Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health

Rural and coastal health in a changing world

The Lincoln Institute for Rural and Coastal Health (LIRCH) is the UK's first integrated and multidisciplinary research institute solely dedicated to understanding, highlighting, and ultimately reducing the profound place-based health inequalities that affect rural, remote, and coastal communities. Its establishment is a significant national development, backed by a £10.9 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Research England E3 grant. This funding highlights LIRCH's national recognition and proven capacity for world-class, impactful research focused on improving health outcomes for populations facing health disparities.

Working with communities

LIRCH is deeply committed to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), fostering established networks for meaningfully engaging diverse rural and coastal communities, to ensure interventions are co-designed, culturally acceptable, and genuinely responsive to local needs. LIRCH’s commitment extends to policy influence and knowledge exchange, ensuring that context-specific knowledge translates into actionable healthcare solutions that genuinely improve the health and wellbeing of rural, remote, and coastal populations. 

Located in Lincolnshire, a large county characterized by a predominantly rural population and over 50 miles of coastline, LIRCH benefits from an invaluable real-world setting to study and address these complex health challenges. 

Wide-ranging expertise 

LIRCH operates with an inherently interdisciplinary approach, bringing together a diverse team of specialists from various fields to tackle complex health challenges. Research focuses on critical areas such as oral health, cancer care, infectious disease epidemiology, mental health, and sustainable remote healthcare delivery solutions.  

If you'd like to find out more, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at LIRCH@lincoln.ac.uk.