Title: NIHR Newcastle BRC
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University have a long established Partnership enabling world-class experimental medicine in ageing and long-term conditions to flourish in the North East. The Partnership was first awarded an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in 2007 and won a further 5 years funding in 2012. This background of sustained NIHR funding has had a catalytic effect on research activity in Dementia, Liver Disease, Musculoskeletal Disease and Neuromuscular Disease as well as the emerging area of Skin and Oral Disease, which comprise our 5 Research Themes in this application. It is noteworthy, however, that life and health expectancies in the North East remain below average for England and population changes over the next 25 years are projected to include doubling of the number of people aged 85+ years with a reduction in those aged 40 &ndash; 64 years. Therefore the vision of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre is to optimise health and healthcare in ageing and long-term conditions. Our overarching aim has three elements: first, growth in our highest performing areas of experimental medicine focused on individual long-term conditions; second, leverage of this expertise for application to the global context of increasing numbers of older people with ageing syndromes such as sarcopenia (the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function), frailty, and the accumulation of multiple long term conditions (multi-morbidity); and third, development of UK capacity and capability in ageing experimental medicine including innovative approaches to maximise impact, ensuring health research that improves quality, saves money and drives growth. Each Research Theme will address specific aims. These will focus on understanding the causes of disease to develop new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, we will investigate how each individual long-term condition relates to ageing syndromes and multi-morbidity in older people. We have established a priority setting partnership between our thriving Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Group, called Valuing Our Intellectual Capital and Experience (VOICE) North, and the James Lind Alliance. This will facilitate patients and clinicians working together to agree research priorities in ageing and multi-morbidity. Our overarching strategy will be supported by close links to the national NIHR infrastructure, our own well-developed local NIHR infrastructure (One NIHR North East) and the recent &pound;20 million award of the National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Our short term objective will be to capitalise on excellence in our five Research Themes, ensuring they continue to translate discoveries from basic science into clinical research, and through to benefits for patients, the health system and broader social and economic gain including industry collaboration. In the medium term we will apply this progress to ageing syndromes such as sarcopenia, frailty and multi-morbidity. In the long term, we will establish a new pipeline of clinical investigators in ageing experimental medicine to enable the UK to be a leader in this major area of local, national and international need.

Lay abstract: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University have a long established Partnership enabling world-class experimental medicine in ageing and long-term conditions to flourish in the North East. The Partnership was first awarded an NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in 2007 and won a further 5 years funding in 2012. This background of sustained NIHR funding has had a catalytic effect on research activity in Dementia, Liver Disease, Musculoskeletal Disease and Neuromuscular Disease as well as the emerging area of Skin and Oral Disease, which comprise our 5 Research Themes in this application. It is noteworthy, however, that life and health expectancies in the North East remain below average for England and population changes over the next 25 years are projected to include doubling of the number of people aged 85+ years with a reduction in those aged 40 &ndash; 64 years. Therefore the vision of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre is to optimise health and healthcare in ageing and long-term conditions. Our overarching aim has three elements: first, growth in our highest performing areas of experimental medicine focused on individual long-term conditions; second, leverage of this expertise for application to the global context of increasing numbers of older people with ageing syndromes such as sarcopenia (the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function), frailty, and the accumulation of multiple long term conditions (multi-morbidity); and third, development of UK capacity and capability in ageing experimental medicine including innovative approaches to maximise impact, ensuring health research that improves quality, saves money and drives growth. Each Research Theme will address specific aims. These will focus on understanding the causes of disease to develop new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, we will investigate how each individual long-term condition relates to ageing syndromes and multi-morbidity in older people. We have established a priority setting partnership between our thriving Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Group, called Valuing Our Intellectual Capital and Experience (VOICE) North, and the James Lind Alliance. This will facilitate patients and clinicians working together to agree research priorities in ageing and multi-morbidity. Our overarching strategy will be supported by close links to the national NIHR infrastructure, our own well-developed local NIHR infrastructure (One NIHR North East) and the recent &pound;20 million award of the National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Our short term objective will be to capitalise on excellence in our five Research Themes, ensuring they continue to translate discoveries from basic science into clinical research, and through to benefits for patients, the health system and broader social and economic gain including industry collaboration. In the medium term we will apply this progress to ageing syndromes such as sarcopenia, frailty and multi-morbidity. In the long term, we will establish a new pipeline of clinical investigators in ageing experimental medicine to enable the UK to be a leader in this major area of local, national and international need.

Research activity codes: 4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION);5.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT);6.9 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (TREATMENT EVALUATION)
Health categories: NEUROLOGICAL