Research Strengths within the IAHS
Methodology
Aberdeen has historically been strong in research methodology and within this area, the principal research strengths are in health services research and health economics by virtue of hosting Chief Scientist's Office (CSO) funded units in these areas. The Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) and the Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) are conducting research of the highest standards of excellence focussing on two main areas: evaluation of healthcare interventions and delivery and organisation of care. Data from the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 ranked them in joint first position in this field. Within both units there has been successful collaborations with applied clinical areas of research. The basis of this collaboration has been in conducting systematic reviews around aspects of management. These reviews highlight areas where there is a lack of evidence and the research groups have subsequently undertaken trials which can help to fill such evidence gaps.
A further core discipline of strength in Aberdeen is Health Psychology. This group also has formed strong and successful links with the Health Services Research Unit with a research focus particularly around behaviour change. This is of considerable relevance to the type of trials we are conducting within the Institute.
Clinical Disciplines
The Health Services Research Unit has strong collaborations locally with urology and reproductive health.
Urology is focussed on cancers, benign prostatic disease and pelvic floor dysfunction each using the methodology of systematic review, economic evaluation, trials and high-quality observational studies.
Reproductive Health has research programmes in reproductive medicine, maternal and peri-natal medicine, pre-cancer and benign gynaecology with each focussed on evaluation of treatments leading to randomised controlled trials and evaluation of service delivery. These research programmes also benefit from hosrting the Aberdeen maternity neonatal databank. From 1951 to present day, this unique database holds information on all the obstetric and fertility-related events occurring to women from a defined population within Aberdeen and the surrounding areas.
A further area of strength is musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to the basic science and clinical expertise within the Bone and musculoskeletal group of the Division of Applied Medicine, this provides the clinical focus of the Epidemiology group which undertakes studies of onset and outcome of rheumatic disorders and randomised controlled trials particularly focussed in pain. It has established a broad collaboration in which to do so, through the Aberdeen Pain Research Collaboration. Pain, and more generally common symptom research, is also one of the areas of strength within Primary care.