The asthma, allergy and immunology service in Southampton has once again been named as a World Centre of Excellence for clinical innovation and research.
The endorsement means Southampton will continue to lead training, research and education internationally until 2026. The recognition comes from the World Allergy Organisation.
A number of the centre’s experts drive cutting-edge research in the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre and its Respiratory and Allergy theme.
The University Hospital Southampton (UHS) department is one of the largest allergy and immunology centres in the country. It was the first centre in the world to be awarded Centre of Excellence status in 2014.
Asthma and allergy research
The department has an extensive research programme alongside hospital care. This aims to discover new ways to prevent the development of asthma and allergy, as well as finding better treatments for sufferers.
Projects include studying the effects of both genetic and environmental factors and how changes in the make-up of genes can play a role in altering the risk of allergic disease to see how the process could be reversed.
Partners at the University of Southampton also offer one of only two MSc Allergy programmes in the world. It is the only one that is fully online and provides quality education for healthcare professionals, which is core to delivering quality clinical care for patients with allergy.
Three decades of excellence
The renewal bid was led by Professor Hasan Arshad with Dr Mich Lajeunesse and Professors Graham Roberts and Judith Holloway.
Professor Arshad, a UHS consultant and chair of allergy and clinical immunology at the University of Southampton, said:
“Southampton allergy experts have been at the forefront of the field for more than 30 years. We are in a unique position to be able to take our basic scientific discoveries through clinical trials and into the patient clinic.
“We are delighted to be named as a world centre of excellence, which is a testament to the hard work of our researchers and clinicians who are dedicated to improving patient care and research.”