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UKCRC Public Health Research: Centres of Excellence Initiative

What it is:

The UKCRC (UK Clinical Research Collaboration) Public Health Research Centres of Excellence Initiative aims to produce excellent research that has a potential for impact on the health of the nation. It will achieve this by building academic capacity, increasing infrastructure and promoting multi-disciplinary working in public health research.

The five UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence bring together leading researchers with practitioners, policymakers and members of the public to tackle complex public health issues. The Centres are:

UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence
Centre	Base	Director	Summary
Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland)	Queens University Belfast in partnership with the Institute of Public Health in Ireland	Professor Frank Kee	The Centre will conduct multi-disciplinary research into the social and biological causes of chronic disease and the main causes of inequalities in health experienced in the UK.
UKCRC Centre of Excellence in Diet and Physical Activity Public Health Research (CEDAR)	University of Cambridge in partnership with MRC Units in Cambridge and University of East Anglia	Professor Nick Wareham	The Centre aims to develop effective public health interventions for changing population-level diet and physical activity behaviour.
Centre for Translational Research in Public Health (fuse)	Newcastle University in collaboration with Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities	Professor Martin White	The Centre is dedicated to transforming public health through the application of knowledge in policy and practice.
The UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS)	University of Nottingham in partnership with eight universities - Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Queen Mary London, Stirling, University College London and York	Professor John Britton	The Centre will carry out research and policy work in tobacco control activity, aiming to reduce the burden of disease and disability caused by tobacco use.
Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer)	Cardiff University in collaboration with Swansea and Bristol Universities	Professor Laurence Moore	The Centre aims to improve the health and well being of children and young people through public health improvement research.

Please note that some of the above are temporary websites.

How it came about:

The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Public Health Research Strategic Planning Group was set up in 2005 to strengthen public health research in the UK. One of the recommendations of this group was to establish the £20 million UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence Initiative.

Full report of the UKCRC Public Health Research Strategic Planning Group (PDF)

The initiative was set up in 2008 by a group of eight research funding bodies that came together under the UKCRC banner:

The Economic and Social Research Council administers the initiative.