Dr Foster funds the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College London, and works closely with the Unit on developing new methodologies to assist healthcare improvement. It aims to identify variation in the delivery of healthcare using routinely collected health data, in England and in other health systems around the world.

The Unit is directed by Professor Paul Aylin, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. It is funded through a grant from Dr Foster and also receives funding from NIHR through the Patient Safety Translational Research Centre and other research projects.

The Unit was established in 2002 and resides within the Department of Primary Care and Public Health in the School of Public Health, part of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.