NIHR North East London Commercial Research Delivery Centre (NEL CRDC)

Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs) were established in April 2025 to enhance the speed, efficiency, and quality of commercial clinical research delivery across the UK. Their creation supports the UK’s ambition to strengthen its global competitiveness in life sciences while contributing to both the health and economic prosperity of the nation.

There are currently 21 CRDCs across the UK

CRDCs play a vital role in transforming how commercial clinical research is delivered. They:

• Build capacity for commercial research delivery
  Providing dedicated staff, infrastructure, and specialist facilities to support high-quality clinical trials.
• Offer access to a high-performing research network
  Connecting sponsors to a network of commercially active sites with gold-standard study set-up times and delivery performance.
• Make participation in research easier
  Supporting the decentralisation of clinical trials into district general hospitals and primary care settings, bringing research closer to patients.
• Promote inclusive research participation
  Ensuring that people from all communities — including those experiencing the greatest health inequalities — have the opportunity to take part in clinical research.
• Work collaboratively across the UK
  Contributing to a UK-wide CRDC Network, partnering with NIHR and equivalent organisations in the devolved nations to improve coordination and impact.

The NIHR North East London Commercial Research Delivery Centre (NEL CRDC) is one of 35 CRDCs across the UK, established to expand commercial clinical research and support delivery against the five pillars of the UK Clinical Research Delivery Vision.

 

Partnership and Sites

The NEL CRDC is a collaboration between three NHS trusts:

• Barts Health NHS Trust
• Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Together, these organisations provide a network of eight hospital sites:

• St Bartholomew’s Hospital
• Royal London Hospital
• Newham Hospital
• Whipps Cross Hospital
• Mile End Hospital
• Homerton University Hospital
• Queen’s Hospital
• King George Hospital

       

The NIHR NEL CRDC is committed to:

• Delivering efficient, meaningful commercial research
  Ensuring that studies are designed and delivered in ways that give everyone a fair opportunity to participate, helping research make a real difference for patients across north east London.
• Growing commercial research across the region
  Expanding research activity so it reflects the rich diversity of local communities and addresses the health challenges that matter most.
• Improving accessibility and relevance of research
  Using flexible, participant-focused approaches to ensure clinical trials are easier to access and aligned with the needs of the local population.

Public enquires: huh-tr.riadmin@nhs.net

Industry and staff enquires: huh-tr.riadmin@nhs.net