Bradford is now leading the world in finding a cure for coronavirus, following a 'huge' announcement today (Friday).

The city has been chosen as one of five UK locations for new cutting-edge research centres tasked with finding a cure for Covid-19.

Bradford Patient Recruitment Centre (PRC) will also be at the forefront of finding a vaccine when clinical trials get underway.

Coronavirus patients in Bradford and Yorkshire will now have the opportunity to take part in the latest and most promising trials for coronavirus cures anywhere in the world.

Dr Dinesh Saralaya, who will become director of Bradford PRC said the announcement means the first ever person to be cured of coronavirus could, "quite easily," be treated in Bradford.

"We are now leading the way in the world in finding a cure," he said.

"We could quite easily find a cure for coronavirus in Bradford first.

"It is huge news, not only for Bradford, but also for West Yorkshire and Yorkshire because trials will be open to patients around the city too."

Dr Dinesh Saralaya - who will head up the new research centre

Bradford was one of 35 NHS Trusts that applied to be a PRC, which have been set up by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) with £7 million government investment.

The other PRC locations will be Blackpool, Newcastle, Leicester and Devon.

Dr Saralaya explained: "We want to take the research to where it is most needed.

"Bradford, like the other centres, has high levels of deprivation and that comes with things like heart disease, smoking."

The application process started way back in October 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, and was originally designed for late-stage clinical research into cures for a variety of diseases and viruses.

Once the Covid-19 pandemic has died down, people in Bradford will continue to have access to the latest trials for these various cures and treatments.

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Dr William van’t Hoff, Chief Executive of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, said: “The importance of clinical research has never been more evident than in the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The NIHR has been able to help fund and to support key research studies and trials into the basis, genetics, prognosis and, critically, to offer potential treatments, including the largest global clinical treatment trial in COVID-19.

"These centres now give us a further dimension and opportunity to offer large scale trials, for instance in vaccines for COVID-19, and to help deliver those at pace and scale.

"Looking further, they will help us build on our position as a great country to support life-sciences research.”