Engineering the future of medicine

WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering at the University of Leeds is helping the Wellcome Trust-EPSRC Medical Engineering Initiative celebrate its first birthday and a year in which researchers have brought groundbreaking medical technologies closer to reality.

In June 2009, the Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) announced funding for four new Centres of Excellence in Medical Engineering in the UK.

The four centres, at Imperial College London, King's College London, the University of Leeds and the University of Oxford, will receive a combined total of £41 million over the next five years. Each provides a unique environment for mathematics, physical science, engineering and medical research to collaborate, encouraging exploratory research and its translation into new healthcare products.

'50 active years after 50' is the theme of the WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering at the University of Leeds. Professor John Fisher and colleagues aim to make the last 50 years of our (increasingly longer) lives as comfortable as the first 50. They are working on longer-lasting joint replacements for the hip, knee and spine, bioregenerative scaffolds to repair heart valves and blood vessels, stem cell therapies, and biosensors and medical imaging for improved disease diagnosis and treatment.

Find out more about the Wellcome Trust-ESPRC Medical Engineering Initiative