Completed Diabetes, Hormones & Metabolism Cells, Biochemistry & Physiology

Institute of Metabolic Science.

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation University of Cambridge
Funding £4.7M
Period Jul 2013 — Oct 2020

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Cambridge is building a dedicated clinic and eating behaviour unit to turn discoveries about obesity and diabetes into treatments that reach patients faster. Obesity and type 2 diabetes affect millions of people in the UK, yet many treatments that work in the lab never make it to the clinic. The gap between understanding the basic biology of appetite, metabolism, and energy balance—and testing new therapies in people—remains stubbornly wide. This Institute for Metabolic Science already brings together world-class researchers in fundamental science and clinical medicine. The new facilities will allow them to study human eating behaviour under controlled conditions, generate and analyse mouse models of metabolic disease in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and upgrade their imaging, proteomics, and genomics capabilities. If successful, this infrastructure will accelerate the translation of fundamental discoveries into clinical trials and, eventually, into everyday treatments for obesity and diabetes. It will also strengthen the UK’s position in metabolic research by linking basic science directly with patient studies, creating a pipeline that other institutions can learn from. The work is primarily translational—it builds on fundamental science to solve a pressing health problem.

View original technical description
With support from the Wellcome Trust and MRC, we have established an internationally leading Institute for Metabolic Science (IMS) in Cambridge. The world-class investigators we have assembled, combined with the excellent facilities we have established, have brought us within sight of our goal to translate advances in the understanding of basic mechanisms involved in obesity, diabetes and related metabolic diseases into benefits for health. In this proposal, we seek support for: 1. The co nstruction of a dedicated Metabolic Clinical Research Facility (MCRF) and Eating Behaviour Unit (EBU) to support the expansion of translational research programmes and capitalise on local strengths in the basic and clinical neuroscience of appetitive behaviour. 2. A collaborative programme with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the generation and phenotyping of murine models of metabolic disease. 3. Improved cell imaging and proteomic facilities in collaboration with the Cambridge Ins titute for Medical Research (CIMR). 4. Equipment to update our core Genomics/Transcriptomics laboratory We have been encouraged to submit a complementary bid to the MRC and further support is being provided by the University of Cambridge. If awarded, these additional resources will significantly enhance our abilities to conduct the highest level basic and translational science in metabolism.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Stephen O'Rahilly (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

MRC Centre for Translational Research in Obesity and related Metabolic Diseases
Cellular Medicine at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research.
MICA: Medical Bioinformatics: Data-Driven Discovery for Personalised Medicine
MICA: UK MEDical BIOinformatics partnership - aggregation, integration, visualisation and analysis of large, complex data (UK MED-BIO).
Establishment of the Cambridge Single Cell Analysis Clinical Core Facility [SCACCF]

Original classification

Strategic Award - Science

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.