THE University of Edinburgh has secured £25.7 million from the UK Government to create a world leading biology research complex and a new centre that will aim to discover and deliver new treatments for damaged tissues.
The two projects account for a quarter of a fiercely competitive £100 million funding round from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.
The funding was announced this morning (Wednesday) by Greg Clark, the UK Minister for Universities, Science and Cities.
The new centre for Tissue Repair will bring together experts in inflammation and scarring, and tissue regeneration.
Researchers hope to discover and deliver new treatments for tissue damage, such as the destruction of nerve cells in multiple sclerosis or damage to the liver caused by infections.
Advanced imaging and sensing technologies will be developed that will enable researchers to view and measure tissue regeneration in real time.
Such techniques will be critical for helping researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments in clinical trials.
The new research complex will bring together three research areas and an advanced technology hub. It will also include facilities for community engagement.
The three areas are infection and global health, synthetic biology, and epigenetics – the study of how genes can be modified without a change to the DNA sequence.
Synthetic biology creates artificial biological systems that can be used by industry and in medical research. They could also aid the discovery of new drugs.
Professor David Gray, Head of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said: “This investment will position Edinburgh as one of the world’s finest research clusters for biological sciences.”
