Fuse five year funding renewal success

A Teesside University joint venture is set to expand its activities after successfully securing funding for a further five years.

North East research centre Fuse aims to reduce inequalities by tackling major and emerging public health challenges. It will build on half a decade of success at bringing together and strengthening expertise from Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Teesside and Sunderland universities to conduct world-class research into public health issues like obesity, smoking, drinking and health inequalities.

Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, will receive more than £4 million over the next five years as part of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration initiative that supports five Public Health Research Centres of Excellence. With this investment, Fuse will continue to deliver research and ‘translate’ research findings for the health sector as value-for-money policies and best practice. It will also continue to forge lasting partnerships with colleagues in the NHS, local government, voluntary and community sectors, and build capacity by developing post-graduate training and creating challenging new academic posts.

Fuse research aims to tackle the major health problems facing people today including obesity, heart disease and cancers, by addressing problems with diet, exercise, smoking and drinking. People face these problems throughout their lives and Fuse’s six new research themes reflect this by following key life stages, from early family life and teenage years, through to healthy ageing.

The Centre’s other research strands will study the complex changes currently taking place in the health system, aim to close the gap between those with the worst health and the rest of the population, and support Fuse’s core mission and aim to ‘translate’ research findings into practice, so that they can be adopted and improve people’s lives.

Fuse will also be launching a responsive research and evaluation service in June 2013 called ‘AskFuse’. The service will respond to requests made by partners working in public health, and will help to find solutions from research to address pressing local issues.

Martin White, Director of Fuse and Professor of Public Health at Newcastle University, said: ‘This is an incredibly challenging time for public health and Fuse will continue to play a key role in supporting health improvement. The award of this funding affirms Fuse’s national reputation as a centre of research excellence and will allow us to continue the good work we have been doing in the North East. We especially look forward to further building our relationship with colleagues and partners in public health policy and practice.’

Fuse Deputy Director, David Hunter, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University, said: ‘As Fuse approaches its 5th birthday later this year, the funding announcement is the best present we could have had. It is a resounding vote of confidence. With the foundations having been laid, the renewed funding enables us to achieve even greater success in the next five years at a time when public health in England is undergoing major transformation.’

Peter Kelly, Director of Public Health at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, said: ‘Across the North East we have long faced the challenge of health inequalities that are embedded in our society.

Local government now has responsibilities for most aspects of public health and the NHS has a duty to reduce health inequalities. It is more important than ever to carry out high quality public health research and for the responsible local government and NHS organisations to put it into practice. Through Fuse, the North East has access to international class public health research and it is excellent news for the region that Fuse has secured further funding and I am delighted that the efforts of the Fuse team to date have been recognised through this renewal.’

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