The world's biggest research study into children's health was launched in Bradford today.

The lives of more than 10,000 babies born in the city will be tracked by medical experts starting from their mother's pregnancy until they are 16.

The Born in Bradford study will cost about £3 million but it has already attracted £1 million funding from the Department of Health and the European Commission.

Its patron, Imran Khan, former Pakistan cricket captain and the newly-installed Chancellor of Bradford University, today urged businesses, community groups and individuals to back an appeal to raise £1 million towards the study The Born In Bradford Appeal, which is being backed by the Telegraph & Argus, will support the costs of the ground-breaking project which is expected to provide internationally-regarded information to help prevent or cure illness and disease.

Mr Khan said: "This is a fantastic experiment. It will follow the lives of children born in Bradford over many years to discover how they react to their environment.

I am all for research of this sort and I hope something substantial comes out of it."

Today Mr Khan visited the maternity unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary to meet doctors and researchers closely involved in the project.

As well as closely monitoring the progress of about 10,000 babies born at Bradford Royal Infirmary in 2007/8 until they are 16, the study will also follow parents and grandparents enabling doctors to explore the causes of common conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

By involving a diverse community such as Bradford, the project is the first of its kind in the world to research the impact of ethnicity on later development.

Starting next summer researchers will recruit pregnant women for the study to enable them to collate a wide range of information about babies born at BRI as they grow up in a city which has a high rate of illness and disease.

They will piece together a picture of each child by examining such factors as their genes, diet, lifestyle, schooling, neighbourhood and upbringing to help the world of medicine understand the causes of childhood illnesses and adult diseases.

Professor John Wright, director of research and development at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the study would put the city on the international research map.

"Not since chemotherapy was pioneered in this city more than 50 years ago has there been a research project of this scale or importance, " he said.

"It will equip us with the information to discover how and why some children fall ill, while others do not. In 20 years' time, we will have witnessed a whole generation growing up in the city.

"By pinpointing the causes of disease, we will have the key to not only improving the health of Bradford people, but also the health of others across the world."

David Richardson, chairman of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The study provides a unique opportunity to get the whole of Bradford involved in groundbreaking medical research.

"This will not be a group of scientists doing research in a laboratory but a whole city engaged in, and excited by, research.

"The study will improve the ways that health, education and social services deliver care, providing a legacy for Bradford that will last 30 or 40 years and raise the profile of the city far beyond the UK."

The project is being co-ordinated by the newly-formed Bradford Health Academy, a partnership involving Bradford Teaching Hospitals, the district's primary care trusts, the universities of Bradford and Leeds, with support from Bradford Council, Bradford Health and Equality Action Team and Bradford Vision.

Thursday, December 8, 2005