UK Health Data Research Alliance expands to increase diversity of health data for research

Eight leading health organisations, research institutes and charities, including three of the UK’s largest NHS trusts – Barts Health, University Hospitals Birmingham and Nottingham University Hospitals – have announced today that they are joining the UK Health Data Research Alliance to accelerate progress in medicine and health. Other new members are UK Biobank, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, The Brain Tumour Charity, NIHR BioResource, and Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP).

Established in February 2019 by Health Data Research UK with 10 founding members, the Alliance will help researchers to answer some of the most difficult questions and address the most important health challenges faced in the UK through better access to health data.

Representing the first NHS trusts and medical research charities to join the Alliance, these new members offer an exceptional opportunity to provide access to rich and diverse health data for research and innovation.   

Research based on data that reflects diversity of culture, healthcare conditions and aspects such as race, ethnicity, gender and age improves the ability to generalise results and enables new discoveries and understanding about disease. In turn this provides fairer and more equal access to the latest treatments and medical technologies, benefiting as many people across the UK as possible.

To read more about the alliance and its new members, visit the Health Data Research UK website.