Key services including Pharmacy, R&D, and the CRF are supported by dedicated ATMP research personnel, ensuring prioritisation, accelerated study set up, and the safe and effective delivery of ATMP trials, alongside the continued expansion of the ATMP portfolio in the Trust.

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust partners with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) to deliver the Birmingham Clinical Research Facility (CRF), providing research support for babies, children, young people, and adults across Birmingham and the wider region. Integration with the Birmingham and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) supports the acceleration of translational science into delivery of new, effective treatments for patients. Host to the Central and Northwest Midlands (C&NWM) Commercial Research Delivery Centre, BWC is at the forefront of enhancing the region’s efficiency to deliver commercial clinical research.

BWC comprises two hospitals Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) and Birmingham Women’s Hospital (BWH) as well as community based sites across the city, collectively providing care to over 140,000 women, babies, children, and young people each year. The Trust has extensive experience delivering complex early phase therapies across a broad spectrum of specialties, including haematology, oncology, metabolic, nephrology, gastroenterology, and hepatology, among others. At BCH, world leading research includes rare diseases affecting fewer than one in 100,000 children. Similarly, BWH conducts pioneering studies in areas such as genetics investigating factors involved in cancer development and gynaecology and is also home to the National Centre for Miscarriage Research.

With the support of the Midlands Wales Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (MW-ATTC), the Trust is building a dedicated team of research delivery staff to support the administration of therapies such as cellular and gene therapy trials. The experienced Research and Development (R&D) department ensures that all research conducted in the Trust is of high quality and supports, advises and guides researchers throughout the research process. The Trust’s experience, infrastructure and diverse population makes it an attractive partner for research sponsors.

Site facilities include: the CRF with clinic rooms, day-case and inpatient facilities, a laboratory for sample processing and DEXA scanner. The Trust has recently secured National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding for improved aseptic pharmacy facilities for on site preparation of ATMPs.