As a community of R&D leaders, we support a fantastically diverse and broad breadth of research – interventional clinical trials, observational studies, commercial research, non-commercial research, early stage research, qualitative research and later stage implementation science.
The research portfolios we oversee are shaped by the type of organisation we work for and the populations that those organisations serve. That diversity and our UK-wide spread are hallmarks of UKRD.
We know that the stakes are high at the moment; patients want more research opportunities, Global Pharma wants the UK to do better in delivery. We hold key roles in responding to all of this and elevating UK life sciences on the global scale.
This is a tough challenge, and we must not forget that there’s so much that’s good about the UK health and care research landscape – underpinned by fantastic infrastructure and other support from the NIHR
I know that being analytical, curious, restless and resilient are some of our key qualities as R&D leaders and the Summit is an opportunity to recharge on all of these fronts as we continue to drive towards this important ambition.
A lot of the work we do is online and by virtual meeting, but there is something super important about carving out time to connect with the fundamentals of why we do what we do – our purpose as an R&D leadership community.
A theme for the Summit 2026 is embedding research in all health and care settings, and to do that we need a strong culture for research. If we’re going to talk about cultures we have to root that in conversations with patients; to listen to patients to understand why research is important to them, to allow those insights to infuse into how we lead.
To demonstrate the importance of listening this way, I am so pleased that we welcomed our first ever patient panel on the programme this year.
As well as our patients, a key connector for us is our workforce, in all its guises, the research leaders, the delivery staff, the support staff and, of course, our emerging leaders.
We addressed some crucial topics at this event – our patients, our workforce, the goal of continuous improvement to bring more research to patients faster – and we can only do all this if we continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our partners in the system, so it was great to see representatives from DHSC, NHSE, NIHR, RDN and other partner organisations at the Summit to share in, and be part of, these conversations.
We are always stronger by working together.
Alongside key note speakers and panel discussions, we held a series of workshops during the event. Some of the presentations can be accessed below:
- What does it mean to think differently about research into health inequalities? – Matt Gummerson [presentation slides]
- Community Participatory Research: What can happen when communities lead? – Jeni Malpass [presentation slides]
- Diverse leadership in R&D: Tackling the ‘causes of the causes’ – Prof. Habib Naqvi [presentation slides]
- Finance in research workshop – Joe Mwanza and Emmanuel Rollings-Kamara [presentation slides]
- Embedding research in neighbourhood health workshop – Dino Motti and Mayur Vibhuti [presentation slides]
- UKRD membership survey – full report and infographic