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World-class research labs ready to go

Press release issued: 26 October 2001

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
World-class research labs ready to go


Research into a range of common medical conditions including heart disease, memory impairment, diabetes and deafness will receive a major boost with the opening on October 31 of new, £9 million laboratories at Bristol University.

Called the Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrated Cell Signalling, the five-storey development is located at the core of the University's School of Medical Sciences.

The state-of-the-art laboratories will enable over 150 scientists in the University's anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacology and physiology departments to collaborate more effectively.

Communication or "signalling" within and between cells at the molecular level will be the common focus of the research carried out in the 3,000 square metre facility.

The development was made possible by a grant from the Joint Infrastructure Fund - a partnership between the Wellcome Trust, the Office of Science and Technology and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The University also put in over £1 million from its own resources.

Professor Dick Denton, the University's Chairman of Medical Sciences, said: "We're lucky enough to have a large number of distinguished scientists conducting world-class research here, but until now they've had to put up with woefully inadequate laboratory facilities. That's about to change.

"We hope very much that the longer-term result will be further important contributions to the prevention or treatment of a number of medical conditions that blight so many people's lives." The laboratories will be opened by Lord May of Oxford, who became President of the Royal Society in 2000 and holds professorships in the Department of Zoology, Oxford University and at Imperial College, London. He was formerly Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the UK Office of Science and Technology.

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Email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk
Copyright: 2001 The University of Bristol, UK
Updated: Friday, 26-Oct-2001 14:27:26 BST

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