PRINCESS Anne will open a centre at a college today (Friday).

Her Royal Highness will be greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, the Countess of Verulam, as she unveils the Royal Veterinary College’s (RVC) new Teaching and Research Centre.

She will tour the Hawkshead Campus building, before unveiling a plaque at the Brookmans Park-based facility, which will provide a home for lifestyle research, including conditions such as obesity/diabetes, chronic kidney disease and arthritis as well as those with genetic roots.

RVC Principal Professor Stuart Reid said: “The RVC is extremely proud to welcome Her Royal Highness to open the new Teaching and Research Centre – a facility where our students are taught within an environment that is all about advanced scientific discovery and first class research. The building houses the engine of academic enquiry and is a wonderful space where our academic community generates new insights into diseases that affect humans and animals.

“The centre allows us to tie together the various threads we have around the study of illnesses that result from lifestyle in humans and animals, such as those associated with age or genetic disorders. Our College collaborates with the research hub that is the London scientific research community. We are extremely well placed to carry out the work in conjunction with human medical research groups and bring the veterinary perspective to the understanding of disease. The building offers new opportunities, both nationally and internationally”.