Imperial leads two major new research networks in chemical biology

Scientists across the country are today being invited to join two new multidisciplinary networks to carry out research and share knowledge in chemical biology, led by the Institute of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London. The two new networks at Imperial are amongst 7 new networks established this year with £1.2 million from Research Councils UK in order to accelerate scientific discovery.

Chemical biology is defined as the use of chemistry and chemical tools to understand and solve biological problems. It is considered by many scientists to be an area of great economic value, as it is an essential component of innovative research in areas such as drug discovery and agricultural chemicals, but its experimental techniques are often underused in research that spans different scientific disciplines.

The new Protein-Protein Interactions Network (PPI-Net), led jointly by Imperial and the University of Leeds, will focus on the development of new medicines. The new Agri-Science Chemical Biology Network (AGRI-Net) will focus on agricultural science and sustainability.

The aim of the networks is to bring together scientists with common research interests and formulate a nationwide picture of what is currently understood as well as outlining discoveries that should be possible using the range of individual research strengths in the networks. Researchers who join the networks will help to accelerate development in their field of study and benefit from increased opportunities to share contact with other scientific teams across the UK.

Whilst similar collaborative activities currently take place on a smaller scale at individual universities, clusters of institutions or UK regions, this is the first time that networks have been established to bring together expertise from a range of academic organisations and industry across the nation.

Professor Maggie Dallman, Principal of Imperial's Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: "Collaboration is the key to the UK's strength in chemical biology, which borrows the most tried and successful techniques from chemistry to help scientists interact directly with the biological processes of cells. Through the sharing of ideas, researchers across the country will be able to make significant progress and new technological developments in this important field.

"All the institutions involved have great track records for innovative research, and the Research Councils have a vital role to play in nurturing this research and translating its findings into tangible benefits, such as in drug discovery or progress in agricultural science. We are honoured to be an integral part of this new enterprise and look forward to working with our new partners to address some of the most important global challenges in science and healthcare."

Dr Celia Caulcott, Director of Innovation and Skills at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), added: "These networks will strengthen the research community and enable new partnerships to form across disciplines. The three research councils involved have a strong history of funding research at the chemistry-biology interface, including protein structure and chemistry; biological catalysis; novel chemical synthesis methods; and the application of engineering principles to biological materials. Research within these topics can support a variety of technological developments in industry that will underpin social and economic impact from high-quality science."