The full-day research conference will showcase some of the vital research that the charity has funded to date. It will also provide a forum to discuss future research projects.

The conference will be the first in person event run by the charity for several years and will allow researchers to meet face to face to discuss possible collaborative projects. The conference will be free to attend, but participants must register in advance here. The deadline for registration is 27 May 2022.

Baroness Finlay, Chair of the CO Research Trust, will open the conference, focusing on some of the key challenges and priorities for research in this area. The event is open to anyone who has an interest in improving awareness and understanding of CO exposure.

Baroness Finlay said: “Since 2013 the trust has invested almost £3 million in research projects. We are committed to investing a similar sum over the coming years. This conference will allow us to review the research funded so far and help us look to the future. The trust is committed to improving awareness and understanding of CO poisoning, so that lives can be saved and to minimise the impact of CO poisoning, particularly for vulnerable groups.”

The trust will provide an outline of the new grant funding process which will begin with a sandpit event on 6 July, at the same venue. Anyone considering applying for grant funding from the trust is strongly advised to attend this event on day two.

The sandpit event will bring together academics, industry professionals, researchers, and organisations with a view to creating new projects around the themes outlined below, related to CO poisoning.

  • Improved diagnosis
  • Better treatments and therapeutics
  • Understanding vulnerable groups, co-morbidities, and health outcomes.

The event will encourage free thinking to delve into the problems surrounding the above issues and to work towards uncovering innovative solutions, through research projects.

Baroness Finlay concluded: “To bring together all the great minds who work in this area provides the opportunity to lay the foundations for some really innovative and ground-breaking research. We are excited about what this event can achieve."