The Clinical and Research Informatics Unit (CRIU) consists of a team of clinicians, researchers, software developers, business intelligence analysts and data scientists working together to develop a robust environment and infrastructure for the analysis of clinical data. The aim is to:
- facilitate clinical decision making supported by electronic health records (EHR)
- optimise patient care and operational performance through data-driven innovation
- foster excellence in research at UCLH, one of the world’s leading teaching hospitals.
In the following video you will learn more about our aims and objectives:
Key developments
- Data Explorer (DEX), a portal created to enable UCLH staff to formally and easily request access to patient data for purposes such as research and business intelligence
- Find a Study, a clinical trials discovery platform enabling UCLH clinicians and patients to find all trials which a patient is eligible for
- CogStack, a software running as a service to facilitate free-text processing of documents (e.g. GP and referral letters, medical reports), information extraction and information retrieval using different natural language processing tools
- EMAP, a “mirror” of UCLH data (including historical and real-time data from Epic – Electronic Health Record System) that allows data to be curated for research purposes
- NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC), a collaboration between different BRCs, bringing together clinical, scientific and informatics expertise at each trust to improve the quality and availability of patient information
- COVID-19 response activities: our research and platforms are also supporting national and international COVID-19-related initiatives.
Together, all the technologies developed at CRIU will form a launch pad for a range of research activities, for service improvement, for audit purposes and trials-related activities with data from the underlying electronic health records being made available in real time.
Contact details
BRC UCLH/UCL Clinical and Research Informatics Unit
UCL Institute of Health Informatics
222 Euston Road
London NW1 2DA
Email: uclh.criu@nhs.net
Leadership Team

