About the Public Health Research Programme

The Public Health Research (PHR) Programme evaluates non-NHS interventions intended to improve the health of the public and reduce inequalities in health. The scope of the programme is multi-disciplinary and broad covering a wide range of public health interventions. Examples include:

• examining whether regeneration programmes improve public health and reduce health inequalities,
• evaluating employer schemes to encourage walking or cycling to work, and
  
• assessing interventions that encourage healthy eating among school children.
  

The main focus of the PHR Programme is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions. However, the broader impact and acceptability to the target community and wider society are also important. So to understand the impact and sustainability of public health programmes these are also investigated where relevant.

The PHR Programme is one of four evaluation programmes managed by the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC) on behalf of the NIHR which supports public health research.

NIHR Public Health Research Programme Implementation Plan
(National Institute for Health Research, 2009)

Download the PHR Programme Information Booklet (787KB)

The process

The Public Health Research Programme has two workstreams; researcher-led and commissioned. Please go to the funding opportunities page for more information.

The Public Health Research Programme will fund both primary research and evidence synthesis. The precise methods will need to be appropriate to the question being asked and the feasibility of the research.

Professor Catherine Law
Director, PHR Programme

Professor Catherine Law of the UCL Institute of Child Health is the Programme Director of the Public Health Research Programme.

Professor Law has a wealth of experience in the field of public health. She has worked at the Medical Research Council Environmental Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton and with regional and national government.

 She is now Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at the UCL Institute of Child Health, and also an honorary consultant (in public health medicine) in Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust. She is Chair of the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee at the National Institute for Health and Carel Excellence (NICE).