The independent cross-government Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) is one of a number of fora where the public funders of health research work together with other stakeholders.
History
OSCHR was created following the Review of funding in UK health research (2006) led by Sir David Cooksey.
Sir David identified considerable strength in the UK science base, but revealed cultural, institutional and financial barriers to the effective translation of health research into clinical practice.
OSCHR’s role is to facilitate more efficient translation of health research into health and economic benefits in the UK through better coordination of health research and more coherent funding arrangements to support translation. The UK health departments together with the Medical Research Council and other UK research councils, have established highly effective processes for joint working.
Since 2007, the OSCHR board has demonstrated a powerful capacity to work across government through collaboration, addressing many of the issues required to ensure a comprehensive health research environment and leading to improved health outcomes and economic growth.
Although the majority of the changes to the UK health research landscape advocated in the Cooksey report had been delivered by 2011, Ministers agreed that there remained a role for OSCHR, but that it should move towards health research policy coordination and foresight.
The OSCHR Board membership
| Professor Chris Day | Independent Chair; Vice Chancellor and President, Newcastle University |
| Professor Chris Whitty CB | Chief Scientific Advisor, Department of Health and Social Care, England |
| Alex Jones | Director of Science, Research and Innovation, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy |
| Dr Louise Wood CBE | Director, Science, Research & Evidence, Department of Health and Social Care ( in lieu of CEO, National Institute for Health Research, England) |
| Professor Fiona Watt | Executive Chair – MRC |
| Dr Ian Campbell | Interim Executive Chair, Innovate UK |
| Professor Jennifer Rubin | Executive Chair – ESRC |
| David Sweeney | Executive Chair – Research England |
| Professor David Crossman | Chief Scientist for Health, Scotland |
| Professor Kieran Walshe | Head of Health and Care Research Wales |
| Professor Ian Young | Director, Health and Social Care R&D, Northern Ireland |
| Stuart Bell CBE | Independent Member; NHS Sector |
| Dr Eliot Forster | Independent member; Industry |
| Aisling Burnand MBE | CEO, Association of Medical Research Charities |
| Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar | Director, Wellcome Trust |
Contact
Nathan Moore, Head of OSCHR Office