The capital was awarded through the latest National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Capital Investment Funding announcement, strengthening the Trust’s ability to deliver high quality, inclusive and commercially attractive research across mental and brain health.

The investment supports targeted equipment for the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC) and the NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (OH CRF).

OH BRC focuses on generating new scientific insights and early discovery in mental and brain health to inform the development of new treatments, diagnostics and approaches to care. OH CRF provides the specialist environment to deliver early phase studies safely and efficiently with patients. The investment also strengthens wider OHFT research capability, supporting translational science, early phase trials and delivery of research within NHS and community settings.

This capital funding strengthens OHFT’s unique position by expanding capacity, reducing bottlenecks in study delivery and enabling researchers to conduct cutting-edge research using the very latest equipment.

Dr Martin Batty

Head of Research and Development at OHFT, Dr Martin Batty told us: “Sustained investment in research is essential to maintaining a strong and credible research environment within the NHS. This funding further supports Oxford Health’s ability to undertake high‑quality research, enabling our teams to work effectively with partners, meet national priorities and continue delivering rigorous studies that strengthen the evidence base for mental and brain health care.”

Across OH BRC, the funding will support specialist equipment spanning sleep and circadian science, brain imaging and biomarker development, depression therapeutics and molecular neuroscience, directly aligned to ongoing and planned studies.

 

Prof Rachel Upthegrove

Professor Rachel Upthegrove MBE, Director of OH BRC, said: “The Oxford Health BRC is built on collaboration, across themes, partners and with industry, and this investment strengthens that platform. Enhancing our specialist research equipment will help us run more ambitious studies, attract new partnerships, and deliver high quality evidence that can inform the next generation of treatments for mental and brain health.”

For OH CRF, investment in laboratory infrastructure including cryogenic storage, additional freezer capacity and point‑of‑care testing will improve the pace of study set‑up, while reducing demands on participants by avoiding unnecessary return visits, enabling faster on‑site test results and streamlining study pathways

For patients and communities, this means faster translation of discoveries into care, wider access to research opportunities and more people taking part in quality studies that reflect the populations OHFT serves.

Dr Karl Marlowe, Chief Medical Officer, OHFT, said:
“This investment supports Oxford Health’s role as a research active Trust, where research and clinical care are interlinked. Strengthening our research capability helps ensure that patients can be active participants in research studies, while building the evidence for innovation that can be adopted across the wider NHS.”