Increasing the number of clinical trials to speed up development of new medical treatments

Increasing the number of clinical trials to speed up development of new medical treatments

  • The new Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Addenbrooke's hospital

The new Laboratory of Molecular Biology by akt II

At any one time, more than 1000 clinical trials are being conducted across the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the largest gathering of clinical, pharmaceutical and biomedical research specialists in Europe. These trials are a crucial step in the design of new medicines and medical devices – translating ideas that started in a research laboratory into new treatments for patients.

 

 

 

Cambridge is recognised as a leading centre for scientific translation and is chosen by many government and charity organisations to develop new medical treatments for a wide range of conditions, including obesity and diabetes, dementia, immune and inflammatory disorders, and cancer. The Clinical Research Centre, located adjacent to the world-leading Addenbrooke’s Hospital, provides the facilities to undertake Early Phase (I/II) human trials and translational studies, which help to advance research that may in future improve quality of life for millions.

An expansion in demand

The Biomedical Campus has been growing in size and renown over the past 10 years. As a consequence, there has been an increase in demand for Cambridge medical expertise and the number of clinical trials has risen dramatically, with the Clinical Research Centre now operating at full capacity.

The Evelyn Trust is helping this happen faster by supporting the expansion of the Centre, the focal point of translational medicine on the Campus. A gift from the Trust has ensured the construction of level two of a five-storey expansion to the Addenbrooke's Clinical Research Centre.

From bench to bedside

The Evelyn Trust also supports a wide range of biomedical and clinical research projects across the University, such as Crohn’s Disease prognosis, gut health in critically ill children, kidney transplant compatibility and the surgical optimisation of bone marrow and blood stem cells. If successful, this research will eventually require the trials facilities offered by the Clinical Research Centre for the development of new treatments. 

The Trust is helping to ensure that the future of medicine development is not limited by the constraints of physical space. Their gift supported the creation of a Research Endoscopy Suite which contains dedicated facilities for endoscopy, clinical procedures and tissue sampling.

Professor Krish Chatterjee, Director of the Clinical Research Centre

World-leading facilities

The Evelyn Trust is making sure that both ends of the translational journey, from laboratory bench to patient bedside, are supported with world-leading facilities and expertise. This in turn helps the University drive its vision for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – to transform this centre of excellence into one of the largest, and best, biomedical centres in the world by 2020.

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