Tayside Clinical Trials Unit Gains National Registration

Tayside Clinical Trials Unit (TCTU) - a joint initiative between the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside - has been registered by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, the main national body overseeing clinical trials in the UK.

TCTU is one of only ten clinical trials units to be registered by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration in the past year. The UKCRC Clinical Trials Unit Registration Process is designed to help improve the quality of available expertise to carry out clinical trials in the UK.

“The University of Dundee and NHS Tayside are internationally renowned for the high standard of clinical trials undertaken, and this work is now underpinned by TCTU. Provisional registration is independent recognition of the quality of service we offer” said Dr Fiona Hogarth, Assistant Director of TCTU.

Clinical Trials Units are specialist units that bring together the expertise needed to undertake a clinical trial, including clinicians, statisticians and trial managers.

TCTU provides services to underpin clinical trials across a wide range of conditions where the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside have considerable research expertise, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, primary care and community health, dentistry, asthma and respiratory diseases.

The Tayside unit joins a network of only 49 Clinical Trials Units across the UK.  To be eligible to apply, the Units had to demonstrate they were capable of centrally coordinating multi-centre clinical trials and other well designed studies, taking overall responsibility for the design, conduct, data management, publicity and analysis of a trial.

The TCTU is part of Tayside Academic Health Sciences Centre (TAHSC) which was formally established on 1st January 2010.  The Centre combines the research strengths of the University of Dundee with NHS Tayside and is part of the national Scottish Academic Health Sciences Collaboration.

This strategic alignment brings greater efficiency to research management and governance across the University and NHS. A key aim of TAHSC is to make research easier for all health professionals and to promote a stronger culture of research within the NHS. TCTU was established by the TAHSC R&D management team, led by Professor Jill Belch and Dr Anne Langston.