A consortium of the UK's largest and most successful scientific
and academic institutions has laid out its plans for the biggest
centre for biomedical research and innovation in Europe.
The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI),
founded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK,
the Wellcome Trust and UCL (University College London) has released
its vision for the institute alongside designs for the building. It
will be based at St Pancras and Somers Town in the London Borough
of Camden. The project represents a substantial investment from
charity and public funders in the future growth of one of the UK's
leading sectors.
The Vision was drafted by a panel of leading international
scientists who came together to conceive of an institute capable of
tackling 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 building, planned by a team led by the architects HOK
working with PLP Architecture, is designed to foster innovation by
allowing collaboration between different academic disciplines. The
chairman of the 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 1250 scientists working with an encompassing
infrastructure, UKCMRI will provide the critical mass, support and
unique environment to tackle difficult research
questions."
The institute's scientific vigour will be maintained by the
continuous renewal of research interests and skills - a strategy at
the core of the UKCMRI vision. Most of the research groups at
UKCMRI will be led by researchers fresh from a period of
postdoctoral research. The institute's research funding, its
interactive and interdisciplinary environment, and its cutting-edge
scientific infrastructure will allow scientists to tackle ambitious
and long-term research questions. These researchers will develop a
prominent international scientific profile during a 10-12 year stay
at UKCMRI, after which the majority will move on to leadership
positions in this country and elsewhere, 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. ?