Monday, 25 November 2024
The University of Nottingham has received a donation from local entrepreneur Nat Puri, in memory of his late wife, to be known as the Devi Puri Research Fund to support the university’s world-leading research.
Nat Puri started his career in air conditioning and refrigeration, eventually launching his own business, and a charitable foundation to support causes close to his heart.
His donation of £100k will go on to support both cardiac and neonatal research at the university – two areas that Mr Puri has a keen interest in.
He explained that part of the gift would go towards neonatal research in dedication to the years his late wife worked as a midwife at Nottingham’s City Hospital.
He said: “I have had a close connection with Nottingham for some time, and I strongly believe in the positive work the university is doing locally and further afield.
“I want to support people at a local university, so something positive can come out of the donation. My main purpose with this gift is to support something that local people are benefitting from.”
Mr Puri further explained how he wished to support the university and local education to allow for a sustained and long-term positive impact on the research coming out of Nottingham.
Lots of good things have come out of Nottingham University research, like the Nobel Prize for the MRI. One is always hopeful that something new comes out of its research, with its close links to healthcare and the QMC.”
Every year, in the UK, around 650,000 babies receive care in hospitals, with their mothers. Around 10-15% become unwell and need additional treatment, and 6-9% are admitted to neonatal units for specialist care.
A research team at the University of Nottingham, led by Professor Helen Budge and Professor Shalini Ojha, specialises in finding ways to optimise the care of premature babies with a focus on improving their long-term health and wellbeing and their families’ experience of care.
The team in the School of Medicine investigates improved ways of feeding babies, such as supporting mothers to feed their own milk, to optimise growth and brain development of these most vulnerable babies.
The donation provided by the Puri Foundation will help take this work further and improve lives of mothers and babies in our region and in other parts of the UK.
Mr Puri added that he also had a personal interest in cardiac research after being diagnosed with heart problems himself.
Professor Chris Denning, Director of the University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute and a Professor of Stem Cell Biology, will also receive part of the gift from the Puri Foundation to fund his team’s cardiac research.
Professor Denning’s team explore the impact that genetics can have on the heart, including how they can affect the type of drugs being prescribed to treat heart conditions.
We are really humbled by this donation. What we do in the lab, it requires a lot of human effort, seven days a week. It’s a lot of hours and commitment.
“But we can’t do that without the funding that employs talented people and funds the ground-breaking research. With this donation, we will be able to make safer drugs in general, particularly for those who have genetic conditions.”
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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