£6m boost in disease fight

May 13 2008 By Emma Cullwick

A NEW £6 million centre aimed at teaching students how to find scientific breakthroughs to fight diseases and illnesses is to be created at the University of Birmingham.

Bosses at the university are delighted after clinching the cash to create the Doctoral Training Centre, which will provide education for 50 post-graduate.

The students, who will already have graduated in physics or engineering, will be taught by experts from a range of fields including chemistry, computer science, bio-science, chemistry, medicine and dentistry.

The university's existing Chemistry West building on the main campus in Selly Oak will be refurbished to house the new centre, which will open in October.

The students will be taught how to use and develop various types of "imaging" technology, which could help to advance the treatment of a wide range of illnesses, from finding new ways to detect tumours to diagnosing diseases of the blood.

Professor Mike Hannon, from the university's school of chemistry, said: "This centre will teach students to find new imaging tools that could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnostics and better targeted therapies.

"This will minimise invasive treatment and shorten recovery time, helping to alleviate the burden on the NHS.

"Imaging has the capability to provide an enormous amount of information about exactly how biological processes take place, which is the key to diagnosing, understanding and then treating diseases.

"The technology could be used to find out, for example, how blood is flowing around the body, or how a patient is responding to a treatment or to diagnose symptoms.

"Scientists with this broad skill base will be able to push the boundaries of the imaging disciplines and contribute to future breakthroughs in medicine."

The funding to create the centre has been awarded to the university by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences.

The university's bid for the cash was backed by several Midland organisations and businesses, including Advantage West Midlands, Thinktank, University Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham City Council and the Central Technology Belt.