By: Communications
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the Quadram Institute on Thursday 12 December to hear about its work in addressing global challenges in human health, food and disease.
The Princess Royal met the University of East Anglia’s Vice-Chancellor Prof David Maguire and Professor Martin Warren, Interim Director of the Quadram Institute, along with colleagues from other strategic partners such as the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Prof David Maguire Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (UEA) said:
“I was delighted to have the honour of meeting Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at the Quadram Institute today. Like UEA, the Quadram is a key part of the Norwich Research Park and it is a crucial conduit for research collaboration to find solutions to some of the biggest societal health issues around gut health and the quest for healthy sustainable food.”
The Quadram Institute, which opened in 2019, is a partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
The institute combines a regional endoscopy centre, a clinical research facility and state-of-the-art bioscience laboratories, with a mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food and is home researchers, academics and NHS clinicians.
Professor Martin Warren, Interim Director of the Quadram Institute said:
“It was an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to the Quadram Institute today. It was a pleasure to be able to showcase not only how the NHS staff are providing such excellent care to patients now, but also how the work of our researchers is going to help improve gut health and deliver heathier foods in the future.”
During the tour, Her Royal Highness spoke to more than sixty staff and students who are working to address challenges in human health, food and disease.
Within the laboratories, Her Royal Highness met with PhD students who talked about how the Quadram Student Forum supports the community of students who come to the institute to train as research scientists. Postdoctoral scientists. Pediatric consultants also discussed how they are establishing their careers as independent research leaders.
The Princess Royal then unveiled a plaque to commemorate the visit to the Quadram institute in a ceremony attended by around 100 of the institute’s staff and students.
The Princess Royal enjoyed a tour where she learnt how the elements of the Quadram Institute combine to provide excellent patient care as well as developing novel foods and microbiome therapies and strategies to improve lifelong wellbeing.
In the Quadram Institute Bioscience laboratories,The Princess Royal was shown the cutting-edge research projects being undertaken, including pioneering microbial transplantation therapies to re-balance the gut microbiome to combat diseases, as well as ways in which researchers are nutritionally enhancing plants and foods to improve our diets.
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