Leeds Teaching Hospitals has been awarded £1.5m from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to support the Trust’s ambition to further advance cutting-edge research and enable more patients across the region to benefit from life-changing research.
The funding has been awarded to support four initiatives which include pioneering equipment and essential digital infrastructure to allow the Trust to drive further collaboration between academic and industry partners, help streamline the delivery of innovative clinical trials, in line with the ambitions of the Life Sciences Sector Plan and develop more treatments for the future.
Funds will allow Leeds Teaching Hospitals to purchase a HistoSonics pioneering non-invasive platform, further expanding the Trust’s use of the Histosonic’s novel sonic beam therapy (histotripsy) to advance research into new cancer therapies.
Led by Professor Tze Min Wah, Professor of Interventional Radiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, this innovative technology was initially used by the Trust to conduct the liver tumour therapy in the Hope4Liver trial (2021) and subsequently world-first kidney tumour treatment using the technology in 2023 through the CAIN Trial. Data from the trial showed that it enabled day-case treatment leading to faster recovery, shorter hospital stays, and reduced complications, benefiting patients who participated in the trial and paving the way for future treatments.
Now, this latest investment means that the Trust, with support from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care, can expand its research and explore this technology for treating additional cancers and benefit more patients.
Investment will also deliver critical infrastructure to support a new simulated surgical operating suite at the Trust aimed at evaluating the environmental impacts of surgical innovations, driving connectivity between partners to accelerate new innovations and enable joint research between NHS and academia.
Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, SUSTAIN, (Sustainability and Simulation Theatre for Academia and Industry) will be based at Leeds General Infirmary and is led by the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care offering an environment to test and implement new solutions into real-life settings. The additional NIHR investment will equip the facility with additional state-of-the-art equipment that will accelerate the development, evaluation and deployment of greener surgery technologies across the NHS.
The NIHR funding will also support translational research delivered by the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Leeds Clinical Research Facility by funding new equipment to evaluate a new AI enabled handheld cardiac ultrasound device to speed up heart failure diagnosis in GP practices, allowing more research to be delivered in out-of-hospital settings.
Finally, investment will cover the expansion of digital infrastructure within the Trust to develop and validate AI imaging algorithms that will improve the diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision making across major disease areas.
Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said: “This funding represents another step forward in how Leeds Teaching Hospitals, in collaboration with our NIHR infrastructure, is transforming research to reality. It means we can accelerate innovation, expand research capacity and enhance our technology so that patients benefit sooner from the latest breakthroughs.
“The Trust is a world-leading centre for excellence and these initiatives demonstrate how we’re already delivering against the NHS Ten Year Plan by ensuring our research and innovation enables more communities to benefit from life-changing research which supports prevention and accelerates the adoptions of digital and AI. Together with our partners across academia and industry, this additional investment will allow us to expand our research and create the right environment for world-class clinical studies so we support today’s challenges and transforming the healthcare of the future.”
This award is part of national funding which has seen the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) award £47.8 million to pay for equipment that will increase the ability of the NHS to deliver high-quality commercial research, as part of the Government’s aim to turbocharge clinical trials.
The award is funded by a partnership between the government and the pharmaceutical industry, called the Voluntary Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme. The VPAG programme is designed to boost the global competitiveness of the UK life sciences sector and stimulate economic growth by accelerating commercial clinical trials, boosting NHS research capacity, and supporting sustainable, innovative medicine manufacturing.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR said: “This significant investment will provide the NHS with the high-quality equipment and facilities it needs to deliver cutting-edge commercial research that benefits the public.”
The NIHR Capital Investment Funding awards are designed to strengthen the UK’s capacity to conduct worldclass research that addresses the most pressing health and care challenges — from early detection and prevention to treatment, recovery, and digitally enabled care.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals will begin planning and procurement immediately, with new equipment and infrastructure expected to be in place from Summer 2026.