Earlier this year, the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) Applied Health and Care Research Group was launched, providing an exciting opportunity to support high-priority applied health and social care research conducted in Greater Manchester, that has the potential to generate health and social care impact and benefits to service-users, patients, and carers.

The group, which includes leading academics from all four Greater Manchester Universities, is a joint initiative between MAHSC, part of Health Innovation Manchester, and the National institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM).

MAHSC is one of only eight academic health science centres in England, and the only academic health science centre in the North West, MAHSC is designated to research new treatments, to improve health education and transform service user and patient care. The National institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), is one of 15 ARCs across England, funded to deliver applied health and care research that addresses the key challenges of the health and care system whilst supporting staff to translate research in to practice.

The Applied Health and Care Research Group aims to:

• Complement working with ARC-GM/MAHSC/HInM to accelerate excellence in health and social care research and education, and in service-user, patient and carer care and support.
• Collaborate to increase the volume of excellent, timely, high-priority applied health and social care research conducted in Greater Manchester.
• Identify and prioritise effective innovations emerging from applied health (Including public health), and social care research for deployment across GM.
• To ensure inclusivity and collaboration across applied health, social care and public health research activity in Greater Manchester.
• To build research capability and capacity amongst the multi-professional health and social care sector.

Later this year, there will be an opportunity to apply for awards to fund cross-discipline, multi-institution, research-led projects that have the potential to generate health and social care impact and benefits to service-users, patients, and carers in Greater Manchester.

Dr Jonathan Massey, Programme Director for Academia, Health Innovation Manchester, shared his reflections on the launch of the group: “MAHSC are delighted to support this group. There is a real shared drive and purpose to establish a programme of applied health and care work, in line with our vision to discover, develop and deploy our best innovations that address the health and care priorities of our citizens.”

Professor Matt Sutton, MAHSC Applied Health and Care Research Group Chair, Professor of Health Economics, University of Manchester, and ARC-GM Deputy Director, shared his hopes for the Group: “It is fantastic to chair such a timely and important group, dedicated to supporting research that generates health and social care impact and benefits to service-users, patients, and carers alike. I look forward to working with colleagues from across each of the 4 HEIs in Greater Manchester, and GM ICP, to realise these ambitions.”