DNA

Screening test hope for bone diseaseQueen's Birthday Honours for MRC Scientist

18 June 2010

The Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit congratulates Professor Veronica van Heyningen on her recognition in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Professor Veronica van Heyningen is a group leader in the Medical and Developmental Genetics Section at the MRC's Human Genetics Unit. Professor van Heyningen is also the President of the Genetics Society. Order of the British Empire – Commander (CBE) for services to science.

 

About the Queen's Birthday Honours

The 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list was published on Saturday 12 June 2010, recognising outstanding achievement and service across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The selection of these names was carried out by the independent committees during the previous administration. But the current Prime Minister has, in accordance with the normal practice, submitted them to the Queen for approval. The majority of awards have gone to extraordinary people from a wide range of fields who have made a real difference to life in their communities.

In total 975 people have been recommended to
the Queen for an award.


Related Links

MRC Human Genetics Unit's Professor Veronica van Heyningen research pages

The Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit



 

IGMM news and events £3.5m grant paves way for medical centre

£3.5m grant paves way for medical centre

1 July 2010

A major funding award will enable researchers to tackle some of the most difficult challenges facing medical science.

The £3.5m award from the Wellcome-Wolfson Foundation will create a new state-of-the-art centre to support research in the emerging discipline of systems medicine.

The development will include world-class teaching and research facilities.

Systems medicine is revolutionising the way researchers try to understand and treat common diseases, by combining expertise in chemistry, physics, computer science, mathematics, genetics and medicine.

Collaborative research

The new building will link the three world-leading research centres that make up the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM) – the Molecular Medicine Centre, the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre and the Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit.

More than 500 scientists already work at the IGMM. Their interests span from birth defects to the end of life care, including psychiatric disorders, ageing, stroke, diseases of the brain, kidney, eye, bones, joints, lungs and intestine, and cancer.

By adding chemists, physicists and computer scientists to the institute, researchers hope that the development will further boost the Institute's reputation for translational medicine.

Translational medicine is the process that transforms laboratory findings into new ways of diagnosing and treating patients.

The four-storey facility at the Western General Hospital will have an open design to encourage interaction and collaboration between researchers.

It will provide teaching and office spaces, computing suites and a new common room, and will free up existing laboratories to enable expansion of IGMM research programmes.

"This iconic new building will bring together scientists and clinicians across the Institute and will be vital for our goal to identify pathways underlying disease and to use this information for clinical benefit."

Professor Nicholas Hastie, Director of IGMM at the University

The University is in active discussion with other potential funders to raise the total sum of £10m needed to complete the project. Building is set to start in 2012 and be ready for occupation in 2014.