Research partners

From advancing technology to direct impact on patient care. Our research partnerships are improving healthcare in the South West and beyond
Research partners

Our partnerships, with external researchers and organisations locally, nationally and across the World, are essential to the delivery of our Internationally renowned medical, dental and biomedical research. We collaborate closely with NHS Hospital and Partnership Trusts across the South West and beyond, patient groups, healthcare providers, charities and commercial organisations including:

We emphasise enterprise, partnership and sustainability, and act as a catalyst to advance knowledge and understanding to bring social, cultural and economic benefits to those we work with.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust – Derriford Hospital

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has a well established reputation for high quality research and development and a strong record of recruitment into and conducting commercial and non-commercial clinical trials supported by dedicated research infrastructure. 

The main acute hospital at Derriford, one of Europe’s largest, is adjacent to our John Bull, Derriford Research Facility and ITTC Buildings and the Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMED) at Plymouth Science Park where the majority of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry researchers are based.

Our close relationship Hospital clinicians and staff, including through joint use of our state-of-the-art biomedical laboratories, facilitates enhanced interdisciplinary working and clinical collaboration providing the means to translate discoveries made into real benefits for patients.

NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC)

PenCLAHRC is a partnership between the University of Plymouth, the University of Exeter and NHS organisations across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, established in 2008 and funded by the NIHR as part of a national network of thirteen NIHR-funded CLAHRCs (current programme £10M over five years until 2018).

The partnership supports and funds research with direct impact on patients’ health and on improvements to the way in which NHS care is delivered, conducting research based on questions from the people directly affected by the issues under investigation: doctors, nurses, therapists and, importantly, patients.

Research teams from across the University of Plymouth have led a range of PenCLAHRC-supported projects and the ethos of the CLAHRC is a central theme of our strategy for health and medical research.

The partnership has been highly successful in utilising match funding to access support for our research projects from other sources and external partners.

South West Academic Health Sciences Network (SWAHSN)

Part of a national network of 15 AHSNs, set up by NHS England to identify, adopt and disseminate innovative health and care, SWAHSN membership consists of clinical commissioning groups, mental health trusts, acute hospital trusts and academic institutions from across Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly.

SWAHSN’s mission is ‘to enable a sustainable health and care system for the South West by supporting and driving quality improvement and innovation’, focussing on prevention/early intervention, and person-centred co-ordinated care to improve the health of patients and the population as a whole.

This aligns closely with the Faculty's research interests, particularly in Primary Care and Health Services Research. 

Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE)

PDSE is a Community Interest Company (CIC) committed to improving oral health across the South West. They: run Dental Education Facilities in Plymouth, Truro and Exeter, where students from the University treat NHS patients; improve awareness of oral health in the wider community, focusing on groups such as schoolchildren, the elderly, parents, those with specific conditions, people with special needs substance abusers, the homeless, prisoners and; ensure access to dental care for all, but especially to those groups who may feel excluded from mainstream dentistry.


 

Biovault Technical Ltd

Biovault is the UK’s largest private tissue bank based on the Plymouth International Medical and Technology Park, which is less than a mile from both the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Derriford Hospital. Partnered with the NHS and working with research specialists across the UK, Biovault is an accredited leader of best practice in the industry.

The Company is extending its close collaboration with Plymouth University and Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust in the storage of human tissue from research and/or clinical activities to establish a Biobank that supports advancement in Medical Research. It is anticipated that this resource will provide opportunities for research that helps develop and accelerate innovation leading to new and improved techniques and/or products for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.