NIHR announces £77 million funding for UK health security

The ‘world class’ Units are designed to protect the public from infectious diseases and the impact of chemical, radiological and other environmental health hazards

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has announced nearly £80 million for research to protect the public from health threats.  

This includes long-term threats, such as antimicrobial resistance and climate change, and acute or emerging threats, such as pandemics and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents. 

A total of £77 million will fund 13 NIHR Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) across the country from 1 April 2025, forming a key research element of the national health security infrastructure. 

The HPRUs are partnerships between UK universities and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), with HPRUs delivering collaborative research that enables UKHSA to prepare for and respond to major or emerging health protection incidents. The partnership also builds an evidence base for health protection policy and practice.  

Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention said one of the three core shifts in the government’s 10-Year Health Plan is from treatment to prevention, “and protecting public health is essential to this.”

He added, “From pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance to air pollution and climate change, these research units will look at long-term and emerging health threats - bolstering the nation’s health security research infrastructure.”

The key aims of HPRUs include creating an environment where world class health protection research, focused on the needs of the public, can thrive; focusing on priority areas which will have the greatest impact on public health protection; and providing high quality research evidence to inform decision-making by public health professionals and policy makers.

“The HPRUs bring together expertise from academia and UKHSA to generate the evidence which enhances our ability to protect the public from health threats…” 

Dr Carolina Arevalo, Deputy Director for Research, Evidence and Knowledge, UKHSA said, “It’s fantastic to see this investment in health protection science, supporting our ability to protect our communities from infectious diseases and the impact of chemical, radiological and other environmental health hazards. 

“The HPRUs bring together expertise from academia and UKHSA to generate the evidence which enhances our ability to protect the public from health threats we are facing now and in the future.”

One of the newly funded initiatives is the £5.5 million research unit to investigate the health impacts of chemicals, air pollutants and noise, which will be established at the University of Leicester.

Led by researchers from the University’s Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability, the HPRU in Chemical Threats and Hazards aims to create a step-change in the country’s ability to assess and monitor environmental exposures and risks to health. 

Professor Anna Hansell, Director of the new HPRU said: “Little is currently known about if or how the chemicals we are exposed to every day impact our health, this HPRU will build evidence to protect public health. 

“A vital part of the success of this HPRU will be the involvement of the public and patients, both of which helped shape the proposal, with concerns expressed about chemical exposure in the home, moulds, noise and air pollution. Our work will also consider people from a range of different social and cultural backgrounds to see if this affects being exposed and also if it increases risks to health.”