Which studies are eligible for inclusion in the NIHR CRN Portfolio?

The UKCRN Portfolio comprises of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Portfolio in England, and the corresponding portfolios of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Each of the four UK nations are developing specific eligibility criteria for studies that can be included in their respective portfolios.

In England, the Department of Health has determined that studies (clinical trials and other well designed studies which involve the NHS) that are funded by NIHR, other areas of Government, and NIHR non-commercial Partners are automatically eligible to be included in the Portfolio. NIHR Partners are those organisations that:

award research funds as a result of open competition across England with high quality peer review
fund research that is of clear value to the NHS
take account of DH and NHS priorities and needs in their research funding strategies.

Full details are included in the document which can be downloaded below.

NB: The document below incorporates a small addition to the November version - additional text has been added on ‘studies agreed by CTAAC’ in section 3.1 a.

In addition other studies, such as commercially sponsored studies or those with industry funding which are led by an academic investigator, may be considered for inclusion in the Portfolio by undergoing an adoption process.

Industry sponsored studies will be reviewed by a Network specific Industry adoption panel and if accepted into the Portfolio will be classed as high priority. Click here to find out about NIHR CRN CC's Industry Trials Adoption Process. Submission for the adoption of Industry studies will be led by the Company. The Industry contact at the relevant network Coordinating Centre will act as the first point of contact. Click here to find out more about Network Industry contacts. Studies which fall within the Topic Specific Networks will continue with current adoption procedures. The Comprehensive Clinical Research Network (CCRN) Industry team will start to consider the adoption of Industry studies from the end of April 2008. Ongoing Industry sponsored studies will not be considered for adoption. Existing and new industry sponsored studies that are not adopted will continue to run outside the network, but will not be included on the Portfolio.

Industry funded, non industry sponsored (Investigator Initiated) studies will be required to go through a separate adoption process for non NIHR partner funded studies and if adopted will be classed as medium priority within the NIHR eligibility criteria. All non NIHR partner funded studies will need to be adopted onto the Portfolio by April 2009 to ensure continued access to service support and infrastructure funding. The adoption process for non-commercial studies is currently being developed and more information about this will be available shortly.