HeRC’s Merseyside HQ is now open for business following the completion of a £3m restoration project.

With funding from the Medical Research Council, HeRC’s Merseyside HQ base at the historic Waterhouse Building, on campus at The University of Liverpool, will help bolster the North of England’s Health Informatics infrastructure.  The offices will also provide the technology needed to open-up opportunities for UK-wide research collaborations across The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research.

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Providing a much needed home for Liverpool’s multi-disciplinary health eResearch community, The Waterhouse Building will harness partnership working across a number of the university’s academic disciplines including: Public Health, Population Health and Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Infection and Global Health alongside facilities to support small animal data initiative, SAVSNET.

The fully refurbished offices, which opened on the 11 November, were largely influenced in their original design by Florence Nightingale who advised architects on the health benefits of large windows, natural daylight and good ventilation.

Originally constructed in 1887, The Waterhouse Building was used as Liverpool’s New Royal Infirmary before falling into disrepair when the hospital was moved in 1970’s.

Retaining the buildings original glazed wall tiles, large sash windows, fireplaces and parquet flooring, the Waterhouse Building joins HeRC’s Manchester base at Vaughan House in combining a rich architectural heritage with the latest in tele-communications and digital technology.

The Liverpool offices have been completed with a suite of digital technology including teleconference facilities that allow HeRC colleagues to connect with meetings and events taking place throughout the UK’s Farr Institute network.

When at capacity, 36 HeRC colleagues will be based at The Waterhouse Building including new PhD students, post-docs, lecturers, senior lecturers and professors.

Sarah O’Brien, Professor of Infectious Epidemiology and Zoonoses at The University of Liverpool said: “We are delighted with renovation work that has taken place at The Waterhouse Building.  The architects have created a truly inspiring work environment and the open plan office layout will really help unite researchers from different academic disciplines.  Colleagues are still in the process of moving in but we hope that new collaborations will be in the pipeline soon.”

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For more information please contact:

Stephen Melia, Communications Officer, Tel: 0161 306 7876, Mobile: 07757 310213, Email: stephen.melia@manchester.ac.uk