Leeds Metropolitan University is to open a new centre to conduct research into the health status of individuals and communities in order to find workable health-promotion solutions.

Issues to be investigated by the Institute for Health and Wellbeing will include men’s health, healthy communities, health promotion and nutrition, and childhood obesity.



Speaking ahead of the launch, Institute director Professor Richard Hogston said: “One of our key strengths is that our research is rooted in finding solutions that will have real impact on communities and businesses. Creating the Institute will bring together a range of related disciplines and make it easier for us all to work together, and generate and apply our research to even higher levels of excellence.”


The University says the key benefits of the Institute will include:

• A greater focus on research and enterprise;
• Bringing together a wide range of relevant research unconstrained by traditional boundaries;
• The creation of a ‘critical mass’ across a related range of disciplines through which innovation and collaboration can thrive;
• A reflection on the latest directions and priorities in funding, including key government policy priorities; and
• A cohesive portal presented to the external environment, making it easier for the research funding community, partners and clients to engage with the University’s researchers.

A recent report by the University set out to inform policy-makers, health professionals, academics, and the wider population of the health challenges men face across Europe, highlighting the state of men’s health across the continent as a serious public-health concern because of poor lifestyles and preventable risk factors that can be remedied, in part, by targeted policies and actions.