Greater access to top clinical imaging facilities
19 April 2011
Researchers at Imperial will soon have greater access to world class clinical imaging facilities on the College’s Hammersmith Campus, following the signing of a new agreement.
Imperial has become an equal investor in a newly created joint venture that assumes responsibility for the facilities and operations at GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Clinical Imaging Centre (CIC), alongside the MRC, King’s College London and UCL.
The £47 million Centre houses an advanced radiochemistry development facility, two MRI machines and two PET scanners, with the ability to conduct highly sophisticated molecular and functional imaging studies on both healthy volunteers and patients.
Since the Centre opened in 2007, Imperial academics have been working collaboratively with GSK on a large number of research projects. The new agreement means that researchers across the College will have the opportunity to make use of the Centre’s facilities for an even broader range of projects and will be able to access the resources independently of any specific industrial interactions. Operations and staff are expected to transfer to the joint venture in the third quarter of this year.
Professor Paul Matthews (Medicine) has been Head of the CIC since it was founded. He said: “This marks a milestone in industry-academic collaboration and in the way major academic centres work together. The continued engagement of GSK will ensure that the great science has high impact.”
Professor Stephen Smith, Pro Rector (Health) and Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, added: “The agreement will allow us to continue to make strides in areas such as neuroscience, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, which should ultimately lead to better treatments for patients.”
— Laura Gallagher, Communications and Development
Staff interested in using the facilities should contact Kevin Cox, Chief Operating Officer kevin.p.cox@btinternet.com
Tags: Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Posted in College, Research | No Comments »
