UCL researchers have won a £3.7 million grant to set up a blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU).
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded nearly £50 million to partnerships between universities and Public Health England (PHE) to set up HPRUs, that will act as centres of excellence in multi-disciplinary health protection research in England.
PHE was established in April 2013 and incorporates the responsibilities of the Health Protection Agency.
Professor Caroline Sabin from UCL’s Institute of Epidemiology & Health will lead the blood-borne and sexually transmitted infections HPRU.
UCL is also collaborators in the following HPRUs:
· Environmental Change and Health – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with Exeter University and University College London (Professor Mike Davies)
· Evaluation of Interventions – University of Bristol with University College London, Cambridge MRC Biostatistics Unit, and University of the West of England (Professor Susan Michie)
Contracts for the new NIHR HPRUs will run for five years from 1 April 2014. Funding for each unit will be held by a university in partnership with PHE to enable collaboration between world class research in academia and PHE.
Applications were assessed by an international panel who chose 13 to form units across 12 public health priority areas, ranging from immunisation to radiation hazards.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: “These partnerships will bring together research from academia and Public Health England to ensure world class health protection research in England. By focusing on research across a wide range of public health areas, the units will take new scientific discoveries from the lab to benefits for patients and the public. I believe they will have a significant impact on the health of the population.”
