A new Northern Ireland Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research in partnership with Queen's University and The Institute of Public Health in Ireland will lead to significant improvements in the wellbeing and health of the UK population. The Centre is one of only five throughout the UK announced today as part of a £20 million investment programme under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC).
The multipartnership Centre will be awarded £5 million over five years in order to strengthen research into key public health issues such as obesity, diet and smoking, with a focus on nutrition and physical activity.
The success of the bid has been as a result of partnerships with the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, led by Dr Jane Wilde CBE:
“We are delighted with today’s news and looking forward to helping build a new type of Centre linking public health research more strongly with policy. Our research programme extends from molecules to populations. It is a creative collaboration between many partners from research, policy and practice who have come together because of our determination to make a difference to health in Northern Ireland and internationally.”
Professor Ken Brown, Acting Vice-Chancellor said: “The Northern Ireland Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research at Queen’s has the potential to make a real difference to the health of people throughout the United Kingdom.
“On our doorstep in Northern Ireland we have life expectancy rates which are amongst the worst in the UK. This funding will enable Queen’s researchers and their partners to use our stable population here, and our distinctive approach to integrated health and social services, to change the face of public health.
“The new Centre will also research the social and biological determinants of chronic disease, and the main causes of inequalities in health experiences, in order to benefit the wider UK population.”
The Centre was awarded funding following a competitive process. Other successful Centres announced today are based in Cambridge, Cardiff, Newcastle and Nottingham.
Professor Frank Kee of Queen’s, who led the University’s submission said: “The Northern Ireland Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research will help Queen’s and its partners to make a tangible difference to the wellbeing of the community and this will be central to its mission.
“The Centre will boost our capacity to not only research the causes of health inequalities in the population, but also increase our ability to ensure that this research meets the needs of policy-makers, practitioners and the public whom we serve.”
Also announced today was a new MSc in Public Health. Beginning in September 2008, the course has been devised to meet the strategic need to build capacity in a multi-disciplinary Public Health workforce. The course will introduce students to both the science and art of public health practice. Further information on the course can be found by telephoning Dr William Moore at 02890 622746.
Essential to the success of the bid was the support of an important group of key stakeholders, including the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, the Community Development and Health Network, the DHSSPSNI Research and Development Office, the Health Promotion Agency NI, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Discovery Centre W5, who will help disseminate the research to the public.
A partnership of funders, under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) provided the £20 million investment needed to establish the five Centres of Excellence. The partners are the Health and Social Care Research and Development Office for Northern Ireland, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Wales Office of Research and Development – Welsh Assembly Government and the Wellcome Trust.
Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council, who leads the funding group, said: “There have been big improvements in health and life expectancy over the last century. For example, the reduction in the number of adults who smoke can be attributed to research carried out in the 1950s which established the link between smoking and lung cancer, as well as research which led to the inclusion of health warnings on cigarette packets.
“The UK still faces challenges to improve public health and ensure that as a society we benefit from longer and healthier lives. These Centres underline the commitment from the funders to invest in high quality research with the aim of improving the health of the nation.”
Further details about the Centres of Excellence can be found on the ESRC website at: www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/publichealthcentresofexcellence
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Media enquiries to Lisa Mitchell, Press and PR Unit, Queen’s University on +44 (0)28 9097 5384, m+44 (0)781 44 22 572 or email lisa.mitchell@qub.ac.uk.
Notes to Editors
- Professor Frank Kee is Professor of Public Health Medicine, Director of the Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences at Queen’s and a member of the University’s Epidemiology Research Group.
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The successful Centres of Excellence are:
- UKCRC Northern Ireland Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research - Queens University Belfast in partnership with the Institute of Public Health in Ireland.
- North East Centre of Excellence for Translational Research in Public Health, Newcastle University – directed by Professor M White.
- Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement, Cardiff University (in collaboration with Swansea University and Bristol University) - directed by Professor L Moore
- Diet and Physical Activity Public Health Research Centre, Cambridge, University of Cambridge – directed by Professor N Wareham
- The UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, University of Nottingham – directed by Professor J Britten.
- Queen’s University Investigators include: Professor Jenny Ames, Dr Marie Cantwell, Dr Margaret Cupples, Dr Michael Donnelly, Professor Alun Evans, Professor George Hutchinson, Professor Frank Kee, Dr Adele Marshall, Dr James McCann, Professor Peter McCarron, Professor Michael Moore, Professor Liam Murray, Professor Ciaran O’Neill, Dr Dermot O’Reilly, Professor Lindsay Prior, Dr John Yarnell and Professor Ian Young.
- IPH Investigators include: Professor Jane Wilde, Dr Kevin Balanda and Dr Leslie Boydell
- The initiative is part of a broad area of work to coordinate funding for health research in the UK by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC). The UKCRC, established in 2004, is a partnership of organisations working together to establish the UK as a world leader in clinical research by harnessing the research potential of the National Health Service. The Partners include the key stakeholders that shape the health research environment, including research funders, the NHS, government, industry, academia, regulators, charities and patients.
- The UKCRC Partners are working together to address a broad agenda of issues affecting clinical research through several interconnected areas of activity. These are: developing the infrastructure to underpin clinical research in the NHS, building up an expert workforce to support clinical research, streamlining the regulatory and governance environment, developing incentives for research in the NHS and coordinating research funding. The Partners have already implemented many of the changes needed to transform the clinical research environment in the UK.
