The University of Dundee and local charity The Archie Foundation have launched a new partnership and plans for a dedicated laboratory to support world-class research into gut health in children.
The Archie Foundation Child Health Research Laboratory will be based at the University’s School of Medicine, in Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital.
The collaboration is being jointly funded by the University of Dundee and The Archie Foundation, which has received the financial backing of the Higgins family who are long-standing supporters of the charity.
Fusing the University’s strategy of delivering “research with impact” with Archie’s vision of providing access to the best healthcare for children, the partnership aims to make a global impact as well as improving paediatric care across the north of Scotland.
Its first project will see an existing laboratory being redeveloped into a purpose-designed space where a team of researchers will focus on the gut microbiome and molecular – or DNA-based – microbiology.
The research work will be led by Dr Richard Hansen, a Clinical Reader in child health at the University of Dundee, whose academic interest is in gut microbiology.
“We are keen to develop research in this field and build on existing local strengths in respiratory microbiome, alongside recent investments in adult gastroenterology research,” said Dr Hansen, who is also an Honorary Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist at both Ninewells Hospital and the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
“Better understanding of the childhood gut microbiome provides knowledge which can potentially lead to lifelong improvements in health and wellbeing. It is very relevant to children in particular, as the gut microbiome develops to adult maturity over the first three years of life and is linked to a growing number of long-term illnesses,” he said.
“We are therefore delighted to be working in partnership with The Archie Foundation to fund this exciting project, which we hope will have positive implications for healthcare both locally and across the world.”
The University of Dundee is committed to rebuilding academic child health within Dundee and the wider north of Scotland. The School of Medicine was ranked number one in Scotland and number two in the UK in The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
It is also hoped that developing world-leading local opportunities in the city will help to foster and retain talent in Dundee, where The Archie Foundation has already supported major projects at Ninewells Hospital, such as NHS Tayside’s Children’s Theatre Suite.
The suite opened in May 2022 and was specifically designed to provide a welcoming and friendly environment for children and their parents or carers.
The Archie Foundation exists to transform experiences and outcomes in healthcare and bereavement for babies, children and families across North Scotland.
Archie has helped babies, children and families for 24 years, funding specialist roles and projects at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital and, more recently, at Tayside Children’s Hospital, Highland Children’s Unit at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin.
Chief executive Paula Cormack said the launch of Archie’s Child Health Research Laboratory underlined the charity’s commitment to ensuring all children have access to the best healthcare.
“We are pleased to be working in partnership with the University of Dundee to develop the lab and support Dr Hansen and his team’s work in gut microbiology research, and we share the ambition to continue improving health outcomes for children,” she said.
“We are particularly grateful to Fred and Lesley Higgins, whose generous financial support for The Archie Foundation has enabled our contribution to this important and exciting partnership.
“Archie has raised money to support a wide range of projects which have improved children’s health and delivery of care across the north of Scotland, particularly here in Dundee as well as Aberdeen and Inverness, so we know the huge benefits this important research work will bring.”
Equipment is currently on order for the new laboratory and a technician has been appointed to work in the new space, while recruitment for clinical studies is expected to start in early 2025.
Visit www.archie.org/getsupport/ for more information about the practical, financial and emotional support available from The Archie Foundation.