Manchester Metropolitan University and the UK Sports Institute have joined forces to launch the Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport: a global hub for female health.

Aiming to work with elite athletes, as well as wider public health, the centre will bring together experts and conduct high-quality, hands-on research and practice-based evidence to specialise in women in sport.

“As well as supporting the enhancement of elite athletes and ensuring that Great Britain remains at the forefront of female high-performance sport science and medicine, the centre will be a trustworthy source of educational resources for women in sport in all settings,” says Kirsty Elliott-Sale, professor of female endocrinology and exercise physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport.

The centre will aim to inform policy and practice in relation to the public health agenda and use education and the development of new resources to share the latest knowledge.

Co-lead for female athlete health at UKSI, Dr Richard Burden, says the centre will be the destination for high-quality, trusted research and health and performance support for elite female athletes.

This development follows last year’s partnership between the two organisations which was formed to address the need for better quality research to support the health and performance of female athletes.

The UKSI is the largest single provider of world-class science, medicine, technology and engineering services to Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK.