Patient Led Research Hub

Patients understand their disease and lifestyle needs better than many medical professionals. Patients have important research ideas about how best to improve quality of life, manage symptoms, offer existing treatments, or develop new interventions. Often these ideas differ from those prioritised by academia or the pharmaceutical industry.

The Patient Led Research Hub (PLRH) works in partnership with patient organisations to develop and co-produce their own research ideas. We provide academic expertise in all areas of research design and delivery, with the ethos to support any technically feasible research idea. Patients maintain an active, collaborative management role throughout the study, ensuring the project focuses on what’s important to them.

The PLRH was established in May 2015 by patients and members of the Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit from the University of Cambridge, and the Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation trust. PLRH strategy and governance are reviewed by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and the Cambridge University Health Partner’s Patient and Public Involvement Research Oversight Group.