Leeds Clinical Research Facility carries out high quality early stage and experimental clinical trials to help new treatments and tests reach patients more quickly.
Our core funding comes from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and we work with industry, research councils and charities to run over 100 early stage, experimental or complex trials each year.
We provide a welcoming, professional and safe environment for patients taking part in our trials, supported by clinical services within Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Patients and the 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.
Our CRF covers a wide range of disease specialties, including neuroscience and gastroenterology, but we have particular expertise and a strong track-record in:
- Cardiovascular research: heart failure and coronary disease
- Musculoskeletal research: conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism
- Oncology research: cancers that involve solid tumours
- Haematology research: including cancers of the blood
- Oral and dental health: conditions affecting the mouth and teeth
- Paediatrics: diseases in children
This broad expertise means that we are able to handle all types of trials. Our work can include, for example, first-in-human patient studies of new drug treatments, proof-of-principle trials, testing of experimental diagnostic techniques or imaging technologies and later stage trials including those that involve complex surgical procedures. We can also undertake the evaluation of medical devices and investigation of new uses for established treatment modalities e.g. radiotherapy or licensed medicines.
We work from a central facility at St James’s University Hospital, with satellite facilities at Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds Dental Institute and Chapel Allerton Hospital, ensuring trials are carried out in close proximity to their related clinical services. We benefit from excellent facilities and equipment and can draw on expertise within supporting services, such as a dedicated sample processing and biobank facility, specialist haematological diagnostic service, trial design and analysis within the Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit and clinical informatics through the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics.
The video below explains more about the work of our funder, the NIHR: