State of the art imaging to fight disease
The Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling MP has opened the GSK Clinical Imaging Centre at the MRC and Imperial College London’s campus at Hammersmith Hospital.
It’s the largest centre in Europe dedicated to the development and application of imaging techniques for clinical research. It will bring together the expertise of scientists and clinicians from the MRC, Glaxo-SmithKline and Imperial College London to tackle diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and psychiatric and neurological disorders.
The centre is one of the world’s largest collaborations between industry, university and government and will create a globally-recognised centre of expertise in west London. It will substantially increase the entire research base in medical imaging in the UK which was pioneered by the MRC scientist Sir Peter Mansfield. He first used MRI to produce detailed images of soft tissues in 1973, and for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (in 2003).
Commenting on the new facility, Alistair Darling said: "This new centre is right at the forefront of the fight against some of the major diseases in the world. It means a world leading facility based here in the UK bringing the best of industry and academia together backed by the Government. It will give researchers what they need to enhance our reputation as a world leader in science, research and putting great ideas into practice, speeding up the process to deliver the new medicines that patients need."
Dr Moncef Slaoui, Chairman, GlaxoSmithKline Research & Development added: “GSK's investment in this state-of-the-art research facility reflects the positive environment for science and innovation in the UK. The science we conduct here will transform the lives of patients in the UK and around the world. It is important to us, and to the UK, that the environment remains supportive.”
Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College London, explained the benefits of the collaboration: “This centre enables us to translate our scientific advances into improving patient care as quickly as possible. By combining the expertise of leaders in imaging technology and giving them access to the very latest equipment, we can advance our understanding of diseases that affect millions of people.”
The CIC building, which is adjacent to the Hammersmith Hospital site of Imperial College London, was carefully selected for the new development as it is already home to many of the world’s leading experts in imaging technology.
The MRC’s chief executive Professor Colin Blakemore said the centre would benefit from the dynamism of its location: “The CIC is at the heart of a clinical research centre comprising the MRC’s Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College and Hammersmith Hospital. It has been an eagerly awaited addition to the site, providing substantial additional resources to a group of clinicians and scientists buzzing with ideas on how to make the most of such equipment and facilities both academically and to the benefit of patients. Imaging is allowing us to go further than many of us had imagined possible in understanding how the human body works and is an area which will greatly inform therapeutic interventions and drug development in the years to come.”
Modern imaging technology provides a ‘window’ through which to study in fine detail both disease processes and the action of potential medicines in human organs such as the brain, heart and lungs - disease-associated changes in glucose metabolism, for example, or the affinity of the drug for its target. Its sensitivity allows molecular interactions to be probed.
Backed by a 10 year commitment by GSK to invest £11 million a year in this centre, the CIC will use and advance the latest technologies in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Its facilities include an advanced radiochemistry development facility, two MRI machines and two PET scanners which give the unit the capacity to conduct up to 2,500 scans annually. Built over 3 floors it will be staffed by almost 80 clinical, scientific and support staff, plus an additional eight Research Fellows from Imperial College.
