We are based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and our main building is embedded in the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Treatment Centre (ATC). We have lab and office space on levels 4 and 5 and downstairs on level 3 is the MRC-Epidemiology Unit. Together with two diabetes and endocrinology clinics based on level 2 – the Weston Centre for children and the Wolfson Clinic – we form the Institute of Metabolic Science.
We have additional spaces around the campus including further labs, space in the animal research facility and the Translational Research Facility next door.
The MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit is embedded in the IMS-MRL and includes various ‘core facilities’ that provide useful skills and equipment to our own staff and students and to other researchers working nearby.
One of the best reasons to be on the campus is that it’s easier to interact with colleagues from the NHS and from other institutes and companies who have also located here and also to meet patients who may be involved in our research studies.
We’re right at the heart of the campus close to Car Park 2 and the view from our social room window is the Royal Papworth Hospital just across the road.
The Translational Research Facility (TRF) next door to our main labs is connected to the existing NIHR Clinical Research Facility (CRF). Its aim is to support researchers working on basic science to ‘translate’ their findings to address the medical needs of patients. The TRF houses an 8-bedded unit for complex high intensity metabolic studies and a “non-clinical” environment to support studies into the cognitive neuroscience of eating behaviour. The Facilities are customised for clinical studies in patients with severe obesity, include design features that enable studies of temperature regulation and circadian rhythm and house a large diet kitchen capable of preparing bespoke meals for long-term studies.
