1. King's Health Partners
King’s Health Partners is a collaboration between one of the world’s leading research-led universities (King’s College London) and three of London’s most successful NHS Foundation Trusts – Guy’s and St. Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London & Maudsley.
Our driving purpose is to bring about swifter and more effective improvements in health and well-being for our patients by combining the best of basic & translational research and world-class teaching to deliver ground-breaking advances in physical and mental healthcare.
We are one of only five Academic Health Science Centres in the UK accredited by the Department of Health. This followed a selection process carried out by a panel of internationally renowned clinicians and researchers.
2. MRC Centre for Transplantation
The MRC Centre for Transplantation unites basic and clinical research at King's College London with collaborators at Harvard in the USA. The Centre combines expertise in basic immunology and transplantation biology at KCL with the large number of transplant patients looked after the partner NHS Trusts of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The Centre brings together researchers in genetics, imaging sciences, stem cell biology and biotherapeutics, and utilizes the strength of the College’s Centre for Medical Law and Ethics to build a vision for health, education and research translation. A key part of the Centre’s work is to develop an educational programme both internally for members of the collaborative faculties and Trusts and also to set up PhD opportunities for students looking to develop a career in research.
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3. Academic Urology
Academic Urology, led by a Professorial Chair of Robotic Surgery and Urological Innovation, along with a team of basic scientists and clinical researchers is based within this centre. We have a number of active research groups with interests in receptor biology of overactive bladders, gene fusions in prostate cancer and therapeutic targeting with membrane tagged technology.
There are strong collaborations with our imaging sciences and mechatronics groups with project grants in image guided surgery, robotic haptics and ergonomics. We have established successful collaborations in CLRN badged trials in bladder and prostate cancer such as BOLERO and LOPERA.
A multi-million pound project – the “Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning Initiative (STeLi) – Modular Cross Over training in Urology” provides simulation-based training in technical skills and human factors to trainees in the South London Deanery. It is strongly supported by grant funding from the School of Surgery as well as from industry and is the recipient of two Gold medals.
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4. NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
In December 2006 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, along with its academic partner King's College London, was awarded one of five new National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive Biomedical Research Centres in the UK. These Centres have a strong focus on translational research taking advances in basic medical research out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting so that they can benefit patients. They form a key part of the Department of Health's new strategy for research and development in the NHS.
The aim of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' / KCL is to create a unique Centre that will enable our pipeline of excellent basic biomedical research to deliver real change in the management of our patients. The Trust has been awarded £10 million a year over five years from April 2007 to fund the Biomedical Research Centre. A new Faculty of Translational Medicine has been established within the Centre to develop our R&D capacity through the training of scientists, clinicians and allied healthcare professionals. Our Biomedical Research Centre has a strong commitment to training and developing research capacity, as well as a clear strategy for extending user involvement in research. The Centre is supported by a Clinical Research Facility (CRF), which has facilities reflecting the different functions and service and research needs of each site. A unique Biomedical Forum provides a showcase for our translational biomedical and clinical research work, and will foster greater collaboration between clinicians and basic scientists.
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All the London South urology units place a strong emphasis on audit with some units producing 8-10 completed audits each year and 1-2 peer-reviewed publications. Many audit topics have been presented at major urological forums.
The programme from the most recent South Thames Urology Meeting can be viewed using the link in the right-hand column. Details of the next meeting can be found by clicking here.
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