New partners join the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance
- 10 February 2023
- 3 min read
Three NHS trusts have joined the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance, giving the Alliance full coverage across the North West London Integrated Care System (ICS).
Joining the Alliance are:
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- West London NHS Trust
The news comes as the Alliance also announces it will develop a partnership with the Imperial Clinical Respiratory Research Unit (ICRRU), working with the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Clinical Research Facility (CRF), which is an existing Alliance partner. They will drive initiatives within the Respiratory Theme at the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), which is a partnership between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London. This work will be led by Professor Salman Siddiqui and his group at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London.
“...create more opportunities for patients and the public to get involved in innovative research locally.”
The recently appointed director of the Alliance, Dr Suki Balendra, is looking forward to the opportunities the new partnerships will bring. She said:
"It is my pleasure to announce the expansion of the Alliance to include a further three local NHS trusts.
"We now cover the entire region as served by the North West London ICS. This means we will be able to increase collaboration across the region and create more opportunities for patients and the public to get involved in innovative research locally.
"We are also very excited to be developing a new partnership with Professor Siddiqui and the Imperial Clinical Respiratory Research Unit, working on a portfolio of airways disease clinical trials designed to deliver new treatments for patients."
Existing partners in the Alliance include:
- NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) North West London, including its partners in primary care settings
- TheCRFs hosted by:
- Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust
- Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
- London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
The Alliance is dedicated to delivering commercial and non-commercial sponsored clinical trials – utilising existing and purpose-designed facilities to successfully deliver both early and late-phase research.
“The opportunity to use the CRFs opens the door for us to run more complex trials.”
Lynis Lewis, Service Director in Research & Development at Noclor (for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and West London NHS Trust), said:
"The Alliance provides a real opportunity for the mental health services to participate in commercial trials. The opportunity to use the CRFs opens the door for us to run more complex trials.
"We’re looking forward to offering the chance to take part in research to more of our patients, potentially bringing huge benefits to them and the wider community too."
Dr Samantha Kon, Consultant Chest Physician at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
"We are very much looking forward to working collaboratively with the Alliance. Hillingdon patients will benefit from its collective research expertise, as well as new opportunities to participate in cutting edge innovation and research."
Professor Salman Siddiqui, who is leading the partnership with the ICRRU and the NIHR Imperial CRF, is hopeful that this work will lead to further collaboration and innovative outcomes. He said:
"These initiatives are designed to deliver new experimental medicines, biomarkers and phenotyping approaches. They will also help us to build partnerships with pharma, medical device companies and software companies.
"The group is currently developing a portfolio of airways disease clinical trials, in partnership with the CRN North West London, industry partners and local NHS trusts that form part of the Alliance."
Click here for more information about the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance.
