BAPEN Clinical Research Group

A national network and platform for clinical research in nutritional care across the UK

About the CRG

The BAPEN Clinical Research Group (CRG) was established in 2026 to co-ordinate, organise, support and deliver multicentre studies that answer clinically important questions in clinical nutrition, and to build the national research capability required to do so.

The CRG is a multidisciplinary group with representation from across the BAPEN Core Groups. Its purpose is to shape national research strategy in nutritional care, to provide the infrastructure and network that multicentre research requires, and to help teams across the UK design and deliver it.

Open to all

The CRG is inclusive and collaborative by design. Membership is open to anyone working in, or contributing to, clinical nutrition practice or research in the UK – doctors, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and other allied health professionals, academics, methodologists and statisticians, trainees, and patient and carer representatives. BAPEN membership is a requirement of CRG membership.

We particularly encourage participation from smaller hospitals and teams, and from centres whose contribution to national datasets has historically been limited – both to build a more accurate picture of real-world practice and to foster research where it has been difficult to deliver. We work closely with the trainee sections of the BAPEN Core Groups to encourage participation in research and to strengthen interest in clinical nutrition as a career.

Aims and objectives

• Establish and maintain a four-nation, multidisciplinary network of research-ready centres that teams can use to deliver multicentre studies.
• Provide a transparent national process for identifying, prioritising and developing research questions submitted by members, Core Groups, patient representatives and external collaborators.
• Develop standard definitions, core datasets and core outcome sets, so that practice and outcomes can be compared meaningfully between sites and between studies.
• Conduct and facilitate service evaluation and audit alongside research projects, each classified and governed according to current HRA guidance.
• Embed meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement throughout, from priority-setting to dissemination.
• Create a pipeline from pilot and feasibility work towards larger funded studies, and translate findings into guidance, service improvement and national policy.

Our committee