NIHR CYP MedTech awarded funding to continue improving the health of children and young people as an NIHR HealthTech Research Centre
Monday 11 December 2023
NIHR Children and Young People MedTech Co-operative (NIHR CYP MedTech), hosted by Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, is delighted to share the exciting news of their successful bid to become one of 14 new NIHR HealthTech Research Centres (NIHR HRC).
The NIHR have awarded £42 million to a total of 14 centres across England that will strive to improve healthcare by developing medical devices, diagnostics and digital technologies. These technologies will improve how we monitor health, diagnose illness and manage conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
The new HRCs will launch on 1 April 2024 and will replace the NIHR MedTech and In Vitro Diagnostic Co-operatives (MICs), which has had great success over the last five years in improving healthcare through innovation and technology. As the only MIC that is dedicated to developing medical technologies for children and young people, NIHR CYP MedTech has laid the foundations for the new NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health to build on and continue pioneering paediatric health innovation.
The NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health will focus on the evaluation, commercialisation, adoption and deployment of child health technologies. There will be key themes related to the early life course such as neonatal care, rare diseases and the transition from paediatric to adult healthcare. The HRC will also support two cross-cutting themes that consider the relationship between physical and mental health in technology development as well as the application of artificial intelligence in the technologies we develop.
We will partner with leading institutions in child health, such as:
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambridge Children’s Hospital
- The University of Cambridge
- Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
- The University of Nottingham
- The University of Liverpool
By collaborating with clinicians, academics and industry partners across sectors, this scheme will bring together world-leading expertise and place this NIHR HRC at the forefront of the rapidly growing field of paediatric healthcare technology.
The £3 million funding for the new HealthTech Research Centre enhances Sheffield’s growing role as a hub for child health innovation. Home to Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR CYP MedTech, the ground-breaking Technology Innovation Transforming Child Health Network (TITCH), and the forthcoming National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT) based in the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, Sheffield is paving the way for paediatric innovation.
Professor Paul Dimitri, Director of Innovation and Technology at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Director of NIHR HRC in Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “This is an historic milestone positioning Sheffield at the cutting edge of paediatric research and innovation worldwide. The HRC and NCCHT will pioneer the health technologies of tomorrow, delivering dramatic improvements in NHS care that benefit generations to come. We aim to create a lasting legacy for children’s health.”
To find out more about this exciting development and for regular updates on our social media, please use the links below.
