CoPMRE is based within BU’s School of Health and Social Care and is the main point of contact for doctors working in local NHS trusts who are, or would like to be, engaged in research or education activity.
The focus of the day-long symposium was on impact in healthcare research and education, exploring what impact is and why it is important.
Professor Paul Thompson, Consultant Rheumatologist and Director of CoPMRE said:
“Impact is a really important word both in the NHS research environment and in a university environment, so the symposium is about trying to explore what it means.
“Impact is many things and can be different for different people – it could be academic impact, or a health or societal impact.”
The symposium discussed developments and activities around impact in healthcare research and education, exploring the concept from a number of different perspectives – including the public, research funders and medical educators.
It featured several nationally-recognised speakers, with keynote addresses from Professor Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care and Dean for Research Impact at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Professor Jonathan Grant, Director of the King’s Policy Institute.
Professor Thompson said that the event – attended by medical professionals and academics – also provided opportunities for networking and potential collaborations.
“The symposium has been going for 11 years and what we try to do is connect those two areas around research and education.
“It is all about that novel collaboration between NHS practitioners who are interested in research and education and university academics, and providing the infrastructure to allow those collaborations to blossom.”
