http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/19/largest-biomedical-research-facility-europe/print

The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation aims to break down the traditional barriers between research teams as it investigates stem cells and conditions such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and autism.

Plans for Europe's largest biomedical research facility, which will study everything from stem cells to influenza when it opens in 2015, were announced yesterday by Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse.

The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) is being funded to the tune of ?600m by a range of government and charitable organisations including the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and University College London. Around 1,250 scientists will work at the new complex on a 1.4 hectare (3.5 acre) site behind the iconic St Pancras railway station in central London.

Biologists, clinical scientists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists will work alongside each other at the new facility. "UKCMRI aims to break down the traditional barriers between different research teams and different disciplines," said Nurse, who chairs the scientific planning committee for the new lab. "UKCMRI will provide the critical mass, support and unique environment to tackle difficult research questions."

Initially, research at UKCMRI will consist of the combined efforts of two other institutes, the MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute. They will work with UCL scientists in physical and biological sciences.

Focuses of research will include basic biological work such as stem cells and how organs work together. Scientists will also study the nervous system in a bid to understand conditions such as Alzheimer's and motor neurone disease and behavioural disorders such as schizoprenia and autism.

In addition, the UKCMRI will be responsible for the scientific response to emerging infleunza pandemics, carrying out rapid genetic sequencing of viruses and helping to develop vaccines - tasks that were carried out by the NIMR during the swine flu pandemic last year.

"Our single vision shows our joint commitment to beating the diseases that affect the lives of so many people in the UK each year," said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK. "By working together, UKCMRI scientists will produce cutting-edge research and help the UK keep its place as a world leader in scientific innovation.

"Crucially, these advances will be translated into better treatments for diseases, including cancer. This collaboration will ultimately bring huge benefits for cancer patients in the future, who will be diagnosed, treated and cured using breakthroughs that will be made at UKCMRI."

Construction at the St Pancras site will start next year and the institute will be up and running in 2015.

June, 19 2010 (The Guardian)