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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

Brighton and Sussex Joint Clinical Research Office

Brighton and Sussex Joint Clinical Research Office

Welcome to the Brighton and Sussex Joint Clinical Research Office (JCRO).

The JCRO team stood together in two rows on grass outside a building for a team photo

About the JCRO

The Joint Clinical Research Office functions as a 'one-stop-shop' for clinical research studies involving one of the partner Universities and an NHS Trust.

Established in 2019, the JCRO brings together expertise across partner organisations and provides practical support, management and advice across the clinical research lifecycle, from grant application to study completion.

The four partner organisations are:

  • University of Brighton
  • University of Sussex
  • Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust). 

We work closely with Brighton and Sussex Clinical Trials Unit, the Research Support Service and Clinical Research Network Kent, Surrey and Sussex. In collaboration with our partners, we manage and chair the Pre-Sponsorship Review Panel to support the development of high-quality sponsorship applications. We also support the Applied Research Collaboration, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. 

Download our latest JCRO leaflet >

For further information on the Research Support Service (RSS) visit their website below. For general support please contact the Southampton Hub and for specialist area support please link through to the specific RSS that supports that area.

Learn more about the RSS here >

Please email JCRO@sussex.ac.uk regarding possible JCRO support for your study and one of our team will get back to you.

Your Feedback

We welcome your feedback about our information and support services. Feedback helps us to continually review and develop our services. If you have feedback (good or bad) about our information service please contact us by emailing jcro@sussex.ac.uk or v.govoni@bsms.ac.uk.

JCRO governance

JCRO Management Group
The day-to-day operation of the JCRO is steered by a management group, composed of JCRO staff and representatives from all our partners.

An image of a girl in a white lab coat and blue gloves carrying out an experiment with two computer screens in a medical laboratory

Health Research Partnership (HRP)

The JCRO is a core element of the Brighton and Sussex Health Research Partnership (HRP), an exciting initiative that will bring together academic and NHS partners across Brighton and Sussex to further strengthen our research profile, attract more funding and deliver more large scale research that will have an impact on the future care of patients accessing our services. The HRP will allow each of its partner organisations to realise their research ambitions —maximizing opportunities for staff, patients and our local population to participate in research which impacts on their health and medical care.

For more information click here >

News and events

Welcome to our new team members

There have been a few changes to the JCRO Team recently. Debbie Coton is currently on maternity leave until November 2024 and we have welcomed the following:

Kitty Pert, JCRO Research Manager, joined the team in October 2023.

Ilona Bowyer, JCRO Research Manager, joined the team in January 2024 currently on secondment from the Research and Development team at University of Sussex.

Visit out meet the team page >

New Head of JCRO and HRP – Virginia Govoni

Virginia Govoni joined us in February 2023 as Head of JCRO and HRP. 

“I am very excited to start this new role, in the Brighton and Sussex area there is much potential to develop impactful research for the benefit of local institutions, staff and the local communities. I am looking forward to developing these collaborations, building on local excellence and strengths in healthcare and medical research.”

Virginia has a Master Degree in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical technologies from the University of Bologna, and Mphil in Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences from King’s College London and 10 years’ experience in medical research settings, leading senior clinical academics to deliver major strategic and complex programmes and collaborations at Queen Mary University of London and King’s College London. Virginia joins us from Barts Charity, a healthcare charity based in East London, supporting local institutions to deliver innovative research and great healthcare to the local population.  She will have a dual role as Head of Brighton and Sussex Health Research Partnership and the Joint Clinical Research Office.

Goodbye to Tanya Telling, Head of JCRO

We said goodbye to Tanya Telling, who moved on in August 2022 to become the Director of Research Quality at Kings College London. Tanya co-created and Directed the JCRO since its inception and has been instrumental in building the case for the HRP. She will be missed but we wish her the very best of luck.

New JCRO Team 

Group photo outside of the JCRO team

There have been quite a few changes and we have welcomed several new members to our team recently. 

Anett Kiss, Research Manager joined the team in April 2022. 

Sam Suter, JCRO Administrator and Sejal Ghosh, ARC Coordinator joined us in May 2022.

Lara Tozer, PPIE Coordinator (HRP) and Kathryn Stanley, PPIE Coordinator (ARC) joined us in June 2022.

Zoe Boylan is now JCRO Senior Research Manager and David Todd is HRP Co-ordinator.

Meet the core JCRO team >

Brighton and Sussex JCRO confirmed as integrated element of BSMS clinical infrastructure

Since its formation in February 2019, Brighton and Sussex Joint Clinical Research Office (JCRO) has provided specialised research support for clinicians and academics working with the NHS.  As a joint office governed by both local universities and two local NHS trusts, the JCRO has been instrumental in bringing partners together to establish successful joint practices. The tangible benefits of the JCRO can be seen in increased grant submissions, as well as in successful applications, over the last 3 years of its existence.

Just as significantly, the JCRO has increased the confidence of academics working with the NHS, inspiring them to apply for complex and broader-reaching projects, knowing the JCRO is there to help them. The JCRO has also provided invaluable guidance on the set-up of awarded projects, with such elements as HRA approval, contracting, and signposting to sponsorship, and also developed  the Pre-Sponsorship Review Panel, pooling knowledge and experience from all partners to improve the quality of projects seeking sponsorship.

In the film below, the partners and the researchers who have worked with JCRO reflect on the positive changes brought about since its inception.

The success of this work has now led to the BSMS recognising the JCRO as a vital component of local clinical research infrastructure, and as such an integral part of its Joint Board’s five year plan.

Professor Malcolm Reed, Dean of BSMS, said: “BSMS is committed to putting clinical research at the heart of its future, working towards establishing Brighton and Sussex as a centre of excellence nationally.  I have been delighted to see the advances the JCRO has made in fostering good research and integrating key regional stakeholders towards this aim, and look forward to working alongside them in all our future endeavours."

Tanya Telling, Former Head of JCRO, said “It has been a joy to be involved in the development of the JCRO over the last 3 years and to see the progress made in partnership working to enable improved support for those wishing to research in the NHS. There is enormous potential going forward for continued improvements and innovations that will mean clinicians and academics working across our partner organisations are in a better position to apply for more and larger grant application with a higher chance of success. I encourage you to get in touch with us today if you have ideas for clinical research and we will work with you to develop your proposal.”

More information can be found on the website below or by emailing jcro@sussex.ac.uk.

There are research funding opportunities now available from the NIHR, via the Research for Patient Benefit initiative and the Applied Research Collaboration.

Read more here >

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

What do we support?

The JCRO supports clinical research* studies where the Chief, Principal or Co-Investigator are employed by one of the partner organisations and where the project involves NHS resources (e.g. NHS patients, data, staff or resources). We also support some social care setting research.

*Definition of clinical research: Research into treatments and knowledge for better health and care for the benefit of patients, building the evidence for new approaches that are safe and effective. Studies may involve patients, volunteers and carers.

Why might we not be able to help? 

  • Unfortunately, we can’t currently support student applications, but we can signpost students to the relevant contacts in their own institutions or other available support mechanisms
  • You may not yet be ready to make a grant application. If this is the case, we can signpost you to the RSS and other contacts to develop your application.

Please contact us about possible JCRO support: JCRO@sussex.ac.uk

How we can help

The JCRO provides research management support and advice across the project life-cycle. 

Read more here >

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Current studies and feedback

Find out about some of the studies currently supported by the JCRO.

Read more here > 

Researchers looking at a tablet

Pre-Sponsorship Review Panel

The Pre-Sponsorship Review Panel (PSRP) will review all research applications prior to the Sponsoring Partner issuing formal Sponsorship.

If you are a researcher, who is principally employed by one of The Brighton and Sussex Joint Clinical Research Office's (JCRO) partner organisations:

  • University Of Sussex
  • University of Brighton
  • University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex)
  • Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT)

and you intend to conduct research involving NHS Patients, their tissue or their data, or involve NHS Staff and some social care setting research, you will need to obtain what is known as sponsorship.

Sponsorship approval is required before you can submit your study for Health Research Authority (HRA) review. The Sponsor has responsibility for the oversight of all Research. The PSRP will review all research applications prior to the Sponsoring Organisation issuing formal Sponsorship. 

Find out more about PSRP here >

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About ARC KSS

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research. Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems.

The NIHR ARC Kent Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) is one of 15 ARCs across England, part of a £135 million investment by the NIHR to improve the health and care of patients and the public. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the host Trust for the ARC KSS working collaboratively with the Universities of Kent, Surrey and Sussex and member organisations to deliver its objectives. 

The JCRO are also working particularly closely with the four ARC themes hosted by University of Sussex.

For more information visit the website below.

VISIT THE ARC KSS WEBSITE HERE >

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Contact us

Please email JCRO@sussex.ac.uk regarding possible JCRO support for your study and one of our team will get back to you.

University of Sussex

For University of Sussex researchers who are submitting a grant application, please attach the completed School Grant Application Proforma.

DOWNLOAD PROFORMAS HERE >

University of Brighton

For University of Brighton all applications for external research and knowledge exchange activities including response to tenders, outline or stage 1 proposals, and collaborative grants where the University is not the lead partner, are required to follow the University of Brighton bid submission process.

As soon as University of Brighton staff have decided to put together a proposal, or if they have been contacted by external partners (such as another university including University of Sussex and or Brighton Sussex Medical School) to be involved in a new bid, you must inform Bid Support and/or Knowledge Exchange using the bidsupport@brighton.ac.uk email address and by completing an Intention to Develop (ITD) application form.

We will then send you an Intention to Develop (ITD) link to complete. Once submitted, the ITD will be sent by Bid Support to the Associate Dean of your School (Research and Knowledge Exchange), for approval to develop. 

Agreement must be secured from the school before a bid can go forward to the development stage.

Once approval is received, a Research Development Officer (RDO) or Knowledge Exchange Manager (KEM) from Bid Support will be allocated to support you in developing your bid. They will contact you to discuss a timeframe for completion, financial, staffing and resource implications and suggestions for potential internal peer reviewers. They will also agree a timetable with you for receipt of drafts for peer review and receipt of the final application for internal authorisations before submission to the funder.

More information can be found on our RaKE SharePoint. 

Visit the RaKE SharePoint here >

*Please note University of Brighton staff will need to be logged into their university account (on your phone, PC, tablet, or laptop) to view University of Brighton staff SharePoint pages.