Press Release: Confirming Northern Ireland's place on international public health map: Centre of Excellence launch - 18 June 2008
Posted June 18th, 2008 by arlene.mckay
Its work is aimed to lead to significant improvements in the wellbeing and health of the UK population.
It will focus on an integrated approach to health and social services and will research the economic, social and biological factors which cause chronic diseases as well as looking at the main causes of inequalities in health experiences.
Media opportunities with Professor Frank Kee, Director of Centre of Excellence, Dr Jane Wilde CBE, Chief Executive, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, and other guests including Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
18 Jun 2008
The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) is a key partner in the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Public Health Research, launched at Queen’s University Belfast today.
With a research portfolio that spans molecules to populations, the £5m centre is part of a £20 million investment programme under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC).
Its work is aimed to lead to significant improvements in the wellbeing and health of the UK population.
It will focus on an integrated approach to health and social services and will research the economic, social and biological factors which cause chronic diseases as well as looking at the main causes of inequalities in health experiences.
The Centre was awarded funding following a competitive process and is the first of five in the UK to be launched. Others will open in Cambridge, Cardiff, Newcastle and Nottingham.
IPH Chief Executive, Dr Jane Wilde CBE, said: "The opening of the Centre of Excellence confirms Northern Ireland's place on the international public health map.
“From molecules to people the Centre’s research programme offers the opportunity to further understand and improve the public health of Northern Ireland. By linking public health research to public policy this creative collaboration will enable others to learn from us."
Professor Frank Kee of Queen’s, the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Public Health (NI), said a theme of partnership would underpin everything that the Centre would do.
“The Centre will help Queen’s and our partners to make a tangible difference to the wellbeing of the community. This will be central to our mission.
“It boosts our capacity to research the cause of health inequalities and increases our ability to ensure this research meets the needs of policy-makers, practitioners and the public we serve.
“I look forward to opportunities for improving public health, working with our Assembly, within and across our own institutions and with voluntary and community groups, so that together we can make a real impact. The success of the Queen’s-led bid was a result of partnerships with the Institute of Public Health in Ireland."
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.
Barbary Cook, Chair of the Community Development and Health Network, said: “We are delighted to be involved with the Centre of Excellence and look forward to seeing communities fully connected to the research and practice development of the Centre.”
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 funding group is lead by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Funding 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.
Queen's University Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson said: “Queen’s is happy to work with partners including the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the R&D Office and the Belfast Hospitals Trust.
“The launch of the Centre is an important new dimension in strengthening the extensive research base in medicine, health and life sciences at Queen’s.”
Notes to editors
Media opportunities for this event:
Wednesday 18 June, 9.15am to 9.30am
Photos of Queen's University Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson, Professor Frank Kee, Director, Centre of Excellence for Public Health (NI) and special guests.
Wednesday 18 June, 11.30am to 12.10pm
Media opportunities with Professor Frank Kee, Director of Centre of Excellence, Dr Jane Wilde CBE, Chief Executive, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, and other guests including Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Other interviews times can be arranged.
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) IPH Investigators include: Professor Jane Wilde, Dr Kevin Balanda and Dr Leslie Boydell.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It supports independent, high quality research relevant to business, the public sector and voluntary organisations. The ESRC’s planned total expenditure in 2007/08 is £181 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk
For media enquiries please contact: Andrea Clements, Press and PR Unit,+44 (0)28 90 97 5391, Mob 07980 013 362, a.clements@qub.ac.uk
