University of Huddersfield and Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt collaborate for wound management projects

The Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP) at Huddersfield has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt that will create a satellite office of the ISIaIP south of the Austrian capital Vienna. The alignment will enable joint research projects, international teaching and more publications.

The two institutions have collaborated for several years, with Professor Ojan Assadian having served as a Professor with the ISIaIP for more than four years before returning to Vienna, where he is Medical Director of the Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt as well as President of the Austrian Society for Infection Control. He became an Emeritus Professor at Huddersfield in 2018 , and is a member of advisory panel for the ISIaIP.

Professor Karen Ousey , Director of ISIaIP, said "After working closely with Professor Assadian for five years, we are absolutely delighted to formally collaborate together. This partnership will improve outcomes for patients in wound management, and will highlight the importance of wound infection prevention management.

"We believe working closely together will enhance our research development in these areas while supporting clinical staff to understand and undertake research."

Professor Assadian added that, "I am extraordinarily happy about this. I have never lost my link to Huddersfield since I was given the honour of becoming Emeritus Professor, and even though I work in Austria I feel that I am always part of the University.

"I am very pleased that we have signed this understanding and that we are establishing a physical office of the Institute here in this hospital. Over the years I have also remained in close contact even though I returned back to Austria, and with the digital communications we have kept this collaboration in research and academia as very active.

"We had a very well received wound course in Austria a couple of years ago so I have tried to foster this collaboration again, but bring it from a virtual collaboration to a more present physical one. After opening the office here, I want to have an exchange of both medical and nursing students.

"Nursing sciences and research are so far more advanced in the UK than elsewhere, so I want to use this expertise to bring people together to enable sharing and learning from each other both virtually and in person. The correct blend is necessary and fruitful for all science."

The ISIaIP at the forefront of research and teaching in the management of acute and chronic non-healing wounds. The management of acute and chronic non-healing wounds, including assessment and treatment, typically represents between three to five per cent of global health care expenditure.

The overall vision of ISIaIP is to provide translational research which fundamentally improves the quality of life for patients through a "bench to bedside" approach, entrenched in scientifically rigorous methods with a clinical focus.

The Institute consists of a multidisciplinary research team that involves the Schools of Arts and Humanities, Computing and Engineering, Human and Health Sciences and Applied Science. It also enjoys successful collaborations with universities in Israel and Australia, and works closely with the NHS Trusts within the West Yorkshire region including Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford Royal Foundation Trust and Northumbria healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.