27.01.20
Uni of Liverpool awarded £8m funding for health protection research
The University of Liverpool has been awarded £8m in additional funding to support two Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
These HPRUs specialise respectively in emerging and zoonotic infections and in gastrointestinal infections. Awarding this additional funding is expected to allow the continuation of the first HRPUs, which ran from 2014 to 2020.
The HPRU in emerging and zoonotic infections, led by Professor Tom Solomon, continues a partnership between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health England. The partnership is enhanced by the addition of the University of Oxford.
As part of its research, the HPRU will have three major programmes, building on the work it has carried out over the last six years: one focusing on imported mosquito-borne threats such as Zika and dengue; one addressing tick-borne diseases endemic to the UK such as Lyme; and one tackling high consequence infectious diseases, such as Ebola.
Professor Solomon’s team are currently heavily involved in supporting the UK’s response to the recent coronavirus outbreak, which began in Wuhan in China at the end of December 2019 and is spreading around the globe.
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The other team to be funded, the HPRU specialising in gastrointestinal infections, led by Professor Miren Iturriza-Gomara, continues a partnership between the University of Liverpool and Public Health England, and is enhanced by the addition of the University of Warwick.
The objectives are to reduce the burden of gastrointestinal infections and health inequalities by deploying emerging technologies in data science and genomics to identify the drivers of disease experienced by particular communities and targeting effective interventions, based on societal values.
Professor Louise Kenny, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, said: “I’m delighted that Liverpool has once again received this funding from NIHR to host these important Health Protection Research Units in Infection. It underscores Liverpool’s pre-eminence at the forefront of infectious diseases research in the UK.
“Indeed, Dame Sally Davies, former Chief Medical Officer and our UK antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Special Envoy who visited Liverpool last week to celebrate the foundation of a Chair of AMR Research named in her honour said that Liverpool is leading the way in combating the threat of infectious diseases on the global stage.”
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A total of 14 new HPRUs were announced today by NIHR, as part of a £58m research investment to keep the public safe from current and emerging public health threats. The HPRUs, which are partnerships between top universities and Public Health England, will launch in April and run for five years.
Health Minister Nicola Blackwood said: “The UK’s achievements in public health to date have saved the lives of millions of people. This would have been impossible without world-leading research conducted by some of brightest minds up and down the country.
“The latest round of NIHR’s Health Protection Research Units, which have previously played a pivotal role in responding to major events such as the Novichok and Ebola incidents, will continue protect the health of the public and reduce inequalities – helping us all live healthier lives.”