ULSTER University has announced a £2 million investment in a new health centre, it pledges will produce ‘life-changing and life-saving technology’.
The Health Technology Hub, will create four new posts and be housed within the Nanotechnology and Integrated Bioengineering Centre (NIBEC) in the School of Engineering at the Jordanstown campus.
The new facility will centralise core expertise to support the rapid development of new healthcare technology with support from clinicians and will access expertise from the Connected Health Innovation Centre (CHIC), the BioDevices Lab, the Eastern Corridor Medical Engineering Centre (ECME) and the Centre for Advanced Cardiovascular Research (CACR).
Vice chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon said the new hub would built on over £20 million of funding secured in recent years for health technology research
“Our research has resulted in the development of wearable medical sensors and implantable devices, and has improved drug therapy and rapid diagnostics. These advances are helping to move care out of hospitals and into the home, reducing pressure on the healthcare system,” he said.
“This new Health Technology Hub further enhances our ability to carry out pioneering research which could result in life-changing and life-saving technology and make a global impact on healthcare costs.”
Professor Jim McLaughlin, director of NIBEC at Ulster University said:
“Medical advancement in the 20th and 21st centuries has contributed to an increase in life expectancy globally, but that also means an increase in the number of people with multiple chronic conditions. Consequently, to sustain and improve healthcare provision to meet this global challenge, we must accelerate the development of new healthcare technology.”
“By bringing together knowledge and expertise within the new Health Technology Hub, we hope to improve research outcomes, optimise the potential of collaboration between researchers from industry and academia and put Ulster University in a strong position to bid for new research funding in the international health technology,” he added.
