Sign directing visitors to Entrance B of Halton Clinical Research Unit at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire, England, UK.

A white directional sign with red lettering points visitors towards Entrance B of the Halton Clinical Research Unit at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire. The purpose-built NHS research facility is located on the ground floor of the hospital’s Nightingale Building and provides dedicated clinical space, specialist staff and flexible facilities for conducting a range of medical studies and clinical trials. The unit allows members of the public to participate in research involving new medicines, vaccines, treatments and approaches to healthcare under controlled clinical conditions. Work carried out there can include identifying and recruiting suitable volunteers, checking participants’ eligibility, obtaining informed consent, administering investigational medicines or placebo treatments, monitoring health and safety, collecting samples and clinical data, and arranging follow-up appointments or telephone assessments. Halton Clinical Research Unit officially opened on 4 March 2021. It was developed through a research alliance involving the local NHS trust, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the National Institute for Health and Care Research network. Initially conceived as a vaccine-research hub during the Covid-19 pandemic, it subsequently expanded into vaccines and immunisation studies for other illnesses, as well as research covering a broader range of medical conditions. Studies advertised through the unit during 2026 included the Nova 301 trial, investigating an experimental mRNA vaccine intended to protect people aged over 60 against symptoms caused by norovirus, and the ANCHOR study examining a new medicine intended to help protect higher-risk patients from serious complications associated with influenza. The unit hosts both commercially sponsored and non-commercial academic research. Its wider purpose is to give people in Halton and Cheshire greater access to clinical trials close to home, support NHS doctors and research nurses