ARC West Midlands Director, Prof Richard Lilford, has produced a series of 5 blog articles, which reflect on over 13 years of experience. These articles include an overview; the role of ARCs in research and in implementation; how ARCs can deliver on their manifold objectives; the role of ARCs in service evaluation; and feedback for research commissioners.

Read the set by clicking hereLink opens in a new window.

While the current COVID-19 pandemic has us focused on our vulnerability to communicable disease, it should also serve as a wake-up call to the cataclysmic impact that would befall the world if nuclear weapons were ever to be used again. Prof Lilford, colleagues from ARC WM, and Prof Andrew Futter (Professor of International Politics at University of Leicester), have recently published an article arguing that there is an urgent need for renewal of public education, interest, and activism in reducing nuclear dangers. It is available online in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 2020; 76(5).

Prof Richard Lilford, Director of NIHR ARC West Midlands, recently took part in an online discussion as part of the 2020 Health Services Research UK Conference. A recording of the session, on mobilising UK Health Services Research capacity and learning to build partnerships for tackling health policy and systems challenges in low and middle-income countries, is available online: https://hsruk.org/conference-2020/sessions/mobilising-uk-hsr-capacity-and-learning-build-partnerships-tackling-health

During the session the speakers discuss the importance of global collaboration in health research and what is needed to ensure such collaboration is effective and equitable. They also focus on the funding landscape for Global Health Policy and Systems Research in the UK; what challenges may be faced when looking to conduct collaborative research in low- and middle-income settings, and what solutions may be found; as well as to maximise impact of such research.