The development of CATCH has been led by the Clinical Academic Training Forum (CATF). CATF was established in 2018 to bring together stakeholders interested in the training of clinical academics to provide strategic coordination of clinical academic training pathways in the UK. The membership of CATF includes public and charitable funders, representatives from the four nations and trainees. The forum has recently expanded beyond its initial focus on academic medical and dental careers, and now includes representation from other healthcare professions.
The current Chair of CATF is Professor Waljit Dhillo, Dean of the NIHR Academy. Waljit took over the post in June 2023 from Professor Paul Stewart.