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Home > About us > What we do > Our place in the UK research landscape > Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research

Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research

The independent Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) is a forum where public funders of health research work together with other stakeholders.

The UK Strategic Coordination of Health of the Public Research (SCHOPR) is a sub board to OSCHR.

OSCHR

History

OSCHR was created following the Review of funding in UK health research [PDF] (2006) led by Sir David Cooksey.

Sir David identified considerable strength in the UK science base, but revealed cultural, institutional and financial barriers to the effective translation of health research into clinical practice. 

Work to date

OSCHR's role is to facilitate more efficient translation of health research into health and economic benefits in the UK through better co-ordination of health research and more coherent funding arrangements to support translation.

The NIHR has been a partner of OSCHR since its inception and is represented at the OSCHR board meetings by:

  • Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive of NIHR
  • Dr Gail Marzetti, Director of the Science, Research and Evidence Directorate, DHSC, and Deputy CEO of the NIHR .

Since 2007, the OSCHR board has demonstrated a powerful capacity to work across government through collaboration, addressing many of the issues required to ensure a comprehensive health research environment and leading to improved health outcomes and economic growth.

The NIHR has been central to this agenda and, together with the Medical Research Council and other UK health research funders, has established highly effective processes for joint working.

Although the majority of the changes to the UK health research landscape advocated in the Cooksey report had been delivered by 2011, Ministers agreed that there remained a role for OSCHR, but that it should move towards health research policy co-ordination and foresight.

Board membership

  • Rt Hon Professor Lord Kakkar PC - Independent Chair; President Thrombosis Research Institute London; Chairman King’s Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre
  • Professor Lucy Chappell - Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health and Social Care, England and CEO of the NIHR
  • Dr Gail Marzetti  - Director, Department of Health and Social Care, England and Deputy CEO of the NIHR
  • Alexandra Jones - Director General Science, Innovation and Growth, Department for Science, Innovation and Skill
  • Mr Stian Westlake - Executive Chair, ESRC
  • Professor Patrick Chinnery - Executive Chair, Medical Research Council 
  • Mr Indro Mukerjee - CEO, Innovate UK
  • Professor Dame Jessica Corner - Executive Chair, Research England
  • Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak - Chief Scientist for Health, Scotland
  • Professor Ian Young - Director, Health and Social Care Research & Development, Northern Ireland
  • Professor Kieran Walshe – Director, Health and Care Research Wales
  • Mrs Nicola Perrin – CEO, Association of Medical Research Charities
  • Dr John-Arne Røttingen - Chief Executive Officer , Wellcome Trust
  • Professor Tim Orchard - Chief Executive, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Dr Richard Torbett - Chief Executive, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
  • Peter Ellingworth - Chief Executive, Association of British HealthTech Industries
  • Steve Bates OBE - Chief Executive Officer , UK Bioindustry Association

For more information please contact: Merewyn.Loder@dhsc.gov.uk

SCHOPR

SCHOPR includes a broad range of research funders who work together to provide strategic direction, enhance co-ordination and identify priorities for improving the health of the public research. SCHOPR’s role is to develop and deliver a transdisciplinary strategy for UK health of the public research, including identifying priority areas of research and connecting research with public health practice.

History

SCHOPR was established in early 2018 in response to a 2016 report by the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS), 'Improving the health of the public by 2040' [PDF]. AMS highlighted that health of the public research needed an enhanced strategic co-ordination and delivery of funding to support the transdisciplinary research required to answer population level questions and protect and improve the public’s health.

Work to date

Since its inception, SCHOPR has established a programme of activities to achieve its objectives including:

  • advising the CMOs of the 4 UK nations on public health research principles and goals to increase the impact of the UK’s offer of the health of the public research
  • initiating activities with local authorities and public health practitioners  to encourage a research and evidence-based culture and increase the relevance of public health research to practice and policy

Board membership

  • Professor Dame Anne Johnson – Independent Chair; Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London 
  • Professor Lucy Chappell – Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health and Social Care and NIHR CEO
  • Professor Jennifer Rubin – Executive Chair, Economic and Social Research (Deputy, Joy Todd)
  • Professor John Iredale – Executive Chair Medical Research Council (Deputy, Joe McNamara)
  • Sophie Hawkesworth –  Senior Research Manager,  Wellcome
  • Dr Phillipa Hemmings – Head of Healthcare Technologies, Engineering and Physical Science Research Council
  • Mr Michael Bowdery – Health and Care Research Wales 
  • Dr Andrew Fraser – Public Health Scotland
  • Dr Janice Bailie – Northern Ireland Public Health Agency

Find out more on the SCHOPR website.