Clinical Research by definition requires professionals to conduct research on healthy volunteers and patients under strict ethical and regulatory guidelines. To ensure the highest standards are met and maintained most Clinical Research is undertaken in specialist units most commonly associated with a hospital or health centre/clinic. Students developing skills in the discipline therefore need exposure to and training from professionals in such units and therefore ICRI Global Research provides all its students access to two relevant specialist units.

This is an active R&D unit for clinical research. ICRI Global Research has a commercial arrangement with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust to enable the facility to be used as a simulator unit for clinical research and thereby support hands-on training in clinical research. Northampton General has an established research and development (R&D) unit with over 20 years experience of conducting clinical trials. The unit has three fully equipped single-bed research suites and one twin-bed research suites, along with consulting rooms, patient waiting area, laboratory, pharmaceutical storage facility, offices & archive suite along with five research nurses, a clinical research co-ordinator, two full-time investigators, admin staff and unit manager.

Students undertaking training with ICRI Global Research spend a period of time within clinical departments of Milton Keynes General Hospital to experience first-hand the integration of clinical research with clinical delivery.

Complementing the human-centric aspects of Clinical Research are the pre-clinical and pharmaceutical company-based aspects. Again exposure to these elements is invaluable to those studying Clinical Research. ICRI Global Research maintains a close relationship with a number of pharmaceutical companies however the facilities of Eisai Ltd Knowledge Centre in the UK provide invaluable industrial exposure to our students.

Eisai European Knowledge Centre is the U.K.-based hub for European business activities, and is Eisai’s first production site in Europe. The European Knowledge Centre consolidates the functions of discovery research, clinical development & research, sales and European group management in addition to manufacturing, thereby improving quality, efficiency and productivity. The facility covers a total of 230,000 square feet.

To support development of the strong soft-skills required by clinical research professionals as well has facilitate placement in suitable positions on completion of the programme, ICRI Global Research has signed a memorandum of understanding with Reed Scientific to support both these activities for course participants.