NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility, together with city and regional leaders, recently welcomed HM Treasury to showcase how Leeds’ £40m NIHR infrastructure is accelerating national ambitions to tackle health inequalities and position the UK as a global leader in life sciences
The high-profile visit from the Treasury’s Growth and Resilience team began at the University of Leeds’ innovation hub, Nexus, with a roundtable highlighting how the city’s world-leading research and innovation are driving real-world impact.
Director of the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Philip Conaghan, chaired the discussion, where a range of experts from academia and industry, including NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility outlined how Leeds is driving progress through its pioneering, partnership-powered NIHR@Leeds infrastructure.
NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility (CRF) had the opportunity to spotlight how it works with industry, research councils and charities to run more than 100 early-stage clinical trials each year, pioneering new treatments from the five NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility sites across Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. It highlighted how clinical research has found that personalising how the pacemaker works improves patient outcomes and how it is at the forefront of novel cellular and virus cancer therapies which is helping to shape the future of cancer treatment.
As part of the visit, Leeds and the region demonstrated how an outstanding track record transforming care repeatedly attracts national and international acclaim, and how it continues to raise the bar through unparalleled collaboration.
The event concluded with a visit to St James’s University Hospital, with a tour of the state-of-the-art NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility, just one of the five CRF sites at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. As part of this, delegates met with Executive and Senior Leaders to hear about the strength and scale of world-class clinical research at the Trust – one of the UK’s largest teaching hospitals, delivering impact and patient benefits across the region and beyond.
Professor Chris Twelves, Director of NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility said: “Together with our partners across NIHR, we were delighted to welcome HM Treasury’s Health and Growth Team to demonstrate the strength of collaborative partnership working and the pioneering work that is delivering impact to our patients, the future of healthcare as well as bringing wider economic value.
“We are proud of our strong track record in delivering pioneering clinical research and this was an ideal opportunity for our visitors to hear from our colleagues who are passionate about transforming the healthcare of the future and delivering impact.”
Read more about the wide-ranging visit via Health Innovation Leeds.