Bedfordshire's health research rewarded with House of Commons visit

Thu 12 March, 2015
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The 亚色视频鈥檚 world-leading health research was rewarded this week, as Professor Gurch Randhawa attended the Parliamentary launch of 鈥楢 Manifesto for Health Education鈥, by university think-tank million+.

Director of the Institute for Health Research at the University, Prof Randhawa visited the House of Commons for Wednesday鈥檚 launch (March 11), headed by Andrew George, a Liberal Democrat and member of the Health Select Committee.

The manifesto calls on political parties to recognise the importance of universities in health and social care education.

鈥淭he million+ health education manifesto is a positive step in ensuring that the future health workforce is suitably trained,鈥 said Prof Randhawa. 鈥淚t is imperative that a future Government recognises the role universities have to play in training this workforce.鈥

Prof Randhawa鈥檚 visit follows on from the recent recognition of Bedfordshire鈥檚 health research as internationally excellent and world-leading in the Research Excellence Framework 2014.

He was joined by three international students who have been awarded Commonwealth Scholarships, allowing them to improve the lives of those back in their home countries upon the completion of their MSc Public Health degrees.

鈥淭he Commonwealth Scholars will benefit from high quality training during their time studying at the 亚色视频 and once they return to their home country, they will be able to put this learning into public health practice,鈥 said Prof Randhawa.

鈥淥ur bid for these scholarships was judged on the quality of the course and adherence of the need for Commonwealth Scholars to return home straight away at the end of their award, so the scholar can make a positive impact on their home country.鈥

Sairana Ahsan, a Pharmacist from Bangladesh, added:

鈥淭he course is fantastic. We have the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers and share our ideas with students from all around the world. And the visit to the British parliament was too good an opportunity to miss.鈥

Professor Gurch Randhawa and students

Following the visit to Parliament, Prof Randhawa travelled to Brussels to advise the European Commission on how to cope with organ donation in a European climate dominated by changes in immigration and globalisation.

In his role as Director of the UK Organ Donation and Transplant Centre at the University, Prof Randhawa was able to suggest how European countries can recognise the needs of different communities and develop culturally-appropriate public engagement organ donation initiatives.

鈥淭he UK is the only country where such work has taken place, so I was delighted to share our work and discuss ideas with the National Policy Leaders across Europe on how to take this research forward,鈥 he said.

鈥淚t would be fantastic if the European Commission could lead a programme of work to ensure that opportunities to discuss organ donation are inclusive to all sections of Europe鈥檚 diverse populations.鈥

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