Building expertise in diagnostic evidence generation at Oxford

Hear from Carlos, our Project Research Coordinator, about his recent experience at a workshop in Oxford.

I attended the Diagnostic Evidence Workshops in Oxford hosted by NIHR HRC in Community Healthcare, NIHR HRC in Sustainable Innovation, and NIHR Research Support Service from 5-7 October 2026 to strengthen my understanding of diagnostic evidence generation and evaluation for health technology research projects.

Over three days, I joined researchers, methodologists and health economists worldwide to explore the key components of developing robust evidence for diagnostic technologies. The programme provided practical insights into how diagnostic tests are evaluated, implemented and adopted within healthcare systems.

The workshop began with an introduction to the evaluation of diagnostics, covering the role of diagnostic tests within clinical pathways, evidence searching, study design, behavioural science approaches and health economics. Sessions also included advice on developing competitive funding applications and understanding how diagnostic evidence supports research and innovation.

The second day focused on statistical methods for diagnostic accuracy studies. Topics included binary and ordinal data analysis, study design considerations and common sources of bias, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and approaches to assessing clinical utility and implementation. Practical exercises helped demonstrate how these methods can be applied when designing and evaluating diagnostic research studies.

The final day explored cost-effectiveness analysis and the evidence needed to support the adoption of diagnostic technologies. Discussions covered decision modelling, generating economic evidence, evaluating value within healthcare systems, and understanding the evidence requirements used by organisations such as NICE when considering implementation into routine clinical practice.

The workshop provided valuable perspective on the full diagnostic evidence pathway, from early-stage study design through to demonstrating clinical value and supporting adoption. The knowledge gained will help inform ongoing and future HRC-DDR projects where diagnostic technologies form part of the research and innovation landscape.

“The workshops provided an excellent overview of the evidence required to evaluate diagnostic technologies successfully. It was particularly valuable to understand how statistical, clinical and economic evidence come together to support implementation and adoption in healthcare. The learning will help strengthen the way we approach evidence generation across a range of research projects within HRC-DDR.”

Carlos Lee, Project Research Coordinator

During the visit, I also had the opportunity to meet Philip Turner, the workshop programme coordinator, and discuss the importance of building methodological expertise to support the development and evaluation of innovative health technologies.

We look forward to applying these insights across future HRC-DDR projects and continuing to strengthen our approach to evidence generation for technologies that have the potential to improve patient care and healthcare delivery.