Over two days in early March, UKRD welcomed over 160 delegates and speakers from across the UK, for two days of connection and collaboration.
Every year, the Summit grows bigger and better, and 2026 was no exception. We saw our highest number of colleagues gather for the ninth of these events, returning for the second time to the Edgbaston Park Hotel in Birmingham.
We opened with a Summit first – a patient panel where four research participants generously gave their time to share their experiences of different research trials.
Jordan Lees, Estelle Green, Elliot Pfebve and Pauline Cowderoy set the perfect tone for the Summit, delivering an important sense of perspective for delegates. Jordan told the audience, “Research offers hope – to know there was an option for me when I felt like I’d tried everything else was so important to me. If I hadn’t had that, I wouldn’t be here now.”
After discussing their individual journeys through research studies and the difference the treatments had made to their health, the patient participants were asked what messages they’d like to give to trust leaders and government decision-makers about the importance of research, with some heartfelt responses.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” Pauline challenged the audience.
“If this was your family member, what would you do? What would you want for your loved one? We aren’t just numbers to be crunched, we’re humans.”
Elliot added, “Research should be routine. It’s not my responsibility to be lucky enough to get into a trial, it’s your responsibility to make them business as usual so more people can be that lucky.”
The session was an unequivocal highlight for delegates, as noted by Professor Lucy Chappell (DHSC/NIHR) when she opened her presentation: “I cannot think of a better way to start the Summit than with that grounding and inspirational call to action from patient representatives.”
Lucy thanked the audience for the work put into improving study set up times and echoed Elliot’s earlier words, emphasising that it’s not enough to get research to 1% of people, we need research opportunities to reach everyone.
Throughout the event, there was a tangible sense of the desire to do things differently. When asked about sponsors who make inclusion criteria so detailed that it excludes some patient groups, Lucy discussed the need to push back and generalise exclusion criteria by working with stakeholders, sponsors, and using patient data.
In a later session about workforce, Alice Mortlock (DHSC) was part of discussions about new ways of working to make research more widely available; listening to stories of clinicians and non-clinical staff working together to complement each other’s skills and experience and how apprenticeships can be used. She echoed the drive for positive change when she said: “There is a real appetite to do something bold and make a difference for long term benefit.”
Reinforcing the determination to do things differently, this year we introduced a new working group focused on research culture, led by Nick McNally. During some reflective and positive discussions, delegates shared stories about where they have seen research culture at its best within organisations, for the working group to build a collection of exemplars of good research culture to share and build upon.
The Summit always features a series of workshops delivered by UKRD working groups, providing the valuable opportunity for group leads to engage with and learn from colleagues while delegates can dive into specific topics that interest them. Updates on each working groups activities will be provided throughout the year and reported on at next year’s event.
While there are undoubtedly challenges shared across the sector and we continue to work under high pressure, the Summit had an undeniable sense of community throughout the event. In the UK wide working session, the speakers highlighted that as devolved nations our similarities outweigh our differences and there are many opportunities ahead. Rhonda Campbell (HSCNI) noted the energy in the room and said, “We’re stronger together and it’s reaffirming that we all have a voice in the room.”
An important aspect of the Summit is inclusion and asking research leaders to consider how they can make their practices and policies more inclusive. This was central in a presentation from Professor Habib Naqvi (NHS Race and Health Observatory), who highlighted examples of bias in research, the recently launched Race and Ethnicity Inclusion in Research project and discussed what research leaders could do to challenge inequalities.
Inclusion across organisation type was also important for delegates, demonstrated by many of the questions asked during panel sessions. During the industry session, one audience member received a round of applause for asking a question about smaller organisations who have untapped communities available to participate and can set up quickly but are often seen as too small to access clinical trials. Panel lead Rowena Sharpe (UHB) agreed this is a key issue and that we should all know our neighbours across organisations and geographies, to collaborate and break down barriers.
The benefits of working with smaller, community-based organisations and groups was emphasised in the last session of the Summit, where examples of research in out-of-hospital settings were shared and discussed.
This final panel helped to define a thread that had been present throughout the event; about the need to focus more on patients and communities than practices and policies.
From the patient representatives who opened the Summit, to the industry life sciences session which featured input from research sponsor Medina, and many other discussions throughout the two days, this thread continued; processes and time delays are not of importance to sponsors and patients, it’s creating good access to research, reaching people where they are, creating safe spaces and prioritising trust and relationships that should be of the greatest importance.
As we do every year, we left the Summit with a strong sense of gratitude for the incredible research community we are part of. With an appreciation of the support there is among colleagues in facing the hurdles ahead and a renewed commitment to new ways of thinking and working.
As patient Pauline reminded us as the start of the Summit, “Research isn’t about numbers being crunched, it’s about humans.”
