Health, research, education and charity are coming together to deliver world leading research in Cardiff.
More than £70,000 has been invested to provide state of the art technology in endoscopy based research into investigation, detection and treatment of bowel cancer by Cardiff & Vale Health Board and Cardiff University.
The work at the Clinical Research Facility at University Hospital of Wales, which has been progressed in partnership with manufacturers, has also enabled new equipment incorporating blue light laser technology. It has also included robotic technology for colonoscopy which will help detect cancers sooner and introduce cutting edge technology in the area of endoscopy.
Dr Sunil Dolwani, Clinical Senior Lecturer Cardiff University and Consultant Gastroenterologist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said the hospital’s Clinical Research Facility was one of the few centres in Europe using this technology.
He said: “The investment into infrastructure has come from the health board and university and enabled us to get grants from research charities such as Cancer Research UK.
“The collaborative approach will help improve earlier cancer diagnosis and treatment by facilitating world class research. This facility will enable us to link translational research in the laboratory to clinical research that directly benefits patients in the NHS.”
Professor Ian Weeks, Dean of Clinical Innovation in the School of Medicine at Cardiff University, said: “This is an excellent example of how the Health Board and Cardiff University are working together to deliver clinical innovation. The approach ensures that our excellent research translates into improvements in patient care as quickly and effectively as possible.
“In this case, through developments in diagnostic technologies. Advances in increasing the accuracy of disease diagnosis are vital for effective treatment using the principles of precision medicine.”
Dr Graham Shortland, the Medical Director for the Health Board, said: “We have expertise in this organisation that we want to support and to develop with partners to improve the capacity for doing world leading research in the area of endoscopy.
“By investing in this technology we are making a clear statement about putting research at the forefront of what we do.”
