̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Cambridge Heart and Lung Research Institute

When inflammation goes too far

lkm37 — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:05:23 +0000

Clare Bryant, Professor of Innate Immunity, is a molecular detective. Clare allows us to see how inflammation functions across species, and when our defence systems go too far.

Ground-breaking ceremony celebrates start of construction work on new Heart and Lung Research Institute in Cambridge

cjb250 — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 10:23:56 +0000

̽��ֱ��HLRI, a joint venture between the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, aims to focus on collaboration between research and its clinical use in treating patients for chronic diseases such as heart attacks, cystic fibrosis, atrial fibrillation and pulmonary hypertension.

In the UK, one in every four deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease and 20% of deaths by respiratory disease. Despite a growing awareness of risk factors, such as smoking and poor diet, the prevalence of such diseases is increasing.

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease causes nearly 18 million deaths per year, mostly due to heart attacks and stroke, with respiratory disease just behind. ̽��ֱ��combined worldwide cost of this is more than £840billion each year.

“ ̽��ֱ��Heart and Lung Research Institute is an incredible opportunity to bring together the ̽��ֱ��’s expertise in cardiovascular and respiratory science and Royal Papworth Hospital’s expertise in treating heart and lung disease,” said Professor Nick Morrell from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, who is Interim Director of the Institute.

“Heart and lung diseases affect many millions of people worldwide and the numbers are growing. Institutes such as ours, focused on these big health challenges, are urgently needed. ̽��ֱ��discoveries made by our researchers will deliver major benefits to the public through improvements in public health, new approaches to diagnosing and treating disease, and new medicines.”

Features of the Institute include: a new laboratory space; a clinical research facility; a collaboration space for link-ups between academia, healthcare providers and industry; and education facilities such as seminar rooms and a lecture theatre. It will also include a special 10-bed facility where the first-in-patient studies of new treatments can be conducted.

Professor John Wallwork, Chairman of Royal Papworth, added: “ ̽��ֱ��Heart and Lung Research Institute will mean new treatments will be created, tested and delivered to tackle the biggest causes of premature death in the world all on one site. It will also allow us to provide much more education and training to clinicians tackling heart and lung disease worldwide.

“This will be a huge step forward and demonstrates one of the reasons Royal Papworth Hospital moved to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – to collaborate with the best researchers in the world to help to save lives. Through the Heart and Lung Research Institute, we will be able to make even quicker progress in bringing tomorrow’s treatments to today’s patients.”

Funding for HLRI is being provided by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, which has contributed £30m, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the Wolfson Foundation. ̽��ֱ��British Heart Foundation has donated £10m towards the project and Royal Papworth Hospital Charity has launched its largest ever appeal to raise £5m.

Professor Wallwork added: “Every day at Royal Papworth Hospital we see the positive impact that research can have for patients with heart and lung disease, both in terms of improving life expectancy and quality of life. We have already received a number of generous donations from Royal Papworth Hospital patients and their families in support of the Heart and Lung Research Institute and will be working hard to raise additional funds over the next few years.”

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation said: “Through this funding we will help create a fantastic centre that will have a key role in driving forward our ambitious programme of heart and circulatory research. By bringing together world-leading scientists it will enable exciting opportunities for collaboration between researchers from different disciplines. And it will also accelerate the transformation of discoveries in the laboratory to treatments available at patients’ bedside.

“This grant is one of the largest the BHF has ever made and we have only been able to make this investment because of the incredible generosity of the public.”

̽��ֱ��Cystic Fibrosis Trust has also committed to raise up to £5million to fund the Cystic Fibrosis Innovation Hub, which launched last year and will transfer to the new building once it has been completed. AstraZeneca will pursue integrated research programmes with the Institute to maximise translational impact.

Groundwork began back in October 2019 with construction starting in January 2020. Piling work for the 22m deep foundations is currently underway, including the formation of a tunnel, which will link the HLRI to neighbouring Royal Papworth Hospital.

There are currently 35 people working on the site with that number due to reach more than 150 at the peak of construction, which is set for completion in early 2022.

Press release from Royal Papworth Hospital.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Royal Papworth Hospital held an official ground-breaking ceremony at the new Heart and Lung Research Institute (HLRI) in Cambridge earlier today. ̽��ֱ��Institute is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and will create the largest cardiothoracic centre for research, education, industry collaboration, and clinical care in Europe.

̽��ֱ��Heart and Lung Research Institute is an incredible opportunity to bring together the ̽��ֱ��’s expertise in cardiovascular and respiratory science and Royal Papworth Hospital’s expertise in treating heart and lung disease

Nick Morrell

Royal Papworth Hospital

Groundbreaking for the new Heart and Lung Research Institute

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Cambridge Heart and Lung Research Institute receives major funding boost

cjb250 — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 15:10:21 +0000

̽��ֱ��Institute will draw together the highest concentration of heart and lung researchers from academia, healthcare and industry in Europe. It has set an ambitious five-year target to demonstrate proof-of-concept for at least ten new drugs or diagnostic approaches in heart and lung diseases.

̽��ֱ��HLRI will be situated next to Royal Papworth Hospital, which was officially opened by HM the Queen on 9 July, and forms part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the centrepiece of the largest biotech cluster outside the United States of America. It will be home to over 380 scientists and state-of-the-art laboratories in genomics, population sciences, research into cellular mechanisms of disease and translational science. It will also include a special ten bed facility where the first-in-patient studies of new treatments can be conducted.

“This is an incredibly exciting project bringing together world-renowned expertise in cardiovascular and respiratory science at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� and clinical excellence at Royal Papworth Hospital,” says Professor Nick Morrell from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Interim Director of the institute and a non-Executive Director of Royal Papworth Hospital.

“Heart and lung diseases affect many millions of people of people worldwide and the numbers are growing. Institutes such as ours, focussed on these big health challenges, are urgently needed. ̽��ֱ��discoveries made by our researchers will deliver major benefits to the public through improvements in public health, new approaches to diagnosing and treating disease, and new medicines.”

Professor John Wallwork, Chairman of Royal Papworth Hospital, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Heart and Lung Research Institute will mean new treatments will be created, tested and delivered to tackle the biggest causes of premature death in the world all on one site. This will be a huge step forward and demonstrates one of the reasons Royal Papworth Hospital moved to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – to collaborate with the best researchers in the world to help to save lives. ̽��ֱ��importance of this building cannot be underestimated and I can’t wait to see how it will transform healthcare in the years to come.”

Image: Cambridge Heart and Lung Research Institute (artist's impression)

̽��ֱ��award is one of 11 announced from flagship capital investment scheme the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, totalling over £670m of new investment into UK research and innovation. It complements £10 million of funding committed to the institute by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Further funding will be provided by the ̽��ֱ�� and Royal Papworth Hospital, and the Wolfson Foundation.

̽��ֱ��BHF award, which contributes to the capital cost of the building, is one of the charity’s largest ever strategic award. ̽��ֱ��charity has also committed an additional £6m in funding for the BHF Cambridge Centre for Cardiovascular Research Excellence, which will be housed in the institute.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Through this funding we will help create a fantastic centre that will have a key role in driving forward our ambitious programme of heart and circulatory research. By bringing together world-leading scientists it will enable exciting opportunities for collaboration between researchers from different disciplines. And it will also accelerate the transformation of discoveries in the laboratory to treatments available at patients’ bedside.

“This grant is one of the largest the BHF has ever made and we have only been able to make this investment because of the incredible generosity of the public.”

̽��ֱ��Cystic Fibrosis Trust has also committed to raise up to £5 million to fund the Cystic Fibrosis Innovation Hub, which launched last year and will transfer to the new building once it has been completed. Both AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline will also embed integrated research hubs in the Institute to maximise translational impact.

Work on the HLRI will begin almost immediately, with ground-breaking taking place in November 2019 and construction starting in early 2020.

Without further medical advances, an estimated one in four people in the UK will die from heart or circulatory disease, while one in five will die from lung disease. Combined, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases cost over £840 billion worldwide every year.

Chris Skidmore, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, announced on 10 July 2019 a £30 million award to the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge to support the new Cambridge Heart and Lung Research Institute (HLRI).

This is an incredibly exciting project bringing together world-renowned expertise in cardiovascular and respiratory science at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� and clinical excellence at the Royal Papworth Hospital

Nick Morrell

Cambridge Heart and Lung Research Institute (artist's impression)

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