The new research programme, which started on 1 December 2022, runs for five years, with the aim of transforming the lives of patients through world-leading research in ageing and multiple long-term conditions.
And there were many other highlights during the year including:
Dr Sarah Richardson, a researcher working across our ageing and dementia theme, was awarded a prestigious prize for her research into older patients experiencing delirium in hospital and the risk of cognitive decline or dementia.
28 February is Rare Disease Day, which raises awareness for the 300 million people across the world living with a rare disease. We met Julie Robinson who lives with a rare genetic skin condition and is under the care of Dr Neil Rajan, a NIHR Newcastle BRC investigator.
A cutting-edge £500m development was given the go ahead in Newcastle – which will support the understanding, care and innovation of products and services for an ageing population. The regeneration of the former General Hospital site in Newcastle’s West End, which includes the Centre for Ageing and Vitality (CAV) where our BRC is based, will help people live longer and healthier lives through global leadership in ageing and research.
The inaugural UK Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) Symposium welcomed over 130 delegates, including academics and patient and public representatives, from across the UK. They discussed future directions for MLTC research, foster collaborations within the rapidly expanding MLTC research community and ultimately allow us to continue to drive change and progress in treatment.
As part of our commitment to training the translational researchers of the future, we funded four research internships for health professionals. The funding scheme, available to healthcare scientists, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), aims to promote a positive culture of research and allows people in these professions to develop their research awareness and critical thinking through an innovative six-month development programme.
Researchers from across the world came to our International Lewy Body Dementia conference 2022
Dr Shoba Amarnath, an investigator in the BRC’s Skin and Oral Diseases theme, received the prestigious Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowship in recognition of her excellence as an early-career biomedical scientist.
Newcastle researchers in Gastroenterology and Hepatology celebrated being named as among the best in the world – including one of our theme leads Quentin M. Anstee.
And Charlotte Buckland, a frailty clinical specialist physiotherapist at Newcastle Hospitals, shared her experience of her research internship, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The funding supported Charlotte to run a six-month research project focussed on ageing-related disease.
We launched our new BRC and research themes for 2022-27. Take a look at all of our research themes and the teams involved. And we also announced the launch of a new NIHR initiative, the first of its kind, which will be co-chaired by our director Professor Avan Sayer and hosted at Newcastle University. It will work on making it easier to research multiple long-term conditions (MLTC).