About us

Summary

CIMR is a cross-departmental research institute which is part of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine and located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. CIMR’s mission is to determine the molecular mechanisms of disease in order to advance human health. This mission will be achieved by extensive collaboration between basic and clinician scientists leveraging shared interests, outstanding core facilities and an inclusive, supportive working environment.

CIMR’s ambitious Research Strategy  is to generate a detailed understanding of cellular homeostasis, particularly protein folding and quality control, membrane trafficking and organelle biology. These pathways are fundamental to normal cellular function, so when they are altered by mutation they can lead to diseases that are rare, devastating, and frequently occur in the nervous system. Numerous infectious pathogens have also evolved to infect cells by exploiting and manipulating these pathways. CIMR therefore focuses on genetic and infectious disease areas where cellular homeostasis is altered, and which are frequently neglected and overlooked, meaning there is significant unmet patient need:  rare genetic disease, neurological disease, and intracellular infection. There are 24 research groups working across these six research themes at CIMR.

An Institute with a collective ambition to transform understanding of the fine details of human disease and advance human health .  Our aim is to unpick and unravel the molecular mysteries of human disease, transforming understanding of how fundamental processes, core to and common across a wide range of cell and disease types, effect and are affected in disease.

We believe that:

• Exploring and examining the fundamental mechanisms and fine details of disease can lead to transformative breakthroughs in understanding that advance human health
• Given so much of the fine details of human disease remains unknown and is little understood, if we can transform our understanding of these fundamental processes, we can make significant advances in the way we prevent, diagnose and treat disease.
• By focusing on the fundamental mechanisms and processes - many of which are core to and common across a wide range of cell types - and by examining these across a wide range of human diseases, from rare and devastating childhood genetic diseases, to malaria and Alzheimer’s, scientific breakthroughs with real and lasting significance to human health can be achieved.

Achievements

• Research outputs
  Since the Institute was established in 1998, CIMR researchers have contributed as authors or co-authors to over 2,800 original research papers. One measure of the impact of these papers on the incremental advancement of knowledge and understanding in their respective research fields is demonstrated by the 186,000 subsequent papers which cite them.
   
• Translation of research findings towards patient benefit
  Three spin-out companies have been established from CIMR which have brought novel therapeutics to clinical trials. A fourth company has recently spun-out to develop diagnostics.
   
• A centre for training and springboard for early career researchers
  Postgraduate training is an important aspect of CIMR and around 200 postgraduate students have received their training since the Institute was established. Many have gone on to further careeers in research. 
  CIMR is also a supportive and collavorative environment for researchers establishing their first research groups.
   
• Awards and recognition
  Among current CIMR PIs:
  - Seven are Fellows of the Royal Society: Profs. Gillian Griffiths, David Owen, Randy Read, Margaret Robinson, David Ron, David Rubinsztein and Peter St George-Hyslop
  - Thirteen are Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences: Profs. Gillian Griffiths, Jim Huntington, Fiona Karet, Paul Luzio, Patrick Maxwell, David Owen, Margaret Robinson, David Ron, David Rubinsztein, Peter St George-Hyslop, Alan Warren, Geoff Woods
  - Five are members of EMBO: Profs. Gillian Griffiths, David Owen, Margaret Robinson, David Ron, David Rubinsztein

  Other recent prestigious awards:- Dr Mike Weekes: British Empire Medal (2021)
  - Prof. Gillian Griffiths: Royal Society Buchanan Medal (2019)
  - Prof. Peter St George-Hyslop: Order of Canada (2019)
   

• A catalyst for diversified research investment and infrastructure
  Former CIMR researchers have played leading roles in the establishment of other research institutes on the Campus. There include Sir Bruce Ponder (CRUK Cambridge Institute), Prof. Roger Pedersen (Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine), Prof. Ashok Venkitaraman (MRC Cancer Unit, Hutchison/MRC Research Centre), Sir Stephen O’Rahilly (Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science), Prof. Ken Smith (the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease) and Prof. Tony Green (the Wellcome - MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute)

Funding

CIMR research is mostly funded by competitively-awarded grants from a range of funding bodies, including:

• UK statutory funders: UKRI (Medical Research Council, Biological and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), National Institute of Health Research (Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre)
• Research charity funders: including Wellcome, the Royal Society, Alzheimer's Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, the British Lung Foundation, Blood Cancer UK, Kidney Research UK, the Rainwater Foundation (US) and the Isaac Newton Trust.
• The (US) National Institutes of Health and the European Commission

More details can be found on individual Principal Investigators' pages
Many CIMR researchers also collaborate with companies with common interests in targeting disease mechanisms for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.

We are very grateful to our funders for their support. However, there is so much more that we would achieve with further funding. To find out more about support CIMR's research, please click here or contact Alana Bradford .