Central England Health Partners joins new partnership to support early career researchers across the West Midlands

Central England Health PartnersLink opens in a new window (CEHP) will join the MRC-funded West Midlands Regional Account for Clinical Researchers, supporting clinicians at critical stages in their research careers.

CEHP is part of a partnership consortium led by University of Birmingham which aims to strengthen support for early career clinical researchers, thanks to major funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC), helping build research capacity across the region and beyond.

The MRC has announced funding for the establishment of 10 Regional Accounts for Clinical Researchers (RACR), working with NHS organisations to benefit approximately 200 clinicians across the UK. The investment brings together more than 50 research organisations and over 60 NHS organisations across the UK.

Clinicians (including doctors, nurses, dentists, midwives, therapists, and pharmacists) play a vital role in delivering patient care and identifying the most pressing challenges faced by health services. Despite serving around 12% of the UK population, the West Midlands currently has only 6.8% of the national clinical academic workforce. WMRACR aims to address this imbalance through a coordinated, region-wide approach that strengthens opportunities for aspiring clinical academics.

Central England Health PartnersLink opens in a new window (CEHP) is one of the three academic-NHS alliances within the WMRACR. CEHP is an academic-health partnership for Coventry and Warwickshire which brings together the Universities of Warwick and Coventry with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, South Warwickshire University Foundation Trust Group and George Elliot Hospital, Coventry and Warwickshire ICB including Primary Care, and Health Innovation West Midlands.

In collaboration with our communities, we are identifying impactful solutions to drive transformative change to improve health outcomes and care for all. Deploying partnership strengths including in academic data science, interconnected health data, and care pathway innovation, we aim to tackle inequalities, deliver better health outcomes, and prepare for the needs of the future.

The West Midlands Regional Account for Clinical Researchers (WMRACR) links three academic–NHS alliances across four universities; Aston University, the University of Birmingham, Keele University, and the University of Warwick, combining expertise in discovery science, primary care, real-world research and widening participation. Together, the partnership will create a shared framework for collaboration, enabling joint supervision, access to specialist facilities, and opportunities to work across institutions.

The WMRACR will focus on key career transition points for clinical academics, particularly the move from PhD to independence and returning to research after time in clinical roles or career breaks. Warwick contributes high-impact strengths in early life/reproductive medicine, mechanobiology and infection supported by over £20m MRC funding. If offers a strong interface between mechanistic science and real-world evaluation, ensuring trainees can span discovery and population health. Additional assets available to the consortium via the Warwick innovation ecosystem include the interdisciplinary MRC Doctoral Training programme and Warwick Innovation’s iCURe pre-accelerator.

Professor Gavin Perkins, Dean of Medicine at the University of Warwick and Clinical Director of Central England Health Partners, said:

“This investment represents a significant opportunity to strengthen the clinical academic workforce across the West Midlands. By bringing together universities, NHS organisations, and regional partners, WMRACR will provide coordinated support for talented clinicians at critical stages of their research careers, helping to accelerate innovation and improve patient care across the region.”