NDDC BRU work on track

BRU Group photo in the New Build

Construction work on the new £3.5 million Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) for digestive diseases at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s (NUH) Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) campus is progressing well, with the shell of the building now in.

The sides and roof of the building are now in place, and work is very soon to begin on the interior ahead of the planned completion date of March 2010.

It is sited on E Floor, West Block on the QMC campus and will feature a laboratory, a tissue culture room, consulting rooms, interview rooms, an inpatient area for intensive studies on up to four volunteer patients, a waiting area and offices.

The centre will enhance Nottingham’s reputation as a leader for groundbreaking medical research. It is a joint venture between the National Institute of Health Research (the research arm of the NHS), NUH and the University of Nottingham. It will focus on research into digestive diseases such as stomach, bowel and liver disease. The unit will build on Nottingham’s already strong international reputation in this area and help to transform research findings into better patient care.

The BRU – which is approximately 650 square metres in size – will allow NUH and the University to build on the close and well-established partnership they already have. The partnership will help the two organisations to jointly conduct research that will benefit patients in Nottingham, the UK and beyond, potentially transforming the lives of millions of patients in future years.

It will have approximately 20 dedicated staff, but many other staff working in both NUH and the University will conduct research with and through the unit.

Professor John Atherton, Professor of Gastroenterology, said: “It is very encouraging to see work progressing on the construction of the Biomedical Research Unit for digestive diseases, which will be a real boost for medical research in Nottingham.

“It is central to the Trust’s vision of excellence in all spheres of NHS work – patient care, teaching/training and research. It will take basic research findings and translate them into real benefit for patients. Findings can be developed to the stage at which they can be used for large clinical trials.

“The research we perform in the BRU will help in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with bowel and liver problems really quite quickly. We are particularly excited about our research programme into hospital infections such as Clostridium difficile and MRSA.”