Pandemic Influenza Themed Call

Pandemic Influenza Themed Call

Early last year the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) issued a call for research on Pandemic Influenza. This followed research commissioned by the NIHR into influenza during the 2009 pandemic (Lancet. 2010;375(9720):1063-5). The urgency and rapid timetable in 2009 was challenging but important research was been completed and published in the Health Technology Assessment journal series. We wished to fund a further portfolio of research projects in this health topic before another pandemic occurred.

A meeting was held in June 2011 to assess the expressions of interest in the themed call, and successful applicants were invited to submit a full proposal.  These were peer-reviewed, then assessed at a Board meeting in October last year, and contracts will be awarded to successful researchers, who will obtain ethical and other regulatory approval for their study.

To view the public minutes of this meeting, please click here.

To view/download a list of outcomes from this meeting, please click here.

The research itself will not normally start unless or until a pandemic occurs and affects the UK. Projects will receive minimal maintenance funding until the research starts. The NIHR will decide when research should begin in discussion with funded researchers; only after this point will full-scale funding be made available. We anticipate that projects will be 'on-hold' up to three years.

The main focus of this call was the prevention, diagnosis or immediate management of patients with influenza during a pandemic. Only research which will produce evidence to guide clinical and public health policy during the same pandemic was considered. Proposals considered included community or hospital care.