Universities unite in new consortium to improve public health

The Universities of Warwick, Birmingham and Keele have formed a consortium to become part of an NIHR-funded body working to improve public health through research. The consortium, called PHRESH, is now part of the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR), which has been awarded £25 million over five years from April 2022 as it begins its third phase of funding. The funding will advance and extend the school's current research themes of children, young people and families; public mental health; and places and communities. Established in April 2012, the renewed NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) is an extended partnership between nine leading centres of academic public health research excellence across England. The school aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice by bringing together England's leading public health research expertise in one virtual organisation. The school conducts research to increase the volume and quality of evidence on cost-effective interventions to tackle important public health challenges. It also supports local public health practitioners and policy makers to engage with, and seek out, research evidence to inform their decisions.