How we work

The BTC team are experts in the design and conduct of high quality pragmatic randomised controlled trials. These type of trials assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of health care interventions in real world settings. These trials are critical to inform decision making for policy makers, patients and clinicians.

About us

We are an academic unit which specialises in:

  • Trial design and methodology
  • Trial conduct throughout the lifecycle
  • Statistical analysis
  • Qualitative research
  • Health economic analysis
  • Trial publication

BTC Senior Management

  • Overall responsibility for planning monitoring and delivering the BTC strategy
  • Lead on financial management, costing funding applications, reporting on expenditure
  • Lead on implementation of the business plan, operational management and continuous improvement

Methodology Team

  • Work collaboratively with the Chief investigator and wider research team to design high quality studies that answer important health questions
  • Provide methodological expertise during the conduct and analysis of the study

Research Systems Team

  • Work collaboratively with the wider research team to develop complex software solutions that satisfy a wide range of user requirements
  • Develop end-to-end systems for high quality data collection that ensure ongoing compliance with information security legislation, national codes of compliance and regulatory guidelines
  • Provide ongoing technical support throughout the study

Qualitative Team

  • Work collaboratively with the wider research team to design studies that explore complex issues, using methods like interviews, focus groups and observations.
  • Analyse the collected data to identify patterns, themes and insights relevant to the research question, for example barriers to recruitment and acceptability of interventions

Health Economics Team

  • Work with the Chief Investigator and wider research team to design studies that will enable evaluation of the cost and health outcomes of different medical treatments and interventions to determine which provide best value for money

BTC unit support

  • Co-ordinate the administration for the Bristol Trials Centre
  • Act as first point of contact for all enquiries
  • Organise and support a range of internal and external events

Statistics Team

  • Work collaboratively with the Chief investigator to design the clinical trial, determining the sample size, randomization methods, and statistical techniques to be used. This ensures the study is scientifically valid and capable of answering the research questions.
  • Provide ongoing support for statistical matters throughout conduct of the trial
  • Perform the final statistical analysis of the trial data, applying appropriate methods to test hypotheses and draw conclusions

Quality Assurance Team

  • Provide support, advice and training to BTC teams and researchers
  • Ensure BTC is compliant with all regulatory guidelines
  • Manage the BTC Quality Management System and undertake internal auditing
  • Work across the wider team to monitor compliance with existing systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as well as improve existing processes in line with regulatory requirements

Operations Team

  • Provide effective day to day management throughout the study lifecycle, ensuring trials are delivered on time and to budget with appropriate resource allocation
  • Facilitate communication between all stakeholders, including sponsors, investigators, regulatory bodies, and participants, ensuring everyone is informed and aligned.
  • Develop and implement strategies for recruiting and retaining trial participants, ensuring that the study meets its enrolment targets
  • Oversee the collection, storage, and management of trial data, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality and contributing to the generation of reliable and valid results