The Link Group The School of Medicine at Keele University has a specialist team of people in a unit called the Impact Accelerator Unit ( IAU ). The IAU aims to help NHS healthcare professionals use the results from research to treat patients in a way which suits them , their patients and their departments . It does this by working together with members of the public , NHS networks and communities , improving treatment and quality of life for patients in the UK and beyond . This means that we can all benefit from the latest treatments more quickly , and valuable knowledge produced by research is not wasted . The IAU has a dedicated patient and public group called the Link Group , which was established in 2016 to work alongside academics and healthcare professionals to implement research findings into healthcare . The Link Group consists of members of the public who bring a diverse range of personal , professional and volunteering experience and knowledge and who are all connected in some way to charity , volunteer or NHS groups . Link Group members work with the IAU to co-produce patient facing information , co-design websites , animations and apps for patients to use , share new research knowledge within their own networks and are involved in applying for funding for implementation activities .