Swansea University will play a key role in one of seven new UK data hubs dedicated to speeding up research for new medicines, treatments and life-saving technologies.
The hubs, which will enable cutting-edge research for health discoveries and aim to give faster access to pioneering new treatments, will be rolled out across the UK next month.
Led by Health Data Research UK, these hubs hope to improve the lives of people with debilitating conditions and will link up different types of health data making it more easily accessible and user-friendly for research, while maintaining strict controls around data privacy and consent.
Swansea University Medical School is a partner in BREATHE – Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health. Led by Professor Aziz Sheikh, the University of Edinburgh, it will concentrate on respiratory conditions, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Professor David Ford, Director of SAIL Databank at the Medical School and Chief Data Scientist of BREATHE said: “Working with experts in respiratory research from right across the UK, we will create a step change in the speed and scale of research possible, by making the UK’s relevant data resources quicker, easier and safer to find and use, by utilising SAIL Databank’s established systems and team.
“We also look forward to being part of the new family of Health Research Data Hubs and working together to harmonise and streamline access to health data across the research spectrum.”
The hubs will allow patients, researchers and clinicians to work together to explore the safe and ethical use of health data for research into specific diseases.
In addition to respiratory conditions they will focus on cancer, eye health, inflammatory bowel disease, acute care, clinical trials and the use of real world data. They will also enable access to data for trialling new treatments and support improvements in clinical care.
Patients will be involved in decisions about how their data is used to ensure the benefits are returned to the NHS and the wider UK community, and existing rules for accessing data safely and securely will continue to apply.
The Health Data Research Hubs are part of a four-year £37million investment from the UK Government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) announced in November 2017 led by UK Research and Innovation, to create a UK-wide system for the safe and responsible use of health-related data on a large scale. The hubs will also stimulate further economic growth through greater research activity.
Head of Swansea University Medical School Professor Keith Lloyd said: “We are delighted that Swansea has been chosen to play a crucial role such an important and exciting development.
“The potential benefits of these hubs include earlier diagnosis, the development of more effective treatments and more efficient management of the NHS, all of which could really help our patients enjoy longer and healthier lives.”
Visit the HDRUK website to read their full press release – Pioneering data research centres to enable cutting-edge research and innovation to benefit UK patients
All seven Health Data Research Hubs are shown in this interactive map