A Clinical Research Facility for Northern Ireland: Building Award. (360G-Wellcome-079401_Z_06_Z)

This proposal for a Clinical Research Facility (CRF) and associated 3T MRI scanner is submitted on behalf of six partners: Queen's University Belfast (QUB); The University of Ulster (UU); the Royal Group of Hospitals Trust (RGHT); the Belfast City Hospital Trust (BCHT); The Northern Ireland Regional Medical Physics Agency and the Research & Development Office for the Health & Personal Social Services (R&D Office). The CRF and scanner will be core resources for the Northern Ireland (NI) research community and will act as a focus for clinical research. The CRF will provide a high quality clinical environment in which patients can undergoresearch programmes safely and effectively according to robust, ethically approved trial protocols. Under the leadership of the Director and Deputy Director, trained research nurses and other support staff, including those in the nearby Clinical Research Support Centre (CRSC), will work with Principal Investigators from the Trusts and Universities to develop, evaluate and implement research protocols. Researchers using the facility will be supported by administrative and laboratory services, and have access to the full range of clinical and non-clinical services provided by both Trusts. The CRF will be based in central Belfast on the RGHT site; QUB will be the co-ordinating University. It will be situated within phase 2b of the major hospital redevelopment currently underway, which is due for completion in 2010. The CRF will be on the seventh floor, immediately above the Intensive Care Unit and contiguous with the Education Centre. The building will link directly with all patient care areas and with new state-of-the-art imaging and cardiology centres currently being completed in phase 2a of the redevelopment project. This includes the latest generation of Positron Emission Tomography (PET/CT) imaging, which is operated on a partnership basis between QUB, RGHT, BCHT, the Medical Physics Agency and the HPSS R&D Office. The CRF will consist of a suite of six rooms equipped for clinical investigation and collection and processing of biological samples. There will also be a patient waiting and reception area, a diet kitchen and an administrative area. The approximate floor area will be 380m2, and the cost of the space within the new building on the RGHT site will be £1.8 million. The CRF will include designated space for: 1) studies and trials requiring psychophysical assessment of visual function and in vivo imaging of ocular structures; 2) cardiorespiratory function testing; 3) assessment of vascular function and insulin resistance; 4) three multipurpose clinical rooms equipped for patient consultation; 5) a tissue and biological sample processing laboratory, to allow rapid processing of biological samples and temporary storage prior to analysis. 6) a kitchen, suitable for the preparation of meals for dietary studies; 7) a waiting and reception area. The 3T MRI scanner will be situated within 1km of the CRF in the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre on the BCHT site, which will open in April 2006. RGHT and BCHT are the two major NI teaching hospitals, and will merge as a single Trust in 2007. They provide all regional services and support a series of clinical networks involving all NI Trusts. The Cancer Centre represents a major NHS investment in cancer care in Northern Ireland and incorporates a state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Suite, including eight linear accelerators, and a Radiology Suite which includes diagnostic MRI, CT scanning, interventional radiology, ultrasound general x-ray and nuclear medicine providing diagnostic and unsealed source therapies. The NICC has provided space to expand such facilities into its building as research and clinical studies demand. The Cancer Centre also has access to the PET/CT based in RGHT and described above. The Cancer Centre has provided space to expand such facilities into the Cancer Centre as research and clinical studies demand. To complement the NHS Clinical Cancer Centre, QUB is building a new £22M Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology nearby. The Centre's research programme will bring together clinical and laboratory experts from across the University University and will facilitate the translation of basic science into novel clinical developments. Work on the newbuilding has commenced and is due for completion in March 2007. The University of Ulster's Biomedical Sciences Research Institute is located in a £14.5M Centre for Molecular Biosciences Building, completed in November 2004. The Director and Deputy Director of the CRF will be employed by QUB and UU respectively, either from newly-appointed or existing staff. They will report to a Management Board that will include representatives of the partner organisations. The Director of the 3T MRI facility will be employed by QUB/BCHT, and will report to the same Management Board. The CRF and scanner will facilitate internationally excellent experimental medicine and translational research, drawing on existing strengths within the NI research community and helping to attract new expertise to the region. In addition, the CRF will encourage new researchers and clinicians to participate in emerging disease-specific networks within NI as part of the UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN) and to participate in other clinical research initiatives flowing from the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC).