The NIHR's mission is to improve the health and wealth of the nation.
Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, we invest over £1 billion a year in research that provides people working in the front lines of the NHS, public health and social care with the evidence they need to better support patients, service users and the public.
Read about how our work is influencing care, and making a positive difference to people, and the economy.
These are the stories of our research
Research finds no evidence of an association between reduced street lighting and night-time road casualties or crime across England and Wales.
The VOICE study looked at how healthcare professionals could improve their knowledge, confidence and skills for communicating with patients with dementia. It has led to the development of an evidence-based communication skills training course.
Evidence supporting the use of skin-to-skin contact to encourage breastfeeding has global impact
A set of safety indicators to identify patients at risk of harm from prescribing errors, along with a pharmacist-led IT-based intervention, are reducing clinically important medication errors.
NIHR-funded researchers find an 80% reduction in harmful second-hand smoke concentrations following smoking ban in Scotland's prisons.
New drug helps medical teams make the best decisions to manage critically ill patients.
The MOAM trial is the first ever large-scale trial of treatment for offenders with antisocial personality disorder. It provides an excellent demonstration of the impact of patient and public involvement in research.
NIHR trial finds that a single dose of preventative prophylactic antibiotics, halves the risk of infection for women who have assisted vaginal births.
A dramatic 800 calorie a day diet that has been shown to reverse diabetes is currently being piloted in the NHS across England. This follows a successful NIHR-funded trial that showed the effectiveness of the liquid diet and a larger trial into how the diet could be rolled out into everyday practice.
A quick bedside test can deliver diagnosis of respiratory virus infection in children and allow clinicians to treat patients while protecting others from infection. Results from recent trials could change care pathways in the future.