The R&D Office is a directorate of the Northern Ireland Health and Social Services Central Services Agency and was established to promote, co- ordinate and support R&D within the field of health and social care.

The implementation of the strategy is supported by the R&D Strategic Advisory Group.

The R&D Office has a dual strategic role and operational role. At a strategic level the Office provides an overall strategic direction for Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) R&D and liaises with national statutory bodies and health-related organisations including the Department of Health. At an operational level the R&D Office supports a wide range of R&D initiatives from education and training to direct commissioning.

The UKCRC completed the first national analysis of health research in the UK. The analysis is a snapshot of the majority of government and charity funded health research taking place between 01 April 2004 and 31 March 2005. A bespoke heath research classification system has been developed to classify the UK health research portfolio. The analysis shows the distribution of spending on all types of health research across all areas of health and disease. It provides a breakdown of the combined research portfolio of the participating funders across different types of research ranging from basic to applied and across different diseases. The full report can be accessed via the UKCRC website by clicking the image below along with details of the new research classification system.

The sub analysis for the research funded by the R&D Office is available in a separate report and can be accessed by clicking the image below