Our research priorities
Improving urology health and transforming lives through research is the focus of our latest research strategy.
Our work to date
Thanks to all our supporters, The Urology Foundation has invested £10.8 million since 1995 into urology research and training that has significantly advanced our understanding of urological cancers and conditions and how to treat them.
1 in 2 of us will experience a urology condition in our lifetime. Being diagnosed or living with a urology condition impacts on every aspect of daily life, from work and studies, socialising and relationships, to emotional well-being and confidence.
As the UK’s only charity representing all urology diseases including prostate, bladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancers and non-malignant conditions such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction, urinary tract infections and kidney stones, our vision is for everyone to benefit from excellent urology health. We have made it our mission to revolutionise the quality and delivery of urology care for the benefit of those living with a urology condition and their families.
We do this in three ways:
- We are investing in cutting edge research and funding more research into urology conditions and cancers.
- We are advancing urology skills through providing and supporting education and training programmes for all urology healthcare professionals.
- We are achieving impact through raising awareness, improving understanding, providing patient information and driving change through policy and campaigns.
We are proud of our achievements and impact to date. Our investment in research has led to significant breakthroughs in our understanding of urological diseases and improvements in the delivery of care.
But we still have so much more to do.
Our Research Strategy 2024-2028 is our roadmap for building on our successes and shaping the future direction of urology research.
Download a copy of our ‘Research Strategy 2024-2028’ HERE.
For a visual representation of our progress against our research strategy, click HERE.
We are proud of our achievements and impact to date. Our Research Strategy 2024-2028 is our roadmap for building on our successes and shaping the future direction of urology research.
Improving urology health: transforming lives through research - Research Strategy 2024-2028
Improving urology health and transforming lives through research is the focus of our new research strategy 2024-2028. Our strategy sets out how we will achieve this and our aims and ambitions in urology research. We can only achieve these aims with the support of the wider urology community, patients and those living with a urology condition, donors and supporters, and we look forward to working collaboratively to strive for excellent urology health for all.
Our strategy is built on four pillars, each with clearly defined objectives.
1. Lead a transformation in urology health
- Invest in research to improve our understanding of urological cancers and conditions
- Drive innovation and accelerate progress
- Build and strengthen research capacity
- Campaign for further investment in research
2. Understand the factors driving urological cancers and conditions
Understand the risk factors to help develop better approaches for diagnosing, treating and managing disease, or even finding preventative measures
3. Build and invest in our research community
- Enable our urology community to be the best they can be
- Share outcomes and facilitate dissemination of information
4. Improve outcomes for patients and their families
- Put patients at the heart of our research
- Improve the detection, diagnosis, treatment and management of urological cancers and conditions
- Seek research outcomes that can help to drive change in health behaviours, beliefs and practices
- Drive positive change for all
Developing our research strategy
In creating our research strategy, we wanted to identify and address health challenges, build capacity in the research community, ensure we are patient-centric and support research that is innovative, impactful and contributes to real-world differences. We believe that The Urology Foundation should play a key role in raising the profile of urological research both in the UK and internationally and ensuring it can prosper.
We developed a questionnaire to help us identify our key research priorities, and consulted with researchers, clinicians, nurses, allied health professionals, patients and their families, decision makers and influencers and those with an interest in urology.
Together we identified key areas – from specific disease areas to health inequalities, prevention measures and treatments, to training and improving care pathways.
What matters to our urology community
Our anonymous surveys of urology healthcare professionals, patients and their families and wider stakeholders, also asked them to complete the following sentence: “In terms of overall research priorities, in 5 years’ time I would like to see The Urology Foundation ……” These are some of their responses…
“Make the patient journey better.”
“Continue raising awareness and spearheading education and promotion of quality of life for the people affected.”
“Concentrate on improving patient outcomes and quality of life in the next 5 years.”
“Leading the field in terms of a breakthrough for people who experience chronic UTI.”
“Raise higher awareness of Bladder Cancer symptoms.”
“Continue to support the underfunded areas of research as these conditions can have a huge impact on long-term health and quality of life.”
“Champion new technology to benefit patients.”
