New Health Research Institute for the Highlands and Islands
Dr David Godden, presently Consultant in Respiratory and Hyperbaric Medicine at Grampian University Hospitals Trust, has been appointed Clinical Professor and Director of the new Highlands and Islands Health Research Institute, which has been launched in Inverness this week.
The Institute, which will be based at The Green House, Beechwood Business Park North, will develop programmes of high quality collaborative research on health and healthcare in remote and rural areas involving both primary and secondary care. It will also facilitate and support clinically based research throughout the region, involving staff working in all aspects of healthcare in the Highlands and Islands. The Green House is an incubator aimed at assisting technologically advanced and research & development activities.
A steering group working in the Highlands, chaired by Mr Alasdair Munro, Consultant General Surgeon at Raigmore Hospital, developed the concept for the new Institute. It will form important links with and be supported by: the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative, a Scottish Executive project set up to promote health care in remote and rural areas; the Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust; Highlands and Islands Enterprise; and the University of Aberdeen, who will employ the staff and will provide important academic links for the Institute.
Scottish Health Minister, Susan Deacon, said today: “I am delighted to see that our new Remote and Rural Area Resource Initiative is supporting the work of the new Highlands and Islands Health Research Institute.
“It is also good to see so many organisations cooperating to help support our rural communities. It is vital that people living in rural areas from the highlands and islands to the borders of Scotland have access to the best possible health care.
“The Highlands and Islands Health Research Institute has my full support in taking these steps towards a healthier Scotland.”
During the past 25 years, health service providers in the Highlands and Islands have become increasingly involved in undergraduate medical education. The new Institute will therefore build on the important links that already exist between Aberdeen University and the Highlands to develop health research in the region.
The main aim of the Institute, which will develop from a core staff of six or seven and is expected to expand, would be to incorporate both hospital and primary care based research, involving local a broad range of medical and paramedical staff in the research process.
Professor Godden was born in Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. He subsequently trained in clinical medicine in Edinburgh, Inverness, Cambridge and Aberdeen. His research experience was gained in Edinburgh, Cambridge, Aberdeen and Vancouver, Canada. He was a Lecturer in Medicine at Aberdeen University from 1984 to 1995, and since 1995 has been a National Health Service consultant. His most recent work has involved epidemiological research looking at the risk factors and natural history of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.
He said: "The major issues we will be addressing include the problems of health and healthcare delivery in rural areas. An important aspect of health care in the Highlands and Islands is the distances that some people have to travel in order to receive medical attention. We hope to work in collaboration with GPs and other health care workers in these isolated areas, to develop and improve methods of assessing needs and delivering healthcare in the region.
“The Institute will also facilitate research ideas that doctors and other health care staff working in the Highlands wish to develop and we will help staff develop research skills.
“An important part of my job will be getting those people involved, working in collaboration and providing a service for them. Health related industries locating in the region may also work with the Institute in researching new technologies and treatments. The development of the Institute is a major opportunity to improve health care in the Highlands and Islands"
Mr Munro said the opening of the new Institute in February and the appointment of Professor Godden signifies a new dimension in health care in the Highlands and Islands.
“Hitherto, the main emphasis has been to provide high quality care for patients. This development will now permit health care workers to investigate and research clinical issues, which are significant ones for the local communities.
“It is one of the most significant developments in health care in our area in the past 20 years.”
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has been working closely with the bodies involved in developing the new Institute over the last eighteen months. HIE’s head of manufacturing and innovation, Archie McCreevy said: “The Highlands and Islands, and Inverness in particular, are building a solid reputation as an area at the leading edge of medical and pharmaceutical research and production. This Institute will be of great benefit to the healthcare community, but it could also be an engine for future development through the commercial application of its research.”
The Institute will work closely with others who have relevant expertise including the Health Services and Health Economics Research Units and the Department of General Practice at the University of Aberdeen. Links will also be developed with the Social and Public Health Science Unit at Glasgow University and with the Universities of Stirling and the Highlands and Islands. International collaboration will also be a key feature of the Institute, whose staff will work with colleagues in Canada, the US and Finland, all of which also have remote communities.