FROM THE ARCHIVE: Inside the York Trials Unit with Catherine Hewitt & Jude Watson

2026 marks 30 years of the York Trials Unit! So to celebrate we are revisiting a special episode from earlier this year.

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to run a clinical trial? This week in The Research Room, we kick off 2026 by going behind the scenes of the York Trials Unit (YTU). We are joined by Director Professor Catherine Hewitt and Deputy Director Dr. Jude Watson to discover exactly what a trials unit does and why trials are so important.

From the history of the unit to the importance of the "Gold Standard" Randomised Control Trial, Catherine and Jude explain how their multidisciplinary team improves patient care one study at a time. Whether you are an aspiring researcher or simply interested in how research improves patient care, this episode reveals the teamwork behind the science.

Resources from this episode:

Find out more about York Trials Unit here: https://www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/research/trials/ 

Music by Matthew Bailey