UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration - Initiative Support and Development

  • Published: 23 September 2024
  • 3 min read

This guidance outlines the support that musculoskeletal experimental medicine studies and initiatives can receive from the UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration (MSK TRC). The UK MSK TRC operates to encompass collaboration that is expansive across 4 UK nations and is inclusive of groups beyond the 16 assigned centres that have current and legacy NIHR and/or Versus Arthritis badging status.

The UK MSK TRC supports proposals that intend to develop, design and deliver initiatives at scale, reflecting the size and ambition of the collaboration for musculoskeletal experimental medicine, to bring benefit to people with arthritis.

Benefits of MSK TRC support

  • Access to UK wide, collective expertise, infrastructure and resources to develop collaborative initiatives into fully formed and deliverable proposals to seek external funding.
  • Administrative support and coordination of study proposals over the 16 UK MSK TRC Centres, including the devolved nations.
  • NIHR's Business Development team's guidance to identify and facilitate collaborative opportunities with industry.
  • Study development expertise and input from the UK MSK TRC Patient Partners and Patient Public Involvement Engagement (PPIE) resources. 
  • Expertise and collaborative opportunities from other TRCs (these include the NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular Partnership, Oncology, Diet and Activity, Respiratory, Dementia and Mental Health).

Working with the UK MSK TRC 

  • Acknowledgement of the UK MSK TRC in any study dissemination and publication activity
  • Working with the UK MSK TRC Programme Manager (PM) to ensure the progress and any outputs of the study are communicated to the TRC.

The list below provides some guidance regarding the types of proposals the UK MSK TRC may support. This list is not exhaustive, please contact the PM to further discuss a specific proposal.

The UK MSK TRC supports proposals:

  • That intend to be designed and developed to be delivered at scale reflecting the UK wide experimental medicine expertise, resources and collaborative opportunities of the MSK TRC
  • That align with the strategic focus of the MSK TRC and its workstreams
  • Which are partially developed/new study proposals, whereby the TRC will provide coordination of support to progress the study, including protocol design as required 
  • That are fully funded, with the intention of utilising UK MSK TRC expertise and resources to facilitate multi-centre study delivery and recruitment
  • To enable multi-centre studies, the TRC would also support initiatives that aim to develop underpinning methods and protocols.

The UK MSK TRC would not typically facilitate the following:

  • Individual grant applications
  • Fellowship applications. The UK MSK TRC is in full support of next generation researchers, but specific fellowship applications are not typically facilitated by the UK MSK TRC. Where applications fit within the TRC strategy however, we would encourage dialogue and can provide letter of support or similar. 

UK MSK TRC study support process

  • Study Support requests should be sent to the UK MSK TRC PM who will coordinate the review of the study proposal.
  • The UK MSK TRC Study Support Proforma and Summary (at the end of this page) should be completed and submitted. 
  • Proposals will be reviewed and assessed by the UK MSK TRC Oversight Group (OG). This will be based on the current TRC study portfolio, the anticipated resources to the support the study as assessed by the OG and alignment with Versus Arthritis Research Advisory Group (RAG) priorities and Versus Arthritis research strategy.
  • The NIHR Business Development team will assist with identifying industry collaborative opportunities.
  • Investigators will be invited to attend (virtually) the UK MSK TRC OG meeting to discuss their study and field questions.

How proposals are supported and developed

  • Proposals will be triaged through the relevant UK MSK TRC workstream, and depending on the requirements, a workshop or meeting will be organised to facilitate collaborators to meet and discuss the proposal. 
  • Where industry collaboration is being sought, the PM will initiate NDA execution prior to any collaborative study workshops or meetings. The UK MSK TRC NDA must be reviewed, signed and executed to allow for industry collaborations.
  • The UK MSK TRC Toolbox (a registry of UK MSK TRC expertise and infrastructure) will be used to identify potential collaborators, expertise, and resources from within the MSK TRC.
  • UK MSK TRC patient partners (as part of the UK MSK TRC PPIE) are members of the workstreams and will collaborate, review and feedback on all proposals.
  • Relevant funding opportunities will be signposted for proposals and corresponding grant managers will be requested to provide additional input on appropriateness and remit of planned studies being developed (as part of funding applications via the TRC collaboration).

For further information on how we can support any of your initiatives and get in touch with the UK MSK TRC Programme Manager, please contact us.