LSTM’s latest estates addition, the Accelerator, has been officially opened by Professor Sir Christopher Evans OBE.
Situated on Liverpool’s Daulby Street, the Accelerator co-locates key researchers from LSTM and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust (RLBUHT) along with a range of health-related SMEs and industrial partners.
Those attending were welcomed by the Chair of LSTM’s Board of Trustees, James Ross OBE, who highlighted LSTM’s historical links with Liverpool’s healthcare providers. He was followed by Aidan Kehoe, the CEO of the RLBUHT, who thanked those in attendance and the building’s funders. He talked about the Accelerator as the heart of Liverpool’s Health Campus and a space bringing together academics, clinicians and industry to generate new treatments and products for the health of Liverpool, the UK and beyond.
LSTM’s Director, Professor Janet Hemingway CBE, said she was delighted with the partnership between the hospital, LSTM, Liverpool City Council and industry describing the building as a vibrant hub to further cement the position of Liverpool as a world leader in infectious diseases research. She said: “LSTM has been working in strategic partnerships for the benefit of patients locally and globally for the last 120 years and I am delighted to welcome a range of small businesses to work alongside us in that effort. The building will push forward our portfolio in the field of resistance in all its forms, both antibiotic and other drug and insecticide resistance – fields in which LSTM already excels.”
Professor Hemingway invited Professor Sir Christopher Evans to officially declare the building open and he did so while congratulating everyone involved for their vision and dedication in bringing the project to fruition, which he felt would benefit from the energy generated by the partnership. He welcomed the building as latest part of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter expansion, highlighting the benefits that this will bring in terms of investment into the region.
Following the official opening invited guests enjoyed a tour of the building. They met representatives from the SMEs, along with LSTM’s lead in antimicrobial resistance, Dr Adam Roberts. They visited the Liverpool Insecticide Testing Establishment (LITE) as well as the Accelerator Research Clinic, where LSTM’s respiratory group utilises a unique human challenge model to test and develop new vaccines for pneumococcal disease.
The construction of the Accelerator has been made possible by funding from ERDF; Wolfson Foundation; NHS capital funding and Liverpool City Region Single Investment Fund (SIF).