ReaCH 'Power of Partnership' event will showcase research into action

The 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 free event will be held in Glasgow Caledonian University's Annie Lennox Building on Tuesday, April 23 from 9.30am-12.45pm, followed by a networking lunch. Register here through Eventbrite.

ReaCH, in the School of Health and Life Sciences, is home to 10 different research groups. The Centre works with the public and people with lived experience of a range of health conditions. Working with partners such as the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, Public Health Scotland, industry and charities, the aim of the Centre is to use research to find new ways of tackling health conditions that may affect us all, from stroke to cancer, to substance use and women’s health issues and infections.

Scotland's Minister for Public Health and Women's Health Jenni Minto will support the event with a recorded message. Other key speakers are Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) Director Elinor Jayne and Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) representative Caroline Sincock, who lives with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The event, showcasing the importance of partnership working in turning research into action, will be opened by Professor Steve Decent, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University, followed by a welcome from ReaCH Co-Directors Professor Carol Emslie and Professor Frederike van Wijck.

The audience 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? How are GCU working with and for LGBTQIA+ communities in Scotland and Beyond?’ 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 Dawn Skelton and Professor Katrina Bannigan; ‘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.

Professor Decent said: "I have been impressed by the world leading health research within the School of Health and Life Sciences which results in tangible improvements to people’s lives. What is clear to me is that we could not achieve this without the valuable contribution and support of our many partners.”

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 2022, 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 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."