In a unique collaboration, medical research scientists from across London have joined forces to establish a comprehensive biomedical research faculty. The faculty will combine the expertise of researchers from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), Great Ormond Street Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital, and University College London (UCL). A priority for the new faculty will be to encourage the sharing of new ideas and establishing new research programmes into areas such as rheumatology, hearing disorders, ear nose and throat surgery, sports medicine and gene and cell therapies. With a focus on the interface between basic and clinical science, the aim is to establish a community of researchers who translate fundamental biomedical research into clinical research that benefits patients. The UCLH/UCL National Institute for Health Research Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre Senior Faculty is the result of a partnership between three of the biomedical research centres set up by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) - the UCLH/UCL NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, the Moorfields Eye Hospital/UCL Institute of Ophthalmology NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and the Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust/UCL Institute of Child Health Biomedical Research Centre. Professor Deenan Pillay, director of the UCLH/UCL NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, said: "We are excited to be collaborating with our colleagues at Great Ormond Street and Moorfields Eye Hospital. This is one way of maximising the potential for cross cutting and innnovative research. It is also a way of acknowledging and valuing the contributions of individual researchers." The faculty will consist of a core faculty membership made up of NHS and UCL staff leading biomedical research programmes, and senior fellows made up of senior investigators who make the most significant contribution to the translational research activities of the biomedical research centres.
