Science minister announces £40m research investment
Scientists and clinicians will gain greater understanding of the impact of food on health, thanks to a £40 million research investment in the new Quadram Institute.
Researchers and clinicians are being brought together in the Quadram Institute and will work closely with funding bodies and charities, collaborators and investors to ensure fundamental science benefits patients, consumers and wider society.
The new institute aligns food science, gut biology and the microbiome, human health and disease with a focus on healthy ageing.
The four-year £40 million investment in research is being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation.
The Quadram Institute, at the Norwich Research Park, will be home to a new regional endoscopy centre, which will be run by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH). The centre will have capacity to carry out at least 40,000 procedures a year, making it one of the largest in Europe.
A clinical research facility will further link health and nutrition science with clinical research under one roof.
Set to open later this year, the Quadram Institute will be housed in a new state-of-the-art £75 million building, funded by BBSRC and the partners.
Science Minister Sam Gyimah was today (14th May) given a tour of the new endoscopy centre by NNUH Chief Executive Mark Davies and Consultant Simon Rushbrook.
He said: “Researchers funded by BBSRC are making a real difference: helping feed the world, keeping us healthier for longer, and making the UK a more prosperous place. Ten million Brits alive today are expected to live to 100, and this new £75 million institute facility will help ensure more of us have a healthy, happy old age. Our investment in science is a vital part of our modern Industrial Strategy.”
Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive, UK Research and Innovation: “Providing world-class infrastructure and a culture that fosters collaboration is a key to maintaining the UK as a world leader in research and innovation. By bringing scientists and clinicians together in a purpose built facility, the Quadram Institute will ensure insight and understanding is rapidly translated to maximise the positive impacts of food on health and reduce the economic and societal costs of chronic diseases.”
The Quadram Institute is a partnership between the Quadram Institute Bioscience, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) and the University of East Anglia. Its location maximises the unique combination of resources at the park from genome sequencing and computational bioscience to world class plant and crop science and microbiology creating a plant-microbes-food-health pathway.