Research centres

The following are established University of York research centres whose work connects with the aims of the Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders.

Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry

The Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry at the University of York is a joint initiative of the Departments of Biology and Chemistry. It was created in 2008 thanks to a major capital investment of £1.6 million through Science City York, supported by Yorkshire Forward with funds from the Northern Way initiative. The facility helps scientists to tackle some of their most testing analytical challenges, and provides a highly specialised technical service to both academia and industry.

Centre for Health Economics (CHE)

CHE, established almost 30 years ago, is an internationally leading group specialising in research in all aspects of health economics. The development and application of methods to inform policy and practice is at the heart of CHE's research and in 2007 the University of York was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, in recognition of the contribution health economics research has made to the way society thinks about health and health care. CHE has been at the forefront of technology assessment, including research on the value of innovation for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the use of value based pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals, and policy responses to evidential uncertainty in new technologies when they seek to gain access to the NHS market.

Centre for Hyperpolarization in MRI (CHyM)

Funded by a £4.6M grant from the Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation, and supported by significant industrial investment, ChyM provides the laboratory facilities required to take the discovery of hyperpolarization by SABRE through to the clinic. New build to house underpinning chemistry research, and to provide pre-clinical scanning facilities are due for completion in 2012.

Centre for Immunology and Infection (CII)

Established in 2005, the CII is an interdepartmental centre created by HYMS and Biology. It houses 12 PIs (including Kaye and Smith) and 45 research staff and students. Since opening, it has attracted over £16M in charity and research council funding including program grant awards from the Wellcome Trust and MRC. Research in CII focuses on the immunology of chronic disease, with a particular emphasis on neglected tropical diseases. CII is a hub for CIDCATS, a Wellcome 4 year PhD program.

Centre for Global Health Histories (CGHH)

CGHH houses 10-12 historians, with associates drawn from across the University and from overseas and will be the home for a new MA in Medical Humanities. The Centre's activities highlight the importance of inter-disciplinary conversations, and provide inter-disciplinary mentorship of all kinds. It runs an internship program and a series of workshops in collaboration with the WHO.

Centre of Health and Population Sciences (ChaPS)

The Centre for Health and Population Sciences (CHaPS) is one of the academic centres of HYMS. It hosts ten members of staff with interests in disciplines relevant to health services research and /or public health. It aims to undertake research that improves health and healthcare through the development of rigorous research evidence and its application in policy and practice. The Centre is multidisciplinary, both in terms of professional background and research expertise, and includes expertise in clinical trials, epidemiology, health economics, health services research, nursing, medicine and psychology. Research covers a broad range of topics including: cancer epidemiology; communication and decision making; mental health; neonatal and infant nutrition; palliative care; public health; and primary care. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the Department of Health Sciences (including colleagues in CHaPS, CHE and CRD) was rated equal first in the UK for Health Services Research.

Centre for Mental Health Social Research

The Centre for Mental Health Social Research is a collaborative centre bringing together researchers at the University of York undertaking social science research into mental health and well-being. Based in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, the Centre's research focuses on social perspectives in mental health through the life course from childhood to old age. The Centre meets a need for research into the social, economic and cultural factors which help to enhance mental well-being and support recovery from mental distress. This includes deepening our understanding of the social circumstances that promote resilience and mental well-being; developing and evaluating social interventions; and applying social science methods to questions about the interplay between mental health and social inequalities of multiple types.

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD)

CRD is a leading centre in evidence synthesis, conducting and disseminating rigorous systematic reviews to inform decision making in health, public health and social care. It covers a broad range of health care areas spanning prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and service delivery and organisation. CRD also produces internationally renowned databases providing access to thousands of quality assessed systematic reviews and economic evaluations. The centre was created and has been built around the technique of evidence synthesis; a research methodology which is internationally recognised as the gold standard in generating evidence to inform practice and policy decisions. The centre is one of the largest groups in the world engaged exclusively in evidence synthesis and has more than 50 members of staff with a range of disciplinary backgrounds including medicine, nursing, biology, psychology, health economics, medical statistics and information science. CRD is also part of the National Institute for Health Research.

Centre for Usable Home Technology (CUHTec)

CUHTec conducts world-class interdisciplinary research to understand what people want from the technology in their homes; it offers leading edge training, consultancy, and events. Too many technologies and services are developed without considering the actual needs of real users. Our research aims to thoroughly understand the needs of users, especially older and disabled people, and then to use this understanding to devise new technologies that can help. CUHTec researchers come from the Computer Science, Psychology, Electronics and Sociology departments at the University of York.

Complementary Medicine Evaluation Group

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) encompasses a diverse range of autonomous health care practices used for health maintenance, disease prevention and for the treatment of ill health. These practices can be integrated for use together with conventional medical approaches to create a broader range of options for patient healthcare. Public demand for CAM has grown rapidly in recent years, but NHS provision has remained patchy. The Complementary Medicine Research Group has a track record of academic involvement, conducting clinical evaluations of osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture and homeopathy. Our research into CAM is informed by a patient- and practitioner-centered perspective. We have been successful in attracting a range of funding, including for doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, for a Career Scientist Award and for a number of evaluative research projects.

Epidemiology and Cancer Statistics Group (ECSG)

The Epidemiology & Cancer Statistics Group (ECSG) is a synergistic team of researchers based in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York. Major research themes include cancer epidemiology, in particular the determinants, prognosis and treatment of haematological malignancy, as well as cancer in children and young adults. ECSG researchers work in partnership with clinical and laboratory based colleagues across the University, as well as the Yorkshire and Humberside Haematology Network and the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service (HMDS) based at Leeds General Infirmary. In addition to research, an important part of the ECSG’s work is concerned with the provision of high quality information about haematological malignancy to clinicians and researchers, as well as to the participants in their various studies and members of the public.

Humanities Research Centre

This major research centre for the humanities is housed in the spectacular new Berrick Saul Building at the heart of the University campus. The postgraduate study area, open 24 hours a day, provides high quality working and social space for postgraduate students. Seminar rooms, an auditorium, research centres and academic offices are also located within the building. The Centre is the campus hub for humanities research and postgraduate life for the arts and humanities community and hosts an exciting range of reading groups, seminars, workshops and international conferences.

Jack Birch Unit for Molecular Carcinogenesis

The Jack Birch Unit was opened in 1992, funded by the generosity of the late Jack Birch, OBE and York Against Cancer. Research in the Jack Birch Unit concentrates on epithelial tissues, which give rise to more than 80% of all adult human cancers. Our main focus is on bladder cancer which is studied relatively little despite being the 5th most common adult cancer. Bladder cancers develop from the urothelium, the specialised lining of the bladder wall.

Mental Health and Addicition Research Group (MHARG)

The Mental Health and Addiction Research Group (MHARG) is a leading UK centre for research excellence. Our work focusses on the care of people with addictions or mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar illness. We apply population science and an economic perspective. Our aim is to inform practice and policy to ensure addictions services and NHS mental health care is effective, efficient and equitable. The group is a joint collaborative enterprise between the University of York’s Department of Health Sciences and the Hull York Medical School (HYMS).

Palaeo: Centre for Human Palaeoecology & Evolutionary Origins

PALAEO is an interdisciplinary research centre in human evolution and palaeoecology that brings together York’s world-leading expertise in evolutionary anatomy, ancient DNA, biodiversity, psychology, palaeoenvironmental studies, prehistory and geochronology. The exceptional breadth of PALAEO allows the centre to take a fully-integrated, cross-disciplinary approach to major research questions in human evolution and its environmental setting. PALAEO is open to all York researchers in this exciting field, and to their collaborators elsewhere.

Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU)

Established in 1973 and 2010 winner of the Queen's Anniversary Prize, SPRU has 30 research staff and post-graduate students. It has a grant income of around £2.5m pa, from government, NIHR, ESRC and charities. Research in SPRU focuses on the impact of chronic disease in children, adults and older people, with a particular emphasis on service delivery, financing, and continuity of care.

YCR Cancer Research Unit

The YCR Cancer Research Unit at the University of York was set up in 1980 by the then Yorkshire Cancer Research Campaign, now renamed Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR), which is an independent charity dedicated to funding cancer research within Yorkshire. The Unit currently focuses on studying prostate cancer using many different techniques and approaches with the aim of contribuing to successful treatment strategies in the future.

York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis (YCCSA)

YCCSA is an interdisciplinary research cooperative, comprising around 70 research staff and students from seven Departments resident in the Ron Cooke Hub, and further affiliate members located in their home Departments. The research focus is on 'real world complexity requiring interdisciplinary solutions'. YCCSA members have a strong teaching, publication and research grant record, with £7.3M of currently active research grants from diverse funding sources, and a healthy pipeline of proposals accepted, submitted and in preparation.

York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI)

The York Environmental Sustainability Institute has been created to ensure that York's world-leading researchers can operate in an inter-disciplinary setting to undertake the research needed to tackle major environmental issues. It brings together researchers working on environmental questions across a broad range of disciplines and is open to all York researchers and their collaborators.

York HCI - Human Computer Interaction Research Group

The Human Computer Interaction research group at the University of York is one of the oldest in the UK. It is part of the university-wide York HCI group, which includes members in the departments of Engineering, Psychology and Sociology. The group undertakes research into the design and evaluation of interactive systems from both theoretical and applied perspectives. The group has a highly interdisciplinary approach drawing on methodologies from anthropology, computer science, mathematics, psychology and sociology.

York NeuroImaging Centre (YNiC)

YNiC was established in 2005 with funding from Wellcome and Wolfson. YNiC offers state of the art neuroimaging facilities including MRI and MEG. Recent additional investment has provided equipment for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Research undertaken at YNiC largely focuses on cognitive and sensory processing in health and disease, and on neuroimaging methods. Collaborative research between YNiC and the Department of Chemistry has ledto the establishment of the Centre for hyperpolarization in MRI (CHyM), a multi-disciplinary centre of the Departments of Chemistry, Psychology, and Biology, and HYMS, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

York Plasma Institute (YPI)

YPI was established in 2010 in the Department of Physics, as a collaboration between the University and the EPSRC, with £6M of investment over 5 years, including 3 new academic appointments. Part of the YPI research programme seeks to develop cold non-equilibrium plasmas for therapeutic purposes.

York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL)

A long-standing grouping with excellence in computational structural biology, protein crystallography, and biological NMR spectroscopy. It embraces the activities of 10 PIs and 50 research staff with multiple grants from the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, the British Heart Foundation, Research Councils and EU. Research in the area of chronic diseases encompasses bacterial pathogenesis, diabetes, malaria, leishmaniasis and Alzheimer's, focussing on structure-based approaches to protein function and drug discovery.

The York Trials Unit

Established in 1996. It has led numerous randomised trials and other rigorous experimental designs in the field of health care. The quality of its work is recognised through full registration by the UKCRN. As well as applying existing methods to trial design the Unit has an important methodological research strand and its work has influenced the design of cluster, preference and pragmatic trial design. The Trials Unit works closely with the Centre for Health Economics to ensure that there are robust economic evaluations designed into the trials to better inform policy makers.

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