UK government commits £250m to world-leading laboratory

UCL today celebrated the government's commitment of funding to the Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI), the planned state-of-the-art biomedical research institute in central London of which UCL is a partner. £250 million funding will be passed to the Medical Research Council by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills following a successful bid for investment into the project. UKCMRI is a partnership of four of the world's most influential and respected scientific research organisations: UCL, Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust. Its aim is to discover and develop a new understanding of and treatments for the illnesses which affect all families, such as cancers, heart disease and stroke, flu and other infections. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, said: 'It's crucial that the importance of investment in medical research is widely recognised, even in today's choppy economic waters. This commitment will reap huge economic rewards for the UK's future. We know, for example, that for every £1 invested in cardiovascular disease research alone, around 39p is generated for the economy, every year, forever. ?Answering the big questions about how to tackle diseases like cancer, flu and malaria, and exploiting the promise of regenerative medicine, needs bold science. The MRC investment in UKCMRI will help to maintain the UK's position at the forefront of global biomedical research, attracting the brightest scientific minds to these world class facilities. Many of the cures, vaccines and drugs of the future will be born inside the walls of UKCMRI. In years to come, I'm sure we'll see this as a landmark investment.?