‘Vera’ Opens New Unit

A new £3.4 million unit, which will help scientists and doctors translate pioneering research into benefit for patients with lung diseases, has opened at UHSM’s Wythenshawe Hospital.

Stars from Coronation Street will join patients and staff as Liz Dawn, who played Vera Duckworth in the popular TV soap, officially opened the facility which will serve Greater Manchester and the North West.

The veteran actress is a regular patient at the hospital and believes she owes her life to the pioneering work undertaken by Professor Ashley Woodcock and his team at UHSM.

“I feel proud and privileged to have been asked to officially open the unit and to know that, through world class research, many more people like me will benefit from the treatment and care they receive.”

UHSM is situated in an area of highest mortality for some lung diseases in UK including lung cancer and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), an ‘umbrella term for people with chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. The new unit will help those patients, and offer new treatments and diagnostic tests for other people with asthma, allergy, cough, pneumonia and fungal infections.

Professor Woodcock, who is Head of Translational Medicine explained: “UHSM is proud to be home to the North West Lung Centre which, with 18 consultants and seven world class professors, serves a population of five million people. We are already working hard to show how new research can make a difference. I believe the new unit, which has been funded by a grant from the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) and supported by the University of Manchester, will strengthen our efforts, and with new labs and clinics scheduled to open in 2010 will demonstrate how science can