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The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cheshire and Merseyside CRDC is one of 21 centres across the UK set up to increase commercial clinical research and support the five pillars of the UK clinical research delivery vision.
The NIHR Cheshire and Merseyside CRDC is hosted by the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group and based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
The initiative spans the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System (ICS), with participating sites across the region.
What is the CRDC?
Commercial research refers to clinical studies funded and sponsored by scientific organisations outside of the NHS, studying new treatments, medicines and medical devices. This research ensures that new healthcare innovations are safe and effective before becoming widely available within the NHS and other healthcare systems.
Launched in April 2025 and funded by the NIHR, the Cheshire and Merseyside CRDC aims to increase opportunities for patients to take part in cutting-edge research. By improving accessibility, reducing set-up times and working together as a region, the CRDC aims to deliver research for the benefit of all.
Professor Terry Jones, Director of the NIHR Cheshire and Merseyside CRDC
Professor Terry Jones was appointed as University of Liverpool Professor of Head and Neck Surgery in 2011 and as Director of Research and Innovation at UHLG in 2021.
Terry completed a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Queen Mary College, University of London before going on to study medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College. He then completed surgical training in Liverpool, with a focus on Head and Neck surgical oncology.
In addition to his director role at UHLG, Professor Jones is Director of the Liverpool Head and Neck Centre; Director of Research and Innovation at Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System; Director of the NIHR Liverpool Commercial Research Delivery Centre; the National Lead for Head and Neck Genomic Pathways and is a Non-Executive Director at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.
Professor Lauren Walker, Co-Director of the NIHR Cheshire and Mersey CRDC
Professor Lauren Walker was appointed Professor of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of Liverpool and is an Honorary Consultant in General Internal Medicine at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Lauren's research focuses on harnessing existing health record data to understand how multiple long-term conditions and their associated prescriptions evolve over time, and how interactions between drugs and diseases can lead to harm. She is particularly interested in predicting risk and mapping patient journeys to identify when the harms of a medicine begin to outweigh its benefits.
Dr Hassan Burhan, Director Elect for the Cheshire and Mersey CRDC
Dr Hassan Burhan is the Respiratory Department Research Lead at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. He leads the Liverpool Severe Asthma Service and serves as Vasculitis Lead for the North West Severe Asthma Service and is a Ronald Finn Senior Clinical Fellow at the University of Liverpool.
He serves as UK Chief Investigator and Principal Investigator for several academic and industry asthma studies from Phase I-IV. He is a co-applicant on a £1.8 NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation grant to investigate the effect of BCG in altering immune response and exacerbation in COPD.
Hassan has a research interest in improving access to respiratory healthcare having led the world’s largest screening and cohort studies in Heroin-smoking related COPD. His current fellowship is focussed on novel biomarkers in airways disease.
Jules West, Associate Director of Research and Innovation
Jules West has over 35 years of experience working within the NHS, Joining Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT) in 1997 as a Research Assistant.
After completing a degree in Business and Finance and an MBA in Leadership and Management, Jules was appointed to the role of Associate Director of Research and Innovation in 2009.
During her career, Jules has played a pivotal role in advancing research initiatives and fostering collaboration across the Group. In addition, she has also held the position of Operational Director at the Cancer Trial Unit, contributing to the development of cutting-edge cancer research.
- The University Hospital of Liverpool Group
- Royal Liverpool University Hospital
- Aintree University Hospital
- Broadgreen Hospital
- Liverpool Women's University Hospital
- Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
- Alder hey Children's Hospital
- Clatterbridge Cancer
- The Walton Centre
- Countess of Chester Hospital
- Mersey Care NHS FT
- Wirral University Teaching Hospital
- Warrington and Halton Hospitals
Cheshire and Merseyside is unique, hosting both a secondary-tertiary CRDC and a Primary Care CRDC (PCCRDC) covering the entire region. Both organisations are collaboratively developing integrated research pathways across the healthcare system, benefitting patients at every level.
