Official opening for new University research unit on Cambridge Biomedical Campus

The Unit is based at the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute for Metabolic Science (IMS) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

It is part of a £24 million investment by the two medical research funders into obesity research on the Cambridge site.

Obesity and its metabolic consequences are major and growing threats to public health.

The aim of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit (MDU) is to improve understanding of the mechanisms responsible for obesity and related metabolic diseases with the eventual goal of developing interventions to prevent and treat them.

The MDU provides direct support for high-quality programmes of research that aim to improve understanding of the basic mechanisms responsible for obesity and related metabolic diseases.  It also provides key core facilities to support a wide group of investigators based at the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories (MRL) and other world-leading centres in the Cambridge area.

The new unit, the Metabolic Diseases Unit is the first MRC university unit to be developed from scratch.

Professor Steve O’Rahilly, Co-Director of the IMS and Director of the MDU said:

“This joint initiative from the MRC and the Wellcome Trust will provide exciting new opportunities to better understand the fundamental causes of diseases such as obesity and diabetes and translate that knowledge into improved therapies.”

Professor Sir John Savill, Chief Executive of the MRC said:

“Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing the future health of the developed world and understanding the causes and consequences of this condition are a major research priority.  This additional investment from us and the Wellcome Trust reflects the quality of research undertaken by the University of Cambridge and lays the foundations for taking basic scientific discoveries right through to clinical advances.”

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:

“The Wellcome Trust is very happy to be partnering with the MRC and the University of Cambridge in an ambitious joint venture that will unite experts in basic science, population science and experimental medicine to create a world-leading centre for metabolic research.”

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said:

“Obesity has become an urgent public health issue as research continues to reveal its detrimental effects. With obesity doubling between 1980 and 2008 – a span of less than 30 years – investing in obesity research has never been more critical and the University is delighted with the support of the MRC and the Wellcome Trust.”

Inset image: Professor Sir Steve O’Rahilly (Director, MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit; Co-Director, IMS), Professor Nick Wareham (Director, MRC Epidemiology Unit; Co-Director, IMS), Professor Sir John Savill (Chief Executive MRC), Dr Jeremy Farrar (Director, Wellcome Trust)