New centre is key to addressing health and social inequalities Published on: 20 April 2020 A visionary new centre is focused on addressing the health inequalities and medical needs of people in the North East and North Cumbria. Â鶹´«Ã½ Health Innovation Partners (NHIP) has been made one of only eight Academic Health Science Centres in the UK, bringing the region’s world-class research, NHS and city partners together. Never before has it been more important to work together, as Â鶹´«Ã½ Hospital’s effective operational plans for coronavirus have been informed by Â鶹´«Ã½’s epidemiological experts. Hospital testing for the virus has also had support from University resources and expertise. Stronger together The region’s Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) involves Â鶹´«Ã½, Â鶹´«Ã½ Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. Professor David Burn, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Â鶹´«Ã½’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, said the centre was key for giving the region’s population the best healthcare possible. He said: “The health challenges faced by our region make the AHSC particularly important so that we can bring our population to levels of health enjoyed by the rest of the UK. “The centre will catalyse work in making a significant improvement to the health, wealth and wellbeing of a population of 3.2 million people. “We are stronger if we work together and the collaborative efforts taking place to do our best to protect people against coronavirus is a prime example of this.” Health issues in the North East and North Cumbria are challenging as it has a diverse population and the highest rate of poverty, unemployment, poor health and early death in England. Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive of , said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Â鶹´«Ã½ Hospitals, enabling close links between healthcare, our civic partners in the city and Â鶹´«Ã½. “It’s never been more important to build partnerships with our academic and city partners and our citywide response to the COVID-19 pandemic is testament to this. “Looking into the future, the AHSC will bring more world-class research to the region, and enable the Trust to quickly translate early scientific research into treatments that patients here in the North East and North Cumbria will be able to benefit from first.” Better health outcomes AHSCs are awarded for five years and they have been jointly chosen by the NIHR and NHS England and NHS Improvement to help reduce health inequalities in the country. , Chief Executive of Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, said: “The new centre is recognition of the close partnership working between Â鶹´«Ã½, the City Council and the NHS to help people in the region. “Our region has some of the country’s greatest health inequalities and the aim of this centre is to help address these by delivering new treatments, pioneering research and better workforce education." The centres are intended to speed up the time it takes the NHS to access new, better quality treatments and approaches to improving health due to the unique partnerships between researchers and NHS staff working on the frontline. Simon Douglas, Joint Director of Research, Innovation and Clinical Effectiveness at , said: “This centre is further evidence of the strength of our regional partnerships in research, and recognition for outstanding clinical provision and excellence in teaching standards. “As the host organisation for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC), CNTW are heavily invested in the contribution of research to influence real change and improvement in the health system and the AHSC award will ensure this is even further embedded within the region.” Maria Roche, Interim Chief Executive Officer at the , added: “We look forward to playing a key implementation role as part of Â鶹´«Ã½ Health Innovation Partners in translating the research outputs into patient benefit and economic growth for the region, by supporting the evaluation, adoption and dissemination of these innovations at pace and scale.” Share: Latest News Scientists unlock hidden driver of inflammatory bowel disease Scientists have linked a key genetic signal in inflammatory bowel disease to an immune response that shuts down inflammation control, enabling faster diagnosis and targeted treatments. published on: 15 June 2026 Funding system risks limiting genuine community collaboration A new policy paper written by researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ warns that the way UK research is funded may be undermining efforts to create genuinely collaborative partnerships with communities. published on: 15 June 2026 Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Facts and figures
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