More information is available by visiting the Peninsula NIHR Clinical Research Facility site.
Official launch of Peninsula NIHR Clinical Research Facility
An organisation that has been formed to facilitate clinical and translational (from “bench to bedside”) research for the benefit of patients in the Westcountry and beyond is to be officially launched on 13th January 2009.
The official launch will take place at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter and will be officiated by Professor Dame Sally Davies, Director General of Research and Development for the Department of Health and NHS.
Peninsula CRF has been developed to provide support in the form of facilities and staff to medical researchers in the region. It employs around 25 core members of staff who support an extensive range of research projects and provides facilities including a vascular medicine research suite, a clinical research suite, molecular biology facilities, an MRI research centre and two treatment rooms adapted for paediatric research. It also covers methodology, statistics, governance and administrative support.
The organisation is currently involved with 28 different studies at various stages of development, incorporating research into vascular health, childhood asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, lupus and the use of MRI to assess brain glucose.
Key to the work of the Peninsula CRF is its activity regarding patient and public involvement. It works to involve patients and healthy volunteers to take part in research and the research process, and it canvasses opinions from patient groups and public representatives.
Professor Sir John Tooke, Dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, commented: “The role of the Peninsula CRF is vital to the development of meaningful clinical research in the South West. By providing
clinicians and academics with the facilities to carry out their research, and staff to facilitate research, the organisation plays a very real part in putting clinical research in the South West on the national and international stage.”
He added: “We are delighted that Professor Sally Davies has agreed to officiate at the launch of the Peninsula CRF. Her continuing support for what we do stands testament to the growing reputation of clinical research in the Westcountry.”
The launch comes hard on the heels of the Peninsula Medical School’s excellent showing in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) last month. The RAE is the national assessment of research carried out by all universities and the results achieved by the Peninsula Medical School showed that it had already reached its 2015 target for nationally and internationally recognised research.
Date: 12 January 2009
