The Oral Clinical Research Unit
Within the Centre for Oral, Clinical and Translational Sciences, most of the clinical research involving patients is partnered with the Oral Clinical Research Unit (OCRU). The OCRU acts as a central reference point to both researchers and external collaborators. It supports studies in its state-of-the-art clinical and laboratory services, which together provide world leading clinical studies that are supported from concept to the promotion of best clinical practice.
Through clinics and education, the OCRU has access to 12,000 patients and healthy volunteers per month, primarily from London and the South East. There are approximately 750 undergraduate students and 150 postgraduate and specialist trainees on site.
The OCRU collaborates with industry and carries out many clinical studies and trials. These range from industry sponsored studies investigating how oral health products work, to understanding basic disease. Additionally, the OCRU facilitates several portfolio registered government/charity funded studies (such as NIHR), including CTIMP - drug and device trials - phase II-IV studies. There are currently several studies recruiting into multi-center national and international studies.
The OCRU collaborates with clinical and non-clinical scientists using expertise and the latest technologies to design and execute high quality clinical and translational studies.
The unit comprises of an academic director as well as research managers/administrators, research dentists and nurses and methodologists and statisticians.