Glasgow Caledonian University’s Research Centre for Health (ReaCH) is holding a Power of Partnership – Improving health and wellbeing through research event to showcase the importance of partnership working in turning research into action.
The event will be held in the University’s Annie Lennox Building on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, from 9.30am-12.30pm, with a lunch provided until 2pm. Register here through Eventbrite.
ReaCH, in the School of Health and Life Sciences (SHLS), is home to 10 different research groups working with the public, people with lived experience of a range of health conditions, and a number of partners such as the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, Public Health Scotland, industry and charities. It aims to find new ways of tackling health conditions that may affect us all, from stroke to cancer, to substance use, women’s health issues and infections.
The event will be an opportunity for the SHLS Associate Dean Research Professor Sharron Dolan, ReaCH Co-Directors Professor Carol Emslie and Professor Frederike van Wijck, and their team of world-leading researchers, to say a big thank you to partners for their invaluable contributions, continued support and commitment.
Professor van Wijck said: “This event marks an important milestone for ReaCH. We have gained a global reputation as a leader in health research that translates into real-world impact, and this really is down to our partnership working. Without our dedicated external partners, as well as our own staff and students, these achievements would not have been possible.
“We are very excited to welcome our partners to this event, to showcase and celebrate the improvements we have brought about together. We also hope it will strengthen and forge new partnerships for the future.”
Professor Emslie added: “We will be showcasing our research into long-term health conditions, as well as in public health, on how we are helping to reduce alcohol-related harm, drug-related deaths, eliminate HIV and Hepatitis C, and identify and tackle inequalities in our communities. It’s all about getting our evidence into action and improving health and wellbeing for all.”
The audience will be made up of high-profile MSPs, and representatives from Glasgow City Council and other councils, NHS health boards, third sector organisations, community groups, health practitioners, people with lived experience and their families, staff and students, who have all been instrumental in making a difference to our communities.
They will be treated to a series of interactive workshops from some of the Centre’s key researchers showcasing how research is already changing and improving lives through the power of partnership.
These include: Are you being served? with Professor Jamie Frankis; Overdose prevention using take-home naloxone – everyone’s business with Professor Andrew McAuley and Mariebeth Kilbride from Scottish Drugs Forum; Functional Fitness MOTs with Professor Katrina Bannigan and Doug Anthoney, Health and Wellbeing Manager at Age Scotland; Meet your pelvic floor: where is it and what does it do? with Professor Suzanne Hagen; Grin and bear it: understanding living with leg pain and arterial disease and why walking is so important with Dr Chris Seenan and Cathy Gormal, who lives with the disease; and Get involved! Patient and public involvement and engagement in research with Professor Alex Todhunter-Brown.
Through this unique power of partnership, the University has gained a global reputation as a leader in health research that results in tangible improvements to people’s lives at home and abroad.
An impressive 91% of research carried out by the ReaCH team and all of its impact has been formally classified as world-leading or internationally excellent in the latest UK-wide Research Excellence Framework assessment (REF).
The Centre’s double-award-winning Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Research (SHBBV) Group made a major contribution to this success. They won Research Project of the Year at The Herald Higher Education Awards 2023 and the Emerald Publishing International Real Impact Award for their HIV and Hepatitis C infection prevention research through collaborative working.
In December last year, the University launched a dedicated £2.5 million Beyond BBV research programme to support the Scottish Government’s ambitious plans to become the first country in the world to end HIV transmission and eliminate Hepatitis C.
Professor Emslie said: “ReaCH has been producing some of the most impactful research within the UK and internationally. This is the perfect time to come together to thank not just our Glasgow Caledonian community, but especially our external partners, including policymakers, those within the NHS, Council and third sector organisations, people with Lived experience, and others, who inspire and guide us in our research, to showcase the power of partnership.”
Professor van Wijck added: “What makes ReaCH unique is that it provides a hub for world-leading research from the molecular right through to the societal level, that aims to save and improve lives.
“People joining us at the event will see from our workshops is that we are really reaching out to a diversity of communities to help improve the lives of people affected by a range of some of the most complex and under-researched health conditions. Our research gives the voiceless a voice and it is through their invaluable contributions that our research is relevant to them and can be implemented in the real world.”
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