The UK Respiratory Research Collaborative was launched in 2006 under the Chairmanship of Professor Stephen Holgate. The initiaitive grew from two well attended workshops at which respiratory professional bodies and lung charities met to discuss how best to take forward the respiratory research agenda.
The first Report - Raising the Profile was produced after a conference at the Royal College of Physicians of London in October 2005 which prioritised key areas for respiratory research development.
Download the Report here
A second workshop was held in February 2006, where 6 key priority areas were identified.
Download the Summary Document here
Terms of Reference of UKRRC
- Produce and update a strategy for respiratory research in consultation with constituent groups and others
- Promote the need for world class research into respiratory disease
- Facilitate translational research in respiratory medicine
- Continue working to raise the profile of respiratory research in the UK
- Raise awareness of the need for a good career structure for respiratory researchers
- Promote conditions in which more research can take place in NHS settings.
- Work to increase the funding for respiratory research in the UK
- Raise awareness of the amount that has been achieved by the respiratory research community
- Liaise with UK agencies and funders - DoH, MRC, Wellcome Trust and so on - to share information, respond to consultations where an united response would be helpful, and to work jointly towards the shared aim of improved patient care. Such liaison to be effected in 2 ways - direct involvement in meetings, and open lines of communication meantime.
View full list of UKRRC Members here
Prioritisation Exercise 2007/08
During the Autumn of 2007 the UKRRC worked on a mechanism through which to identify and jointly agree research projects of national importance to the UK Respiratory Research community. The aim was to prioritise these with a view to presenting them to prospective national funding bodies.
A paper on the Delphi process that was adopted and the resulting top 6 priority questions will be published in Respiratory Medicine (accepted for publication March 08). Once published, the full journal paper will be available here.
The wider list of priority questions, which are now ready to be worked up into studies for funding applications, is presented here.
It is important to note that this represents an early first step in the long road to raising the profile of respiratory research in the UK, and that we do not overlook other important respiratory disease areas. Given the success of this initial approach, we plan to repeat this prioritisation exercise in 2008 and beyond with a focus on other respiratory disease areas and then, within the fields that formed the substrate for the first prioritisation exercise, to identify further priority questions.
Newsletters
Download Newsletter Seven (May 08) here
Download Newsletter Six (January 08) here
Download Newsletter Five (November 07) here
Download Newsletter Four (May 07) here
Download Newsletter Three (February 2007) here
Download Newsletter Two (November 2006) here
Download Newsletter One (July 2006) here