A new £600,000 research facility at Perth Royal Infirmary is to be opened on Tuesday.

The Gannochy Trust Clinical Research Suite, which was funded by the University of Dundee's £3m Diabetes Research Campaign, will be formally opened later.

Broadcaster Fred MacAulay, who hails from Perth and is a former Rector of the University of Dundee, will open the facility.

A key part of the Diabetes Research Campaign was to provide state-of-the-art clinical research facilities at Perth Royal Infirmary, enabling scientists and doctors to work together to undertake research from "the cell to the community".

It is hoped the Gannochy Trust Clinical Research Suite will fulfil this aim and enable patients in Perth and Kinross to more easily engage with researchers.

Professor Andrew Morris, Professor of Medicine at the University of Dundee, said: "We have always enjoyed wonderful support from the public across Tayside for the research we carry out, and it would not be possible to do much of that research without people getting as involved as they have.

"Thanks largely to the outstanding efforts of the members of the public, Tayside is now internationally recognised as having arguably the best information and knowledge of a diabetic population anywhere in the world - over 20,000 people across Tayside have taken part in diabetes research.

"With this facility we are reaching out to people in Perth and Kinross and making it easier for them to engage with the research we are doing, all of which is helping provide new knowledge about diabetes and shape future treatments and prevention.

"We are delighted at the backing the campaign received, and particular thanks for helping to establish the Perth centre must go to The Gannochy Trust who provided substantial funding for the project."