The launch is part of the NIHRs £42m funding to establish 14 new HRCs across England
Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College London (KCL) have launched a new HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) for cardiovascular and respiratory medicine.
The new centre is one of 14 new HRCs across England that received a total of £42m from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Based within St Thomas’ hospital campus, the HRC will work with industry and academic partners to develop new technologies, medical devices and digital solutions for cardiovascular and respiratory medicine.
Designed as a ‘one stop shop’, the newly-launched HRC will specifically focus on four themes: cardiovascular disease in adults, technologies for children with congenital heart disease, cardiovascular interventions and respiratory medicine.
In addition, the HRC will develop technologies to support and promote the use of health- technology at home, as well as develop training for the next generation of health-technology innovators and researchers.
Rachel Clough, consultant vascular surgeon and clinical senior lecturer, surgical and interventional engineering, KCL and HRC co-director, commented: “Building on the extensive expertise in the management of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory conditions, biomedical and clinical engineering,…[the] centre…will foster and accelerate the translation to bedside of new promising technologies for the benefit of patients, the NHS and the British economy.”
In November 2023, the NIHR announced funding for new NIHR HRCs to work with businesses to support the development of medical devices, diagnostics and digital technologies to enable people to better monitor their health, diagnose ill health sooner, and improve the management of conditions including cancer, dementia, cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
In February, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced that an innovative brain and spinal injury health technology research centre is set to open this April at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
With £3m of the total NIHR funding, the Cambridge HRC will bring together NHS partners, businesses and patients from across the UK to develop technologies that improve care while patients are in hospital.
