State-of-the-art mobile research units are set to break down barriers to health and care research participation in two coastal regions of England.
This pioneering pilot project aims to improve clinical trial accessibility and efficiency by reaching people where they live.
The initiative features two bespoke vehicles:
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT): One vehicle is being utilised by RCHT to visit participants in Cornwall for follow-up trial visits. This ensures elderly individuals in rural and coastal locations can remain engaged in the trial without the need for long and difficult journeys to the hospital.
- Layton Medical Centre, Blackpool: The other vehicle is operated by Layton Medical Centre, a GP practice in Blackpool, to enhance research accessibility in the region.
Interim Executive Director at the NIHR Research Delivery Network, Professor Andrew Ustianowski, commented:
“The NIHR has already seen how mobile research units can take research into communities across the country, expanding access and boosting inclusion. They enhance NHS capacity to deliver research and provide flexibility for the public to take part in research away from traditional healthcare settings.
“By ensuring research can take place anywhere, these units are both boosting inclusion and the UK economy — giving commercial companies the chance to conduct research in previously unreached areas of the country.”
The project is a collaboration between the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the UK Vaccine Innovation Pathway (VIP), pharmaceutical company Moderna, and EMS Healthcare. It is part of the NOVA 301 trial, a phase 3 clinical trial investigating the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine for norovirus.
Equipped with high-quality clinical spaces, the mobile units feature ultra-low temperature freezers for biological samples and tabletop centrifuges, allowing all trial-related follow-up activities to be carried out on board. This innovative approach ensures that those in rural and coastal areas have the same opportunities to contribute to and benefit from research as those in urban centres.
The NOVA 301 trial, involving 39 sites across the UK, has recruited over 3,000 participants nationally since its launch in October 2024. This initiative aligns with the broader VIP objective of creating a more adaptive and scalable research infrastructure across the UK, establishing the country as a globally competitive destination for vaccine development.
Image credit: iStock
Video credit: National Institute for Health and Care Research
