The University of Glasgow is one of four UK universities to benefit from research programme grants totalling £17.7 million to develop new technologies to address the health issues of an aging population.

The research, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will be led by the University of Glasgow, the University of Manchester, Imperial College London and the University of Leeds.

The University of Glasgow programme will receive £4.5 million.

Professor Jon Cooper, vice-principal for knowledge exchange at the University of Glasgow, said: “The University is delighted to see this new and exciting programme grant in the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine.

“This is a collaboration of scale, using new engineering technologies to tackle challenges and deliver outcomes across a range of medical problems.

“It is great credit to Professor Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez to have brought together this outstanding, internationally-renowned team from across the engineering, biological and clinical sciences based in Glasgow but with significant contributions from Nottingham and Imperial.”

The team at Glasgow is led by Professor Salmeron-Sanchez and includes co-investigators Professor Jon Cooper, Professor Matt Dalby, Professor Godfrey Smith and Dr Jo Mountford while Dr Felicity Rose from the University of Nottingham and Professor Molly Stevens of Imperial College London are research collaborators.

Professor Philip Nelson, chief executive of the EPSRC, said: “More of us are living longer than before. It is vital for us to continue to invest in science and engineering research so we can ensure we have active, healthy and high quality later years.

“The EPSRC is striving to make the UK a healthy nation and one where research, discovery and innovation flourishes. These programmes will help deliver both of these objectives.”