NIHR ARC East of England delivers applied health and care research shaped by the needs of local populations and health and care systems, while ensuring our findings are scalable across the country.
Our mission
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East of England is a partnership hosted by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, working alongside regional universities (Anglia Ruskin University and the Universities of Cambridge, East Anglia, Essex and Hertfordshire), Health Innovation East, NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems, local authorities, patient‑led organisations, charities and industry partners. Together, we deliver high‑quality applied health, public health and social care research across the region and beyond.
Through these partnerships, we bring together wide‑ranging expertise to address urgent health and care needs across the East of England. We work closely with communities that are often underserved in research, helping to reduce health inequalities and ensuring our work reflects the realities of the people and services it impacts.
Our research is shaped by the priorities of our communities and services across the region. We focus on mental health, preventing ill health across the life course, palliative and end‑of‑life care, supporting older people to live well, and using data‑driven research and health economics to strengthen evidence for effective decision‑making.
Our workstreams are key strategic areas for ARC East of England and are embedded throughout our research themes and projects. This includes integrating inclusive approaches and applying implementation and knowledge‑mobilisation methods to ensure our research is scalable and grounded in real‑world practice. We are also committed to developing the next generation of researchers and building research capacity across the health, care and voluntary sectors.
ARC East of England is a five‑year investment from the NIHR, running from April 2026 to March 2031, with £15.3 million in funding. As part of a £157 million network of 10 Applied Research Collaborations across England, we help deliver the Government’s 10‑Year Health Plan, the Health and Growth Missions, and the Life Sciences Sector Plan by generating research evidence and driving innovation to address some of the UK’s most pressing health and care challenges.
Further information about the NIHR ARCs, including their websites and where they are located can be found here.
How we work across NIHR
We collaborate closely with the NIHR infrastructure across the region and beyond. This includes strong partnerships with ARCs nationwide, as well as Biomedical Research Centres, the Research Delivery Network and others. By utilising the expertise across the diverse research disciplines within the NIHR infrastructure, we are able to deliver research that makes a meaningful difference to people’s lives and supports the long‑term sustainability of our health and care systems.
About NIHR
The NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.
Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public – NIHR funds, enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.
They are also a major funder of applied health research in low and middle income countries, work that is principally funded through UK government international development funding.
NIHR’s mission is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. They deliver this mission through 6 core workstreams:
- Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
- Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatment
- Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges
- Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research
- Collaborating with other public funders charities and industry to shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system
- Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries