Warwick opens £6M science research facility

Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and Nobel Prize Winner, unveiled the latest addition to science research facilities on campus  by officially opening the £6M Mechanochemical Cell Biology Building at Warwick Medical School.

Funded through the Translational Medicine programme within the Science City Research Alliance, with additional input from the Wolfson Foundation and the University of Warwick, the building provides a customised environment for research into cell biology.

It has been specifically designed and constructed to cater for the specialist environment needed for state-of-the-art microscopes and other equipment required for ground-breaking research. Focusing on the molecular machinery that organises and co-ordinates movements in living cells will lead to a better understanding of fundamental cellular processes that may lead to improved therapies for a range of diseases. Professor Peter Winstanley, Dean of Medicine at Warwick Medical School, said: “Today marks the culmination of several years of work resulting in a fabulous addition to our research facilities. I believe it will have a tremendous impact on our science and symbolises Warwick’s commitment to world-class biomedical research.”

Disease and infection have their roots in the altered functioning of cells or the way they interact in the body. So the research conducted at Warwick has a very clear purpose: to improve people’s health and well-being.“The funding partnership has worked successfully here, resulting in a wonderful environment to help us achieve a better understanding of biological science and processes to understand why disease develops and how it might be prevented or treated.”

The new facilities will be the base for the mechanochemical cell biology research team of Rob Cross, Andrew McAinsh, Anne Straube, Masanori Mishima and Nick Carter – all members of the Division of Biomedical Cell Biology.