Hundreds of visitors to Oxford’s Westgate Centre on Wednesday 10 May were able to find out about the world-class healthcare research that is currently taking place in Oxford.

The Westgate’s Leiden Square was taken over by the city’s two NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRC), whose researchers showcased the work they are doing to tackle health conditions as diverse as cancer, mental health, dementia, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, infection, sleep problems or genetic diseases.

The NIHR Oxford Health BRC is a  partnership between the University, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and involves 11 additional partner university and NHS Trusts across England while the NIHR Oxford BRC is a  partnership between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust.

Oxford Health BRC Director Professor John Geddes added: “It was great to see people taking time out of their day to find out about what we are doing, and how they get involved in our studies. We are delighted to be partnering with the Oxford BRC to show how we work together to bring Oxford’s formidable range of skills and

expertise across 26 scientific themes to bear on the most pressing challenges to human health.”

The Oxford BRC Director, Professor Helen McShane, said: “This was such a fun event. It’s so pleasing to see members of the public coming to speak directly with our researchers and find out about what we are doing to expand our

Professors John Geddes and Helen McShane, Directors of Oxford’s two BRCs, visit the Open Day at the Westgate Centre

understanding of a range of medical conditions and technologies so that we can improve diagnosis, treatment and care for NHS patients – and it was heartening to see those members of the public finding out about how they can get involved in our clinical trials.”

NIHR BRCs are collaborations between universities and NHS organisations that bring together academics and clinicians to translate scientific breakthroughs into potential new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies that benefit NHS patients.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the UK’s largest funder of health and care research.