Dateline: CAMBRIDGE, U.K. —
Researchers at one of Britain's top biomedical centers learned last week that their months-long campaign to prevent the sale of the center's 19-hectare campus has failed. The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) — which has a staff of more than 700 — will be relocated from the London suburb of Mill Hill to the city-center campus of University College London (UCL). The university intends to appoint an undetermined number of NIMR's 66 research leaders to its faculty.
The move represents a "unanimous decision" of the Medical Research Council, the government funding agency that runs the center, according to an MRC statement on 11 February. MRC chiefs had long argued that the suburban institute should sit alongside a medical school and hospital to advance "translational research" (Science, 4 February, p. 652). UCL beat out its rival King's College London to become NIMR's home because it has more depth in physics and chemistry, as well as greater "maturity" in clinical research, the MRC statement said.
Scientists at NIMR had mounted strong resistance to the planned move, with some even threatening to resign. Malcolm Grant, provost of UCL, immediately set out to reassure them. He hopes they will stay with NIMR because the partnership "will bring huge benefits on both sides," he says. The university already has strong collaborations with NIMR scientists, he notes, particularly in research on children's diseases. He proposes that the main part of NIMR's campus be set alongside the university's new medical complex on Gower Street. Grant planned to meet with NIMR researchers in person on 15 February.
There are still "a number of hurdles to be cleared" before the relocation can occur, Grant concedes. Among others, the project must win a large chunk of government funding. It must also receive approval for extensive renovation of buildings in the city and must find a home for NIMR's extensive animal lab — a tricky proposition in Britain, where animal-rights extremists have fought construction of animal facilities. And Grant fears UCL may not be able to duplicate one of the advantages the institute now enjoys: a category 4 biosafety research lab. "We will explore this," he says.
Some NIMR research leaders who had opposed the move from Mill Hill were not available for comment last week, but others were looking on the bright side. NIMR immunologist Dimitris Kioussis says, "This could be a very good thing for the institute," although he acknowledges that "we haven't heard about any detailed plans of what they are offering." Guy Dodson, head of structural biology at NIMR, also stressed that "there are a lot of positives" in MRC's decision, because "UCL is a very strong university."
An inquiry into the controversy by the House of Commons' science and technology committee, meanwhile, brushed aside allegations that MRC chief Colin Blakemore had improperly pressured NIMR staff to go along with the relocation. Released on 8 February, the report faulted some aspects of MRC's review of the move but concluded that Blakemore handled his part with "professionalism, objectivity, and competence."
PHOTO (COLOR): New home. University College London has been chosen to host the U.K.'s National Institute for Medical Research.
By Eliot Marshall
