Two new partnerships between NHS organisations and leading universities will receive a total of £18 million to conduct research and improve care in major conditions including depression, dementia, stroke, and childhood obesity, the Department of Health announced today.

The new NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Collaborations for Health Research and Care in Nottinghamshire and in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough were selected by an independent international selection panel and will start work on 1st October 2008.

The two new partnerships will complement the seven Collaborations announced in May 2008, which will also start work in October. Each Collaboration will bring together universities and their surrounding NHS organisations to test new treatments and new ways of working in specific clinical areas, to see if they are effective and appropriate for everyday use in the health service. Where potential improvements are identified, the collaborations will help NHS staff to incorporate them into their everyday working practices, so that patients across the local community receive a better standard of healthcare.

Professor Sally C. Davies, Director General of Research and Development at the Department of Health said:

"The NIHR Collaborations for Health Research and Care represent an exciting and innovative partnership between universities and the NHS. They will undertake high quality applied health research and develop new ways of translating research findings into improved outcomes for patients. They will be conducting this work at the front line of the NHS so that the benefits and findings from research can be swiftly incorporated into routine clinical practice."