University collaboration offers ‘real benefits for patients’ in Yorkshire

A new multi-million-pound research centre in Yorkshire will be the centrepiece of a joint university partnership when it when it opens later this year.

The Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research – which will tackle health priorities for the county – is preparing for the first researchers to move in later this year.

Underpinned by a research partnership between the University of Leeds and the University of Bradford, the centre was made possible by a million-pound grant from The Wolfson Foundation.

Prof John Wright, director of the Bradford Institute for Health Research, said researchers from the universities and clinicians from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will speed up “the translation of research into real benefits for patients”.

"Our research will focus on at risk populations, extremes of age, and delivery of high quality and safe care will be fundamental steps in improving health outcomes for both patients in Bradford and the West Yorkshire region"
– Prof Paul Stewart

The new centre will find healthcare solutions to conditions related to childhood, ageing and patient safety.

The high-tech facility is built on the grounds of the Bradford Royal Infirmary and will house the Centre for Ageing and the National Patient Safety Centre, which has overseen the multi-disciplinary ‘Born in Bradford’ project to uncover the cause of the city’s high levels of ill-health.

Prof Paul Stewart, executive dean for the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds, added: “The award for funds to develop this centre is pivotal for the University of Leeds as we seek to extend our outreach and partnership with colleagues in Bradford."

“Our research will focus on at risk populations, extremes of age, and delivery of high quality and safe care will be fundamental steps in improving health outcomes for both patients in Bradford and the West Yorkshire region.”