Useful Links

• Association of British Healthcare Industries
  The Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) is the trade association for medical devices and technology in the UK.
  
• Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
  The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is the trade association for companies producing prescription medicines.
  
• Association of Medical Research Charities
  The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) is a membership organisation of the leading medical and health research charities in the UK.
  
• British Heart Foundation
  BHF’s mission is to play a leading role in the fight against disease of the heart and circulation, so that it is no longer a major cause of disability and premature death.
  
• Business Services Organisation
  Business Services Organisation (BSO) has been established to provide a broad range of regional business support functions and specialist professional services to the whole of the Health & Social Care sector in Northern Ireland.
  
• CancerHelp UK
  CancerHelp UK is the patient information website of Cancer Research UK. They provide a comprehensive database of UK cancer trials, with all information written in plain English. You can search for trials that are recruiting, trials that have finished recruiting or trials that have produced results.
  
• The Chief Scientist Office Scotland
  CSO, part of the Scottish Government Health Directorates, supports and promotes high quality research aimed at improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of services offered by NHS Scotland and securing lasting improvements to the health of the people of Scotland.
  
• ClinicalTrials.gov
  ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. This information should be used in conjunction with advice from health care professionals.
  
• Current Controlled Trials (CCT) Ltd
  CCT is an online trial registration website, aiming to increase the availability and promote the exchange of information about clinical trials worldwide. CCT manages the ISRCTN Register on behalf of ISRCTN.org, a not-for-profit organisation.
  
• Database of Uncertainties (DUETs)
  The Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatments (DUETs) publishes uncertainties that cannot currently be answered by referring to reliable up-to-date systematic reviews of existing research evidence.
  
• Healthtalkonline
  Healthtalkonline is a website that offers personal stories of health and illness to enable patients, families and health-care professionals to benefit from the experiences of others. Users can watch, listen or read interviews about people's experiences of health and illness. Interviews and related information are available for a variety of illnesses and health conditions.
  
• Human Tissue Authority
  The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is a watchdog that supports public confidence by licensing organisations that store and use human tissue for purposes such as research, patient treatment, post-mortem examination, teaching, and public exhibitions.
  
• Integrated Research Application System
  The Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) is a single system for applying for the permissions and approvals for health and social care/community care research in the UK.
  
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
  The ICMJE is a group of general medical journal editors whose participants meet annually and fund their work on the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts. ICMJE clinical trial registration policy requires prospective registration of all interventional clinical studies. The ICMJE member journals will require, as a condition of consideration for publication in their journals, registration of a clinical trial in a public trials registry.
  
• INVOLVE
  INVOLVE is a programme of the NIHR that promotes public involvement in research in the NHS, public health and social care.
  
• ISRCTN
  The ISRCTN is a simple numeric system for the identification of any study designed to assess the efficacy of health-care interventions, taking place anywhere in the world. Basic data on all studies with an ISRCTN are publicly displayed in the ISRCTN Register, which is managed by Current Controlled Trials Ltd.
  
• James Lind Alliance
  The James Lind Alliance brings patients and clinicians together in 'Working Partnerships' to identify and prioritise the unanswered questions that they agree are most important to ensure that those who fund health research are aware of what matters to patients and clinicians.
  
• Medical Research Council
  The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK taxpayer, which promotes research into all areas of medical and related science with the aims of improving the health and quality of life of the UK public.
  
• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
  The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health, which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe.
  
• Multiple Sclerosis
  The MS Society is the UK's largest charity for people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) - about 100,000 people in the UK. MS Society is a membership organisation but provide services to all. The Society funds MS research, runs respite care centres, provides grants (financial assistance), education and training on MS.
  
• National Research Ethics Service
  National Research Ethics Service (NRES) co-ordinates Local and Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committees (LRECs and MRECs), on behalf of the NHS and maintains an overview of the operation of the research ethics system in England.
  
• NHS Choices
  NHS Choices is a comprehensive information service that helps to put you in control of your healthcare. The service is intended to help you make choices about your health, from lifestyle decisions about things like smoking, drinking and exercise, through to the practical aspects of finding and using NHS services in England when you need them.
  
• NHS Evidence
  NHS Evidence provides easy access to clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice, for everyone in health and social care who takes decisions about treatments or the use of resources including clinicians, public health professionals, commissioners and service managers.
  
• National Institute for Health Research
  The National Institute for Health Research is now established as a part of the Government's strategy, 'Best Research for Best Health'. Together we are committed to establishing the NHS as an internationally recognised centre of research excellence supporting outstanding individuals, conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public.
  
• Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Research and Development
  At a strategic level the Office provides an overall strategic direction for Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) R&D and liaises with national statutory bodies and health-related organisations including the Department of Health. At an operational level the R&D Office supports a wide range of R&D initiatives from education and training to direct commissioning.
  
• People in Research
  People in Research helps members of the public make contact with organisations that want to actively involve them in clinical research.
  
• PROSPERO
  PROSPERO is the first online facility to register systematic reviews for research about health and social care from all around the world. The register is completely free and open to the public. It was started by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) which is funded by the Department of Health.
  
• Understanding Animal Research
  Understanding Animal Research aims to achieve understanding and acceptance of the need for humane animal research in the UK, by maintaining and building informed public support and a favourable policy climate for animal research.
  
• UK Clinical Research Collaboration
  The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) is a partnership of organisations working to establish the UK as a world leader in clinical research, by harnessing the power of the NHS.
  
• UK PubMed Central
  UK PubMed Central provides a freely accessible, UK-based archive of biomedical and health research findings. UK PubMed is supported by an alliance of UK biomedical research funders, including the NIHR.
  
• Welsh Office of Research and Development and National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHSCR)
  WORD aims to support the creation of high-quality evidence to both inform policy and benefit patients and the public. WORD also commissions and directly funds R&D activity, contract managing projects and initiatives to ensure that the highest standards are met.
  
• WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
  The mission of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform is to ensure that a complete view of research is accessible to all those involved in health care decision making. The WHO Trial Registration Data Set is the minimum amount of trial information that must appear in a register in order for a given trial to be considered fully registered. There are currently 20 items in the WHO Trial Registration Data Set. It is sometimes referred to as the TRDS.
  
• World Health Organization
  WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
  
• UK Clinical Trials Gateway iPhone Application
  The UK Clinical Trials Gateway is an informative app for anyone - patients, carers, clinicians, academics, researchers, pharmaceutical professionals and students interested in clinical trials registered in the UK. The UKCTG app is free and includes a portfolio of clinical trials running in the UK.