Health research at the university of Reading has a direct influence on clinical practice, the treatment of disease, and policy. Our five Research Divisions cover issues including the treatment of epilepsy, children's acquisition of language, and the relationship between diet and cognition.

The Thames Valley Clinical Trials Unit (TVCTU) is an exciting new collaboration between the University of Reading, the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

This new CTU has been created to drive a significant step change in clinical research capability within the Thames Valley, raising the profile of health-related research across the region and beyond with patient health and wellbeing at the core of the vision.

To find out more about this multidisciplinary partnership, how you can get involved in clinical research and how you can benefit from the unit please visit the TVCTU website.

Health-related research and teaching at the University of Reading is enhancing wellbeing, preventing disease, improving diagnoses and developing new treatments, as well as informing and improving clinical practice and health governance. 

You can find out more about our key research through the Health Stories photography project.

For information on postgraduate research opportunities within the health theme, please visit our research division pages or the Graduate School's website.

Harvard University Professor Steven Pinker has been awarded the prestigious Albert Wolters Distinguished Fellowship at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading. Professor Steven Pinker is a world-renowned scientist, an experimental psychologist by training and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind and human nature.

For his first lecture as part of the Fellowship, Professor Pinker spoke at the University of Reading’s Albert Wolters Public Lecture on 'The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's guide to Writing in the 21st Century’.

Our research benefits from a range of outstanding facilities that benefit our work in neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic research, chemical analysis, and psychological treatments.

• Cannabinoids for epilepsy. In collaboration with GW Pharmaceuticals, researchers in the Pharmacy research division investigated the cellular mechanisms of cannabinoids on drug-resistant paediatric epilepsies. 
• Professor Lynne Murray, a world-leading child development expert in the Psychopathology & Affective Neuroscience research division, won the 2015 British Psychological Society Text Book Award for “The Psychology of Babies: How Relationships Support Development from Birth to Two”. 
• In a world first, Professor Claire Williams (Perception, Cognition and Nutrition) gave a group of children a series of cognitive tests examining memory and attention before and after consumption of a wild blueberry drink. Compared to the placebo (control) group, those taking the drink had improved word recall, scored higher on a delayed recall test and appeared to have improved concentration.

You can study on one of our free online courses, hosted by Futurelearn, on subjects including cardiovascular health, obesity, and understanding anxiety, depression and CBT.

Additionally, you can make a direct contribution to our research by registering as volunteer with the Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Group.

Professor Adrian Williams

Research Dean, Health

Email: research@reading.ac.uk

Working with your organisation

Your organisation can benefit from our work through the University's innovation front door.

Email: frontdoor@reading.ac.uk