Improving Healthcare through clinical research

In this course, you will explore clinical research – its challenges and its huge benefits to modern healthcare. You will work through case studies and examine how research contributes to the treatment of major diseases, such as cancer and dementia, examining the process of conducting research and the ethical questions raised.

• Target Audience: All
• Level: Essential
• Type of Learning: elearning
• Provider: FutureLearn
• Time to Complete: 16 hours over 4 weeks
• Link: Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research – FutureLearn

What is Health Research?

Explore the world of health research and the role volunteers play in transforming treatments and improving health care.

• Cost: £39
• Type of Learning: e-learning
• Provider: FutureLearn
• Time to Complete: 3 weeks, 3 hours per week
• Link: What is Health Research? Online Course – FutureLearn

Introduction to Clinical Research

Open Educational Resources giving an overview and introduction to Clinical Research and what it involves: What is Clinical Research and what are the phases

• Type of Learning: e-learning
• Provider: Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility
• Link: Introduction to Clinical Research

What are clinical trials?

Clinical trials are medical research studies involving people. They help us to understand more about cancer and how we treat it.

• Type of Learning: e-learning
• Provider: Cancer Research UK
• Link: What are clinical trials?

Be Part of Research: Cancer

“There has been huge progress in a number of cancers, so breast cancer is perhaps the best example. Breast cancer is a very common cancer, and we know as a result of studies into optimising treatments, so surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, newer drug treatments, survival rates have improved dramatically over the last 30 years, and we’re now in a situation where almost 90% of women with breast cancer live five years .. Sadly though, with other cancers, such as lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, we’re doing much less well. For those cancers, we know fewer than 20% of patients survive five years. The outlook is still very poor, and there’s a need for much more research to find better treatments for those groups of patients.” Professor Jonathan Wadsley

• Type of Learning: Podcast
• Provider: NIHR
• Time to Complete: 18 minutes
• Link: Cancer

The world of clinical trials – That Cancer Conversation podcast

Clinical trials are a vital step in the development of new medicines of any kind, and that includes new cancer treatments. They aim to find out whether new treatments are safe and effective and work better than current treatments. In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we’re going to take you into the world of clinical research and walk you through the pathway, from how we design trials in the first place, right through to taking part, to give you the full picture of what a clinical trial really involves.

• Type of Learning: Podcast
• Provider: Cancer Research UK
• Link: The world of clinical trials – podcast

Clinical Research Network Wessex
One of 15 Clinical Research Networks (CRN) delivering health and social care research across England. We are passionate about the contribution that research can make, and work collaboratively with our partner organisations to translate that passion into the effective delivery of research studies across the Wessex region

Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into how to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer has benefitted millions of lives over the past 120 years. Find out more about how our research has already made a difference to patients and what we are funding right now

Giving healthcare professionals the funding and support needed to do ageing-related research
Clinical researchers are a huge driving force behind ensuring everyone can age well, yet clinical research in the NHS is declining. We have a key aim to build a strong ageing research workforce and have a number of schemes open to healthcare professionals to build capacity in clinical research especially.