Established in 2006, the Newcastle Joint Research Office (NJRO) is a partnership between The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH) and Newcastle University (University) supporting researchers in the development, implementation and delivery of world-class experimental, translational and clinical research.

Through the partnership, NuTH acts as sponsor for all University research requiring access to its patients.

The team in the NJRO comprises both NuTH and University staff who work together to support the researcher through, what can be, a complex research process. Working with colleagues across NuTH and University, the team supports the researcher through funding development (commercial and non-commercial), governance and regulatory compliance (from low-risk observational studies to high-risk international clinical trials), application submission, post-award contracting and intellectual property (IP) and post-award project management.

The NJRO has a dedicated Quality Assurance (QA) team providing oversight and assurance to NuTH and University in relation to its regulatory requirements for clinical research as well as providing governance and regulatory oversight to NuTH and University tissue banks. Alongside the NJRO there is also a dedicated Research Informatics team supporting NuTH and University in relation to data access, storage and reporting for clinical research. The team works with the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East & North Cumbria (CRN NENC) to ensure studies are recorded correctly and timely in local and national management systems.

The NJRO works with the directorates, delivery teams and research platforms in NuTH and well as the schools, institutes and research facilities in the University to ensure there is collaboration at all levels across the partnership.

The team delivers in-house bespoke training and development to new and existing members of staff who are involved in the development, delivery and implementation of experimental, translational and clinical research. Staff in the NJRO work extremely closely with other universities, NHS organisations, government departments, industry and are involved in national working groups to share best practice, collaborate out-with the partnership and ensure that the clinical research delivered at Newcastle is safe, value for money, of the highest quality and through adoption will make a difference to patient outcomes.