational research on the Chapel Allerton Hospital site including musculoskeletal and dermatology research.
Core funding for the NIHR Leeds CRF supports trial delivery at the St James University Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary CRF centres. We work with industry, research councils and charities to run over 100 early stage, experimental or complex clinical trials at any one time.
We provide a welcoming, professional and safe environment for patients taking part in our trials, fully supported by clinical services within Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust including world class imaging, pathology, radiotherapy and informatics/artificial intelligence.
Patients and the wider public play a key role in our research, not only as participants, but also helping us in shaping the direction of our work and in the design of research initiated in Leeds. We have particular expertise and a strong track-record in the following areas:
Cardiovascular research: heart failure and coronary disease,
Musculoskeletal research: conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism,
Oncology research: cancers that involve solid tumour,
Haematology research: including cancers of the blood,
Oral & Dental: full range of research within oral and dental health,
Paediatrics: treats a comprehensive range of illnesses including Cardiovascular disease.
Experimental medicine and translational research in Leeds includes a wide range of disease specialties, including research in paediatrics, neuroscience, diabetes and gastroenterology, with trials delivered either through the NIHR Leeds CRF sites or the other non-NIHR Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust CRFs. Wherever possible, trials are delivered on a CRF co-located with the relevant clinical services.
We conduct trials of:
- Novel drugs, medicines and vaccines
- Cell based and viral therapies
- Innovative technologies and devices
