Imperial wins world-leading healthcare and research designation

Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre has had its AHSC status confirmed for a further five years.

The prestigious designation from the Department of Health recognises Imperial College AHSC as a centre of excellence in healthcare, research and education.

Imperial College AHSC is one of only six centres nationwide to receive the designation. Imperial College AHSC was originally awarded its status in October 2007 when it became the UK’s first ever AHSC.

The centre brings together Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT), one of the country’s safest, largest and most successful acute hospital trusts, and Imperial College London, a world top ten university.

The AHSC designation recognises Imperial’s excellence in education, research, translational medicine and patient care.

Since 2007, Imperial College AHSC’s achievements include research-led improvements in clinical practice such as the prevention of bowel cancer, reducing the impact of birth asphyxia, better survival rates for chronic myeloid leukaemia, and the safer removal of liver tumours (see sidebar, right).

Over the next five years, Imperial College AHSC plans to build on this pursuit of world-class education, innovation and patient care by tackling common causes of morbidity and mortality, including obesity, diabetes, neurodegeneration, strokes, infection and antibiotic resistance, as well as rarer diseases. The AHSC will also help create wealth, making a substantial contribution to the London and wider UK economy.

As part of these efforts, the AHSC will work to improve patient safety and the patient experience; discover, design and implement new surgical techniques; and use the very latest advances in informatics and real time diagnostics to improve healthcare outcomes.

Professor Dermot Kelleher, Vice President (Health) of Imperial College London and Chairman of the Joint Executive Group of Imperial College AHSC, said:

“Our extraordinary cluster of discovery, innovation and enterprise brings together some of the world’s finest researchers, educators and clinicians. Patients are reaping the benefits, in London and throughout the world."

Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said:

“Imperial College AHSC has created a critical mass of world-class research, teaching and patient care. Our exceptional ability to translate scientific discoveries into better treatments for patients is saving and improving the lives of countless numbers of patients.

“The AHSC’s strategic alliances with industry, academia and medical practitioners give London a competitive edge, and are making our region one of the best places in the world for healthcare.”

Professor David Taube, Director of Imperial College AHSC, said:

“Cutting-edge research, education and high quality patient care are embedded into everything we do. Imperial College AHSC is creating an ecosystem where world-class research, education and healthcare complement and augment one another.

“Imperial College AHSC is rightly regarded as a model for others to follow. Our centre is also embedded within the local Academic Health Science Network, Imperial College Health Partners, which is helping to deliver innovations in medicine to several million people in northwest London.”

Sir Gordon Duff, Chairman of Imperial College AHSC, said:

“This marks the culmination of many years of hard work by some of the country’s most talented health and medical professionals. Imperial College AHSC has confirmed its status as a global leader in health research, innovation and care.

"We look forward to large health, economic and social benefits in this country and far beyond.”