A partnership led by Professor Frank Kee of Queen’s University has been successful in a national competition to establish five such Centres across the UK.
The Minister said: “I am delighted that a partnership led by Professor Frank Kee has been successful in this highly competitive national competition.
“This important new Centre will be vital for bringing together world class experts from a diverse range of backgrounds to ensure that essential research is carried out to make a significant impact on the health of people in Northern Ireland.
“There have been big improvements in health and life expectancy over the last decades. However Northern Ireland still faces challenges to improve public health and ensure that, as a society, we benefit from longer and healthier lives.
“The initiative is a good illustration of the willingness of leading experts from a range of disciplines in partnership with policy makers, the Health and Social Care family and wider stakeholders, to work together to tackle complex issues which have the potential to improve the health of our population.”
The success of the Queen’s-led bid has been as a result of partnerships with the Institute of Public Health for Ireland, led by Dr Jane Wilde CBE and the engagement of an important group of key stakeholders, including the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, the Community Health and Development Network, the Research and Development Office, the Health Promotion Agency, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Discovery Centre, W5, who will help disseminate the research to the public.
The Centre will receive up to £5million over five years to support high quality research by experts working in partnership with practitioners, policy makers and wider stakeholders to tackle public health issues.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Centre of Excellence will research complex public health issues such as obesity, smoking and health inequalities.
2. The other four successful Centres are based in Newcastle, Cardiff, Cambridge and Nottingham.
3. Each Centre will receive up to £5million over five years to create new academic posts and develop strong training and career development programmes. The funding will also provide the technical staff, IT systems, equipment, administrative support, research facilities and other infrastructure needed to support high quality research.
4. The group of funders who supported the initiative came together under the umbrella of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), and included the Research & Development Office for Northern Ireland to develop this coordinated approach to strengthen public health research in the UK. The funders have provided the £20million investment to establish the Centres of Excellence.
The partnership of funders was led by the Economic and Social Research Council and includes the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Health and Social Care Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Wales Office of Research and Development - Welsh Assembly Government, and the Wellcome Trust.
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