Plans for UK’s research hub unveiled
pharmafile | June 23, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | Cancer Research UK, MRC, UCL, UKCMRI, Wellcome, biomedical
The vision for a new UK biomedical research and innovation centre which will be the biggest in Europe has been unveiled.
The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) is the brainchild of a four-way alliance and aims to pool UK research expertise to create a magnet for the best academic researchers in the world.
The partners are the government-funded Medical Research Council (MRC), medical research charities Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, and University College London, one of Europe’s leading centres of academic medical research.
The plans were first announced in March, and the partners have now presented more detailed vision for the centre.
To be located in St Pancras and Somers Town in central London, the UKCRMI aims to break down barriers between different fields of biomedical research, and help accelerate important discoveries in the field.
Construction on the centre could begin as early as 2011, with scientists beginning work by 2015.
Once completed, the centre will have 1,500 staff, including 1,250 scientists, and an annual budget of over £100 million.
A panel of international scientists helped conceive the institute from the outset, with the aim of creating a world-leading centre to tackle the underlying causes of our most challenging health problems.
They were advised by experts from Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, the US National Institutes of Health and other world-renowned institutions, as well as leaders from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The chairman of its Scientific Planning Committee – the Nobel Laureate and President of Rockefeller University, New York and incoming President of the Royal Society – Sir Paul Nurse, explained: “UKCMRI aims to break down the traditional barriers between different research teams and different disciplines, thereby encouraging biologists, clinician scientists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists to work together to answer shared questions.
“With 1,250 scientists working with an encompassing infrastructure, UKCMRI will provide the critical mass, support and unique environment to tackle difficult research questions.”
The UKCMRI says the core of its vision is to maintain scientific vigour by continuously renewing its research interests and skills. It will do this by having most of its research groups led by researchers fresh from a period of postdoctoral research. The hope is that a combination of research funding, interactive and interdisciplinary environment, and a cutting-edge scientific infrastructure will allow scientists to tackle ambitious and long-term research questions.
The group says its researchers will develop a prominent international scientific profile during a 10-12 year stay at UKCMRI, after which most are expected to move on to leading positions in the UK and internationally, thereby fulfilling UKCMRI’s key role to propagate and disperse scientists of the highest calibre throughout the UK. The institute’s cadre of established international research leaders will provide continuity and a science-led operational culture.
Sir David Cooksey, chairman of UKCMRI, described how the institute would enable translation to the benefit of patients and the economy: “UKCMRI will encourage researchers to work together to maximise the benefits of their effort. There is a wealth of opportunity in the UK for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries which will be enhanced by the creation of UKCMRI. Through its links with the NHS, the institute will provide long-lasting benefits to people and will help to deliver innovations that will improve health and strengthen our knowledge-based economy.
Building on research excellence
UKCMRI will initially build on the complementary skills and research interests of two of the founders’ research institutes, the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (LRI), together with UCL scientists focusing on physics, computing, engineering, imaging and chemistry.
NIMR is renowned for its research in a diverse range of fields, including developmental and stem cell biology, structural biology, neuroscience, immunology and infectious disease. Its 600 scientific staff are based in laboratories in north London at Mill Hill.
NIMR director Jim Smith said: “UKCMRI builds on NIMR’s interactive and interdisciplinary approach to science, and my colleagues are working hard, together with Cancer Research UK London Research Institute and UCL researchers, to design the best possible building for our research. We are really looking forward to the new opportunities for collaboration and interaction offered by UKCMRI.”
LRI has an international reputation for basic cancer biology research, focusing on cell regulation and signalling, tumour and tissue biology, and genomic integrity. Directed by Richard Treisman, LRI has some 500 scientists working at laboratories at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, central London and Clare Hall, Hertfordshire.
In addition to funding the cost of building UKCMRI, the founders will provide ongoing research support to the institute. Wellcome Trust support will fund interdisciplinary research spanning biology, chemistry, physics, maths and engineering.
Andrew McConaghie
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