CRC - Tayside Opens its doors to the public

Open day at Clinical Research Centre

Tayside’s new £13 million Clinical Research Centre, which was officially opened last summer, will be opening its doors to the public next month with an open day aimed at highlighting the work of the centre to local people.

Visitors to the facility which was developed by the University in close partnership with NHS Tayside, will have the opportunity to see around the custom-built, state-of-the-art facilities including the body scanning suite, consulting rooms and equipment.

They will also be able to speak to staff, find out more about clinical research, learn about CPR and take part in a range of health checks including blood pressure and BMI measuring.

Cameron Glen, Business Development manager at the CRC, said the open day was aimed at raising awareness of the new centre and highlighting the importance of clinical research.

“We want to make sure that the people of Tayside have the opportunity to see our new facilities and meet our staff to discuss any questions they may have about clinical research,” he said.

“The open day is part of a national Clinical Research Facility programme and we’re hoping to explain why clinical research is a good thing, how people can be sure it is safe and ethical and how they can find out more and ultimately help. Our hope is that it will encourage future recruitment to forthcoming projects.”

Mr Glen added that stalls offering information about particular trials and how they work will be on display around the centre as will some of the devices invented in Tayside and Scotland to improve medical care.

The Clinical Research Centre, situated adjacent to Ninewells Hospital, was officially opened in July last year by Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. It began welcoming its first patients a few months earlier in April.

Acting as a hub for clinical trial activity it links to satellite units elsewhere in Tayside and Fife and aims to carry out studies focussing on a range of areas cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neuroscience in order to improve prevention, earlier diagnosis and improved treatments for these diseases.