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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).

 

JCRO team photo

JCRO Team pictured left to right: Yvette Wagner, Debbie Coton, Sam Suter and Zoe Boylan (Virginia Govoni and Anett Kiss not pictured)

About the JCRO

The Joint Clinical Research Office functions as a 'one-stop-shop' for Researchers to access support for health and care research studies involving one of the partner Universities and any NHS Trust or care setting.

Established in 2019, the JCRO brings together expertise across partner organisations and provides practical support, management and advice across the health and care 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

We work closely with the Brighton and Sussex Clinical Trials Unit, the NIHR Research Support Service and the South East Regional NIHR Research Delivery Network. 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 >

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.

For further information on the NIHR 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 >

JCRO governance

JCRO Management Group
The JCRO is managed by a JCRO Management Group, chaired by the Head of JCRO, with representation from all Partners. The group meets every 6 months. The group allows for continuous review and feedback between 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

Sussex Health and Care Research Partnership (SHCRP)

The JCRO is a core element of the  Sussex Health and Care Research Partnership (SHCRP), 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 SHCRP 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

Welcome to our new team members

There have been a few changes to the JCRO team recently:

Debbie Coton has returned from maternity leave and we have welcomed Yvette Wagner who joined the team in March 2025 as a JCRO Research Manager.

Meet the team here >

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

What do we support?

The JCRO supports health and care 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, premises) or  care resources (e.g. local authorities, care homes, residential homes).

*Health and social care research aims to find out new knowledge that could lead to changes to health treatments, policies or care.

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 ensure to register them on Worktribe – click here for further information.

University of Brighton

University of Brighton staff are required to follow the University of Brighton Bid Development and Authorisation Process for all external research and knowledge exchange activities including response to tenders, outline or stage 1 proposals, and collaborative grants.

For more information, please contact bid support team at bidsupport@brighton.ac.uk.

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

Please contact uhsussex.research.accounts@nhs.net for further information.

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Please contact spft.researchgovernance@nhs.net for further information.