Cambridge Institute for Medical Research

Foreword

Message from the Director

The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is an institute that provides a unique interface between basic and clinical science and has as its major goal, the determination and understanding of the molecular mechanisms of disease. Over 40% of our Principal Investigators (PIs) are medically qualified and clinically active, a percentage that has remained constant since CIMR opened in 1998. CIMR is a cross-departmental institute, within the University of Cambridge Clinical School and the departments presently represented are the Departments of Medicine, Medical Genetics, Clinical Biochemistry, Haematology, Pathology and Clinical Neurosciences.

Approximately 60% of the CIMR total grant spend (presently £19M p.a.) is funded by the Wellcome Trust.  This includes the funding for seven Principal Research Fellows, more than at any other single location.  Amongst our PIs we also have nine Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellows (six of them clinical) and three MRC Senior Research Fellows (one of whom is clinical).  The CIMR is in receipt of a five year Strategic Award from the Wellcome Trust to support our core scientific facilities, to provide PhD studentships and allow us funds to attract young clinicians back into research. In our application to the Wellcome Trust we pointed out that within CIMR there are major ongoing strengths in medical genetics, immunology, structural biology applied to medicine, molecular cell biology and developmental/stem cell biology, which are brought to bear on a number of diseases. There are also major research themes that transcend individual research groups, namely misfolded proteins and disease, intracellular membrane traffic, autoimmune disease and haematopoietic stem cell biology. Within these themes the Institute’s present scientific goals include: (i) determination of the molecular mechanisms of intracellular protein aggregate formation and breakdown in health and disease, including the identification of novel therapeutic targets for protein conformational diseases; (ii) identifying and characterising the molecular machinery of intracellular membrane traffic and determining how traffic pathways are coordinated, regulated and modified in health and disease; (iii) the identification of genes, proteins and pathways increasing susceptibility to, or protection from, autoimmune diseases; (iv) determining the transcriptional regulation of haematopoietic stem cells. A major current objective for CIMR is to understand protein localisation, function and metabolism in a range of diseases in which genetic studies have identified the causative genes.  The Strategic Award from the Wellcome Trust has helped to ensure that CIMR is a flagship in the UK for interdisciplinary research at the interface between clinical and basic research.

Paul Luzio
February 2010