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Yorkshire Forward
Yorkshire and Humber is home to one of the largest and most innovative medical device sectors in the UK. More than 400 of the region?s companies work to deliver groundbreaking technology into the hands of medical and care practitioners across the globe.
The region makes a significant contribution to the UK?s output in the medical sector, but also some 14 per cent of its workforce. Supported by the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, the sector also plays an increasingly important role in attracting investment to the region through commercial and research activity.
But vital to the sector?s continued development will be the ongoing improvements to the way that collaborative links are developed and the way that knowledge is shared and exploited throughout the sector ? between industry, universities, hospitals and private and public sector research establishments.
Ensuring these improvements continue is at the heart of Yorkshire Forward?s strategy for the sector. The region also boasts 56 large hospitals, one of which is the largest teaching hospital in Europe: The Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, which is allied to the University of Leeds Medical School.
The nine universities in the region offer world-renowned expertise in areas such as biotechnology, health informatics, cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, immunology, biomaterials and tissue engineering. The excellence in these areas is clearly evidenced by the profile and support for some of the region?s most recent initiatives in this area.
Key examples of these include:
- The Yorkshire Centre for Health Informatics at the University of Leeds is a leading centre for health informatics expertise, collaboration and research. Opened in 2004, its mission is to improve healthcare practice through research and evidence-based education and training and it works with university staff, companies and NHS staff to achieve those aims.
- The Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation at the University of Bradford was launched in 2004. With financial support from Yorkshire Forward, the institute addresses the need to accelerate the drug development process by applying the latest research methodologies in pharmaceutical materials science and computational pharmaceutics and works with academic and commercial partners alike. Incubation facilities, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward, are encouraging companies to spin out from university?s own innovations while attracting companies to access the expertise available.
- The Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Centre of Industrial Collaboration (BITE CIC), also supported by Yorkshire Forward, is a unique research and development centre that combines the internationally recognised multidisciplinary expertise and facilities of the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. BITE CIC is an industryfacing organisation that supports the development of new clinical treatments and products based on biomaterials and tissue engineering.
- The Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics (LIGHT) is the first biomedical facility in the University of Leeds. Its research mission is to develop internationally competitive translational research in complex diseases. The impressive LIGHT laboratories are a £10m SRIF funded initiative, which sit at the core of the Institute. Opened in October 2004, the building contains Molecular Epidemiology, Molecular Vascular Medicine and groups from Biological Sciences.
- St James?s University Hospital in Leeds is to be home to Europe?s largest cancer treatment centre, expected to accept its first patients in 2008. The hospital already has strong links to Cancer Research UK, which has a Clinical Centre based at the hospital, which translates laboratory-based discoveries into new treatments for patients. Areas of research include clinical trials, psychosocial oncology, cancer medicine, biological and immunotherapy work, genetic research and screening.
- The York BioCentre is situated on the University campus in an attractive and pleasant working environment offering a range of high-quality business accommodation to suit all requirements.
- The Innovation and BioCentre complex offers a range of fully serviced office buildings and state of the art category II & III laboratories, each with a fully adaptable layout, a range of sizes to suit all needs and fl exible rental terms.
Multidisciplinary working is very much part of the culture in the region. Yorkshire and the Humber has outstanding research expertise in pioneering areas of the healthcare market, drawing in areas such as advanced materials, engineering and biotechnology which are allied to the medical sector. This strong crossboundary ethos has been key to the sector?s ability to satisfy the ever-growing needs of the healthcare market.
Improving access to expertise within the universities in Yorkshire and the Humber is an issue at the top of Yorkshire Forward?s agenda, and The White Rose Universities of Leeds Sheffield and York have established a distinct team to facilitate greater engagement between the academic and industrial worlds.
For further information about the
Healthcare Technologies cluster in
Yorkshire & the Humber please contact
Dr Pauline Lee
Tel: +44 (0) 113 3949874
E-mail: