Royal prize for medical engineering pioneers
5 December 2011
The Royal seal of approval was granted in recognition of two decades of world-leading medical engineering research that have resulted in longer-lasting hip joints, replacement heart valves and knee reconstruction.
Also home of the WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering, supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the University has pioneered research into joint replacements, spinal interventions and tissue engineering. Research from WELMEC and the University's Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (IMBE) have resulted in new products and therapies that are in use by surgeons in clinics and hospitals around the world.
Professor John Fisher, Director of WELMEC and also Director of the University's IMBE, expressed his pride at the award: "We are absolutely delighted. This is recognition for the hard work of a lot of people - and of the fact that we are taking this work forward into the future.
"Our objective is to improve the quality of life of people as they age by focusing upon the research, development and translation of practical medical engineering interventions. We are driven by the conviction that, with the right medical and biological interventions, the goal of 50 active years after the age of 50 is within reach."
Dr Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust, said: "This award recognises not only the quality and excellence of 20 years of research from the University of Leeds but also the significance of medical engineering at the frontiers of medical innovation."
Watch a video of Professor Fisher discussing the work of the WELMEC Centre towards making the last 50 years of our lives as comfortable as the first 50.
Image credit: Bill McConkey, Wellcome Images.
