University of Edinburgh partners in advanced care research

Legal & General announced a partnership with the University of Edinburgh to establish the Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC) which is a research programme designed to improve understanding and delivery of care in later life.

The University of Edinburgh’s grant-funded, academic-led ACRC programme’s research aims to enable data-driven, personalised, and affordable care that delivers independence, dignity, and a high quality of life for people living in their own homes or in supported care environments.

The ACRC will include an academy that will develop a new generation of enterprise-oriented leaders in later life care. This will be established through a rigorous programme of cross-disciplinary research-based training.

This will be accomplished through a seven-year multi-disciplinary programme. This programme will consists seven thematic activities combining research across various fields, including, life sciences, engineering, informatics, data, and social sciences.

A total of 15 new researchers will be employed to work at the research centre, while 36 PhD students will be recruited over the coming years.

The academic-led advanced care research programme will operate in the public interest and all research findings made during this partnership will be publicly available.

The University of Edinburgh’s partner in this endeavor is Legal & General, UK’s largest pension fund investor.

Legal & General are a leading provider of longevity risk solutions and retirement products with millions of customers thus enabling them to provide deep insights into the aging population in the UK.

This is echoed by Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Peter Mathieson.

Mathieson says, “We are delighted to host this ground-breaking collaboration with colleagues at Legal & General. This exceptional partnership will re-imagine care for the mid-21st century. As our population ages, so we need to develop innovative new approaches to provide individually-tailored care,”

He adds, ”This is the big challenge that the partners will address, bringing to bear pioneering research from the brightest academic minds across multiple disciplines to deliver creative and trusted solutions to address real world problems.”

Group CEO of Legal & General, Nigel Wilson says “Establishing the ACRC will revolutionise the UK’s commitment to understanding and addressing the huge issue of demographic change – part of a global challenge with significant social and economic impacts,”

Wilson adds that Edinburgh’s academic-led, data-based and cross-disciplinary approach will deliver vital positive change to ageing and care, which is a compelling and practical vision.

He further adds that Legal & General are forging partnerships with premier institutions all over the UK, including the University of Oxford, University of Newcastle, Bath University, and University College London.

Legal & General believes that these partnerships will help shift the dial in the delivery of science, technology and ageing care for many future generations to come.