The NIHR Clinical Research Facility: Oxford (Oxford CRF) is a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, which supports early phase experimental research.
Early phase studies involve the testing of new treatments in patients for the very first time (first-in-human trials) through to early safety and efficacy trials (Phase II trials).
Hosted by OUH, the Oxford CRF is part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people’s health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth. In 2022, the NIHR awarded £161 million over five years to 28 clinical research facilities (CRF) across England, to support early-phase and complex studies.
These NIHR CRFs are purpose-built facilities hosted by NHS hospitals where researchers can conduct studies with a view to identifying treatments that deliver meaningful benefits to patients.
Oxford Experimental Medicine CRF
The Oxford Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility (EMCRF) provides a resource for early-phase experimental research across the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford.
The Oxford Experimental Medicine CRF is located on the Churchill Hospital site and forms part of the University of Oxford’s Old Road campus. There are exciting plans in the coming years to establish a paediatric CRF in the Oxford Children’s Hospital at the John Radcliffe Hospital.
The Oxford EMCRF is a core element in the clinical translational strategy of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford (BRC Oxford).
The multi-speciality facility provides a service to all 15 BRC Themes and facilitates cross-theme collaboration. A number of the University’s medical sciences research teams are involved, including orthopaedics, clinical pharmacology, immunology, respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, diabetes and endocrinology, neurosciences and vaccines.
The facility offers in-patient and isolation facilities, alongside an endoscopy room and outpatient-style space. The formation of the Oxford EMCRF reflects the success and impact of the BRC Oxford’s translational research and involves close collaboration between the University of Oxford and OUH.