Centre for Health Research and Education

What Centre for Health Research and Education does

Centre for Health Research and Education (CHRE) is an independent, privately held healthcare company headquartered at the University of Southampton Science Park in Chilworth, Hampshire, United Kingdom, with a delivery team in India. The company describes itself as bridging the policy and practice gap in public health, with its current strategic focus narrowed to two verticals: reducing harms from tobacco and childhood obesity prevention, framed within a broader global cancer prevention mandate.

CHRE's portfolio is organised around research programmes, educational resources, and innovation collaborations rather than a unified software product. Its flagship initiative is the Smoke-Free UK Project, a research and dissemination programme on barriers to quitting among the UK's remaining smokers, partially funded by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc. (FSFW). Complementary outputs include downloadable clinician and self-help resources (e.g., the Quit During Covid-19 infographic), survey-based research reports (e.g., Reclaiming Stolen Years, focused on tobacco harms among people with mental health conditions), peer-reviewed commentaries on nicotine pouches, and public health campaigns such as the 2022 #BreakTheBias campaign targeting women tobacco users in India. On the technology side, CHRE is collaborating with India's health technology partners to develop AI-based computer vision tools for early oral cancer screening from oral cavity imagery, applied within tobacco-related cancer prevention.

The business model is professional-services and grant-funded: CHRE generates revenue primarily through restricted and unrestricted philanthropic grants (e.g., from FSFW) and project-based research, consulting, and program delivery engagements with global health foundations, NGOs, and public health bodies. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagements appear quote-based and negotiated per project. Go-to-market is relationship-led, targeting institutional buyers (foundations, governments, research partners) rather than consumers, with cross-border delivery spanning the UK and India.

Name

Centre for Health Research and Education

Legal name

Centre for Health Research and Education

Website

https://chre-uk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

CHRE is an independent UK-headquartered healthcare company (with an India delivery team) that runs grant-funded research, consulting, and program delivery in global cancer prevention, focusing on tobacco harm reduction, childhood obesity, and AI-enabled oral cancer screening.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Research and Consulting Services

NAICS

Administration of Public Health Programs (92312), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGACAL

Public Health & Health Equity Organizations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Health & Medical Nonprofits

SECONDARYHLAJAMAE

Regulatory Compliance, Licensing & Enforcement (Public Health)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Policy & Administration

SECONDARYHLAJALAB

Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Funding, Grants & Program Administration

Keywords

• Public health research
• Tobacco harm reduction
• Cancer prevention programs
• Behavioral health interventions
• Health policy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chilworth

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Foundation grants and project funding: Receives restricted and unrestricted grants from philanthropic foundations to deliver defined research and public health programs (e.g., Smoke-Free UK Project funded by Foundation for a Smoke-Free World). Grant cycles drive project-based engagement rather than recurring product revenue.
2. Research and consulting services: Provides research, policy advisory, and consulting services to global health organizations, governments, and other institutions, with engagements scoped per project.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CHRE is an independent healthcare solutions company that designs, researches, and implements practical and scalable public health interventions focused on global cancer prevention, with current emphasis on tobacco harm reduction and childhood obesity. It delivers this through research programmes (e.g., The Smoke-Free UK Project), policy advisory and consulting services to foundations, NGOs, and governments, downloadable educational resources, and innovation collaborations such as AI-based oral cancer screening tools developed with India's health technology partners.

Product overview

CHRE (Centre for Health Research and Education) is an independent healthcare solutions company organised as a portfolio of research programmes, educational resources, and innovation collaborations rather than a single unified software product. Its flagship offering is The Smoke-Free UK Project, a research-driven programme on barriers to quitting among remaining UK smokers, complemented by downloadable educational resources such as the Quit During Covid-19 clinician infographic and self-help tool. Research outputs include the Reclaiming Stolen Years survey report on tobacco harms among people with mental health conditions, while its innovation track includes AI-based early oral cancer screening tools developed with India's health technology partners and thought leadership on innovative nicotine replacement products. Public-facing campaigns such as the Tobacco Use and Indian Women #BreakTheBias initiative extend CHRE's preventive medicine and policy-practice bridging work across tobacco and childhood obesity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Smoke-Free UK Project Flagship research and dissemination programme investigating barriers and drivers to quitting among the UK's remaining smokers, combining qualitative and quantitative research with a public resources portal; partially funded by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.
• Quit During Covid-19 (Clinician Infographic & Self-Help Tool) A paired set of clinician aide-memoires and patient self-help materials designed to support smoking cessation and prevent relapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a 'Help your patients Quit During Covid' infographic for healthcare professionals.
• Reclaiming Stolen Years (Survey Report) A 2021 CHRE survey report on barriers and opportunities to reduce tobacco-related harms among the two million people in the UK with mental health conditions who smoke, intended to inform targeted interventions.
• AI-Based Early Oral Cancer Screening Tools Innovative AI-driven screening tools being developed with India's health technology partners to enable early detection of tobacco-related oral cancers as part of CHRE's global cancer prevention portfolio.
• Tobacco Use and Indian Women (#BreakTheBias Campaign) CHRE's India team's International Women's Day 2022 campaign providing downloadable posters aimed at women tobacco users (smokers and oral tobacco users) to demand attention and support for tobacco cessation from their healthcare professionals.
• Innovative Nicotine Replacement Products Commentary Commentary co-authored by CHRE's Dr Sudhanshu Patwardhan in the Nicotine and Tobacco Research Journal on what's needed to maximise the tobacco harm reduction potential of nicotine pouches, while ensuring that the unintended consequences of the products are minimised.
• COVID-19 Smoking Impact Research Research article in BJGP Open on the risk of increase in smoking rates among England's 6 million smokers and relapse among England's 11 million ex-smokers during COVID-19.

Quantifiable outcome

• Frameworks and programs aimed at reducing tobacco-related mortality in contexts where tobacco kills 7+ million people globally each year.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• India health technology partners (AI oral cancer screening)coreTechnology or IntegrationCHRE works with India's health technology partners to deploy AI-based oral cancer screening, enabling CHRE's research and prevention programs to be operationalized at population scale in India.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Skin Analytics: UK-based health AI company deploying computer-vision screening (dermatology) into clinical pathways; comparable emerging AI-screening model to CHRE's AI oral cancer screening collaboration in India.

Broad incumbents

• PATH: Large global health nonprofit that designs, funds, and delivers public health programs including cancer prevention and tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries — overlapping with CHRE's India delivery and grant-funded model.
• RTI International: Independent nonprofit research institute delivering global health, tobacco, and behavioral research for governments and foundations; comparable to CHRE in its grant-driven, applied public health research model.
• Cancer Research UK: Major UK cancer-focused charity that funds prevention research and policy work, including tobacco control; a broader incumbent that overlaps with CHRE's cancer-prevention research positioning in the UK.

Direct peers

• International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union): Global scientific organization running tobacco control, lung health, and NCD programs with policy-practice translation focus; overlaps with CHRE's tobacco harm reduction and behaviorally informed intervention approach.
• ideas42: Applied behavioral economics nonprofit that designs and scales behavioral interventions for health and social impact; directly comparable to CHRE's stated differentiator of applying behavioral economics to cancer prevention and tobacco/obesity interventions.
• Vital Strategies: Global health nonprofit that designs and implements large-scale tobacco control, cancer prevention, and obesity programs for governments and foundations, mirroring CHRE's model of grant-funded population-level public health delivery.
• Tobacco Control Research Group (University of Bath): Academic research group producing influential tobacco industry and harm reduction research and policy commentary, comparable to CHRE's tobacco-focused research and publication output.
• Action on Smoking and Health (ASH UK): UK-based public health charity focused on tobacco harm reduction, policy advocacy, and research dissemination — directly comparable to CHRE's Smoke-Free UK mission and UK policy-practice translation focus.

Others

• Foundation for a Smoke-Free World: CHRE's principal disclosed funder for the Smoke-Free UK Project; a philanthropy that funds tobacco harm reduction research and cessation programs globally, making it the most directly comparable ecosystem counterparty.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CHRE_UK

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre for Health Research and Education