News Article

The NIHR has announced the launch of a new Health Protection Research Unit Network. The new network will provide strategic leadership for the 13 NIHR Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) and 2 NIHR Health Protection Research Focus Awards (HPRFAs) in England. 

The HPRU Network will connect these units with the broader health protection research ecosystem, ensuring alignment with NIHR, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and government priorities.

HPRU Network functions 

With £5.3 million in funding from March 2026 to March 2030, the HPRU Network will function as a unified entity comprising several core components led by different HPRUs. At its centre, the Core function, hosted in Liverpool by the HPRU in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, will provide strategic coordination, ensuring effective governance, accountability, and integration across the Network. In addition, the HPRU in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections will lead the pandemic preparedness and biosecurity (PPB) function, reinforcing its critical role in anticipating, preventing, and responding to high-impact infectious disease threats.

Other key functions within the Network include knowledge mobilisation (KM) and public and community involvement, engagement and participation (PCIEP), led by the HPRU in Evaluation and Behavioural Science at the University of Bristol, and research capacity development, led by the HPRU in Radiation Threats and Hazards at Imperial College London. Across all functions, there is a strong emphasis on research inclusion and health equity, ensuring that the benefits of health protection research are shared broadly and fairly.

Through close collaboration with NIHR, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and government partners, the Network aims to strengthen the UK’s research readiness and responsiveness. By aligning expertise and resources, it will enhance the country’s ability to generate timely, high-quality evidence to inform public health decision-making.

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR, said:

“I’m delighted to see this Network bringing together the strengths of our HPRUs to deliver more coherent, impactful health protection research. Past and present outbreaks of infectious diseases show how quickly threats can emerge and how essential it is that UKHSA and wider government are supported by high‑quality, agile research and evidence.”

Professor Tom Solomon CBE, Director of the NIHR HPRU in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections and The Pandemic Institute, said:

"Since their inception in 2014, the Health Protection Research Units have been driving vital research to protect the nation against the full range of public health threats. This new network will improve our ability to be efficient and collaborative, aligning us with government priorities and providing ministers with crucial, reliable information when they need it. We are pleased to be awarded funding to lead on several of the key functions within the new HPRU Network, and look forward to working ever closer with our partners to deliver this important work.”