UoA 1 Clinical Medicine
Focused on biomedical science, clinical translation, and experimental medicine, our research in this Unit of Assessment delivers on improved patient health outcomes. It spans the key areas of cancer, immunology, infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and genetic disorders.
We secured an overall GPA of 3.18 with 92% of our research deemed as either world-leading or internationally excellent. Our research environment scored 3.13, a significant improvement on REF2014.
We foster an inclusive, diverse and collaborative research community. Reflective of this, we submitted 100% of our eligible staff to this Unit of Assessment.
Our results
| Quality level | 4 star % | 3 star % | 2 star % | 1 star % | Unclassified % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 27.0 | 65.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Outputs | 32.2 | 53.9 | 12.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Impact | 21.4 | 78.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Environment | 12.5 | 87.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Our research environment
We have created a multi-disciplinary identity for our clinical research including collaborations with colleagues returned in units of assessment 3, 4 and 5.
Since REF 2014 there have been considerable investments, they include:
- access to university supercomputing infrastructures for the Systems Immunity Research Institute, Sêr Cymru Chair in Systems Medicine, and Wales Gene Park. Bespoke training programmes for early career and postgraduate research students provided by Supercomputing Wales
- UK Dementia Research Institute with UoA 4
- a Clinical Innovation Partnership with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board linking industry and the NHS. This partnership assisted over 170 projects, and in 2018 secured European Regional Development Funds (EDRF) to establish a Clinical Innovation Accelerator providing development funding for novel clinical diagnostics
- creation of the Centre for Trials Research through amalgamating 3 UK registered Clinical Research Units streamlining the delivery of clinical studies, with UoA 3
During the REF 2021 period, our research income from research councils, industry, and overseas sources, increased 68% to £140.1m. We had a substantial growth in staff with 24 new appointments, 31 early-career researchers and sustainable postgraduate schemes that increased postgraduate research student numbers by 130 prior to the start of the pandemic.
Addressing the key health challenges affecting society, we created a sustainable and inclusive research environment equipped to harness discovery research for future clinical innovation and patient benefit. This approach has increased competitiveness for new funding and resources from government, industry, and charities.
Discover our research
Our commitment to research excellence is supported though strong research centres, groups and units translating directly from the laboratory into the real world.
