About us

The NIHR Policy Research Unit on Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early Diagnosis supports policymaking with evidence to aid the NHS in attaining early cancer diagnosis. Alongside working with patients and members of the public, we conduct studies across four main project areas of work. See also our Research Themes and Research Project pages. For more information about our PRU, please see the video below.

Our Research Team

We are a multidisciplinary multi-institutional collaboration of investigators working at the Universities of Cambridge, Leicester, Oxford, Surrey and UCL. 

Aim 

As the NIHR Policy Research Unit on Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early Diagnosis, our aim is to provide policymakers with high-quality research findings that will help the NHS to diagnose 3 out of 4 people with cancer at an early-stage by 2028.
 

Objectives  

We work with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, NHS Screening and other policymakers to develop our programme of research studies, communicate research findings, and implement them in public health and clinical practice. To maximise relevance of our work and the capacity of our team, we partner our Unit’s researchers with colleagues in the policy and science teams of our stakeholders and partners.
 

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)

Working with our PPIE Co-Investigator and PPIE volunteers, we engrain patient and public input throughout the life course of all projects (from concept to study development and dissemination/implementation), ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in both all our research activities and public engagement.