Research and Innovation

"Our vision Making a difference to the experience and outcomes of health care to the people of Kent, the NHS and internationally through Research, Inquiry and Innovation"

What is research?

Medical (or healthcare) research describes the process by which we aim to further knowledge about the causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illness. Research generally starts with a question (or hypothesis) that we wish to answer and then proceeds – through the careful conduct of a clinical trial, study or project – to answer that question.

We are involved in a very diverse range of research, from trialling completely new medicines that have been developed by pharmaceutical companies, through to studies that aim to tell us how we can better organise and deliver healthcare services. Importantly all of our research aims to improve human health through new discoveries or by better, more efficient, or more cost-effective use of existing knowledge, sometimes as it applies specifically to the people of East Kent.

Find out how to get involved with our research.