Clinical Trials Units (CTUs)

Please note that the CTRG pages are currently under development.
If you have any questions please contact elaine.chick@admin.ox.ac.uk

Oxford Clinical Trials is a consortium of individually accredited research units at the University of Oxford who carry out high-quality, academically-led trials and translational research. 

Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) are specialist units which have been set up with a specific remit to design, conduct, analyse and publish clinical trials and other well-designed studies. The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) has developed a registration process which recognises CTUs capable of centrally coordinating multi-centre clinical trials to a required standard. CTUs which have been awarded UKCRC Registration were required to provide evidence to an international panel of experts of their capability to centrally coordinate multi-centre clinical trials (i.e. having overall responsibility for the design, development, recruitment, data management, publicity and analysis of a portfolio of trials), and that they had established robust systems to ensure conduct and delivery of clinical trials.

The UKCRC Registered Trials Unit have a website providing information on registered units, the registration process and links to patient and public information on clinical trials.

CTUs in Oxford

Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU)

OCTRU is a joint venture between the Oncology Clinical Trials Office (OCTO) and the Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM), both based at the University of Oxford. We have a particular interest in, and experience of, cancer trials. OCTRU aims to be a centre of excellence for,

  • the design, management and analysis of clinical trials
  • to develop trials which aim to answer important questions, and which are scientifically valuable, ethically sound and statistically robust
  • to continually improve trial design, management and reporting of results

We have experience in many difference types and design of study and can offer a range of services from randomisation to full trial management.

OCTRU
Department of Clinical Pharmacology
Old Road Campus Research Building
Roosevelt Drive
Oxford
OX3 7DQ
+44 (0)1865 617000

Email: enquiries@octo-oxford.org.uk
Website: http://www.octo-oxford.org.uk/OCTRU.html

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Oxford Clinical Trials Unit for Mental Illness (OCTUMI)

OCTUMI is a UKCRN registered Clinical Trials Unit. The Unit was formed from the long-standing collaboration between research groups at the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry and the Centre for Statistics in Medicine.

Groups within the unit conduct randomised controlled trials of treatments of mental illness including mood disorders and schizophrenia across the whole age range. Interventions include drugs treatments which are subject to the EU regulations on Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs) and psychological treatments.

The range of trials also includes comparisons of different modes of service delivery. Many trials are multicentre and some international. The majority of trials are non-commercial but a small number of pharmaceutical company trials are also undertaken. A recent trial conducted by OCTUMI, BALANCE, was published this year in the Lancet (The BALANCE investigators and collaborators, The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9712, Pages 385 - 395, 30 January 2010) and is an exemplar of the sort of trial we focus on.

OCTUMI
Department of Psychiatry
University of Oxford
Warneford Hospital
Oxford
OX3 7JX
+44 (0)1865 223731

Email: octumi@psych.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.clinicaltrials.ox.ac.uk/units/oxford-clinical-trials-unit-for-mental-illness

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Oxford University Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit

CTSU's work chiefly involves studies of the causes and treatment of "chronic" diseases such as cancer, heart attack or stroke (which, collectively, account for most adult deaths worldwide), although it does also involve some studies of other major conditions in developed and developing countries.

CTSU
Richard Doll Building
Old Road Campus
Roosevelt Drive
Oxford
OX3 7LF
+44 (0)1866 743743

Email: chris.marsden@ctsu.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk

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Diabetes Trials Unit

The Diabetes Trials Unit (DTU), founded in 1985, specialises in performing diabetes-related national and multinational mega trials in partnership with the NHS, NIH, MRC, British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK, academic institutions and industry. The DTU also undertakes major modelling and statistical programmes to utilise fully the data available from its many studies, with a particular emphasis on modelling diabetes and cardiovascular disease processes.

OCDEM
Churchill Hospital
Old Road
Headington
Oxford
OX3 7LJ
+44 (0)1865 857240

Email: dtu@dtu.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.dtu.ox.ac.uk

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Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit

The UKCRC Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit (ORTU) is a specialist centre for the administration and recruitment of patients to respiratory trials. Many of our projects are run in partnership with the MRC Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU) and as part of the Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN) portfolio. We run both national and international trials related to our own work, as well as supporting trials led by other teams. Our current research is looking to improve the treatments of diseases that affect the membranes around the lung (pleural disease) and diseases that impair breathing during sleep (obstructive sleep apnoea). Further research interests in the department include altitude medicine, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia and dyspnoea.

Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine
Churchill Hospital
Old Road
Headington
Oxford
OX3 7LJ
+44 (0)1865 225205

Email: rtu@orh.nhs.uk
Website: www.expmedndm.ox.ac.uk/respiratory-trials-unit

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Oxford Vaccine Centre

The Oxford Vaccine Centre undertakes a broad range of clinical trials, from small scale, single centre trials through to large scale, multi-centre studies to develop Paediatric and Adult vaccines. The two research and clinical trials groups within the Oxford Vaccine Centre are both internationally recognised as leaders in the field of vaccine development.

First, the Jenner Institute was founded in November 2005 to develop innovative vaccines against major global diseases such as Malaria, TB and Flu. A major theme is translational research involving the rapid early-stage development and assessment of new vaccines in clinical trials.

Second, the Oxford Vaccine Group works towards the goal of developing new and improved vaccines for the prevention of infection in children, enhancing the understanding of immunity and studying the epidemiology of infectious diseases such as Pneumonia, Meningitis and Swine Flu.

Vaccine programmes have been supported in recent years by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council UK, the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, the European Commission, the Gates Foundation and many more funding bodies.

The Oxford Vaccine Centre is a UKCRC registered CTU.

Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine
Churchill Hospital
Old Road
Oxford
OX3 7LJ
+44 (0)1865 857420

Email: ovg@paediatrics.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/oxford-vaccine-centre

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National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit

The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) is a multidisciplinary research team dedicated to improving the care provided to women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, as well as the care provided to the newborn.

Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) make up a large component of the NPEU's work. The ongoing programme of trials evaluates a broad range of interventions for women and babies in the perinatal health services. These are typically large multi-centre trials, involving many hospitals both nationally and sometimes internationally.

The NPEU CTU is part of the consortium leading the NIHR Medicines for Children Research Network (MCRN), set up to improve the co-ordination, speed and quality of randomised controlled trials and other well designed studies of medicines for babies, children and adolescents.

NPEU
University of Oxford
Old Campus Road
Headington, Oxford
OX3 7LF
+44 (0)1865 289728

Email: ctu@npeu.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/

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Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit

Based in the Academic Department of Primary Health Care at the University of Oxford, the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit undertakes clinical trials addressing health issues of major national and international importance. The Unit is involved in the design, conduct and analysis of multi-centre randomised trials that are carried out in collaboration with local NHS Trusts in both primary and secondary care. With excellent working relationships with UK wide primary care based study sites the Unit also has close links with many of the UK Clinical Research Networks, particularly Primary Care Research, Diabetes, Medicines for Children and Comprehensive Local Research Networks.

At each stage of clinical trial development and conduct, the Primary Care CTU provides advice and expertise - scientific, logistical, statistical and technical - to ensure the highest quality run trials, data capture and results.

Department of Primary Health Care
University of Oxford
Old Road Campus
Headington
Oxford
OX3 7LF

+44 (0)1865 289313

Email: primarycarectu@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
Website: www.clinicaltrials.ox.ac.uk/units/primary-care-and-vaccines-collaborative-clinical-trials-unit

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