The CIPH was selected as a member of the new National Institute for Health Research School for Public Health Research (NIHR SfPHR) in an open competition for academic institutions with a proven track record in applied research and evaluative practice in public health.
The selection criteria assessed by an independent panel were based on quality of research outputs, critical mass of expertise and relevance of current work. The NIHR SfPHR will place emphasis on what works practically, can be applied across the whole country and better meets the needs of policy makers, practitioners and the public.
Professor Jon Nicholl, at the University of Sheffield, is the inaugural Director of the School and the lead for each of the academic centres will form the new SfPHR Executive.
The Government’s White Paper, ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England’, set out the importance of public health evaluation and research in enabling future challenges to be met and opportunities realised.
In line with these priorities, the School will enable the public health system to develop into the future by: narrowing the gap between the users and suppliers of research, increasing the evidence base for effective public health practice, undertaking applied translational research, considering local public health needs and evaluating innovative local practices with potential for wider population benefit.
The NIHR will support the further development of involved academic institutions and provide total funding of £20m for the initiative over a five year period.
Professor Carol Brayne, Director of the CIPH, said: “We are delighted to be selected to be a member of the new national School for Public Health Research, which will harness an exciting range of academic public health expertise from leading universities across England. We look forward to working with our partners in addressing key public health problems that impact on the nation’s health, ensuring that robust research evidence informs public health practice.”
The School is a partnership between the following academic centres: University of Cambridge, University College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Sheffield, University of Bristol, the LiLac collaboration between the University of Liverpool and the University of Lancaster and the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health (a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside universities).
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
________________________________________________
Pioneering School for Public Health Research launches
24 April 2012
Eight leading academic centres, including the Cambridge Institute for Public Health (CIPH), are to begin a collaboration that will play a key role in increasing the evidence base for effective public health practice.