Teesside University improving regional healthcare through £15.3m research collaboration

Partners from the North East and North Cumbria have been successful in securing £15.3m of funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for an Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) in the region.

The ARC North East and North Cumbria brings together host Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust and six universities – Teesside, Cumbria, Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, and Sunderland – alongside the Integrated Care Board (ICB) North East and North Cumbria, health and care providers, the Health Innovation Network, and voluntary sector organisations.

They will work collaboratively to conduct significant research into:

• Preventing ill-health, including multiple long-term conditions
• Addressing inequity in health and care services
• Supporting children, women’s health, and family health
• Improving care services so they are safe, effective and efficient
• Supporting people with long-term conditions into work
• Helping people to remain well in work

A key priority will be translating research evidence into practice to address pressing health and social care challenges and improve outcomes for patients and communities.

Teesside University was instrumental in supporting the funding bid and will contribute significantly to the leadership and delivery of the programme.

Professor Samantha Harrison will join the ARC Leadership Team as Academic Career Development Lead, helping shape the future of research talent across the region.

Professor Cormac Ryan and Professor Emma Giles will contribute to the Workforce Inclusion and Innovation for Impact theme, focusing on equitable workforce development and impactful research translation.

Additional Teesside researchers, including ARC Research Fellows and newly funded PhD studentships, will be recruited to support work across the research themes.

Building on the success of the previous ARC phase (2019-2026), this new funding will enable partners to scale up proven interventions and models of care, both regionally and nationally.

The NIHR is supporting a total of 10 ARCs across the UK, with £157m invested overall.

The national package of funding will enable ARCs to:

• Identify, develop and deliver high-quality research on applied health, public health and social care that tackles the UK’s healthcare challenges, particularly in under-represented areas
• Provide resource and expertise to support implementation of effective interventions and models of care into practice across the country, working closely with system partners
• Provide enhanced health economic expertise to ensure the economic impact of evidence is better understood to support decisions on efficiency and growth
• Speed up the implementation of research findings into use, to improve health and care delivery
• Address health inequalities

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and CEO of the NIHR, said: “This new funding shows the NIHR’s ongoing commitment to developing and delivering high-quality health and care research across the country.

“The investment will enable the Applied Research Collaborations to continue to bring new treatments and technologies to patients and the public, supporting the aims of the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan to champion innovation and power transformation.”

Funding will begin from April 2026.

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