It’s not news to say that Cambridge – and particularly the Cambridge Biomedical Campus centred on Addenbrooke’s Hospital – is home to some of the best clinical research in the world. The critical mass of clinician scientists, hosted by the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, combined with the funding of research by bodies such as the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council, ensures that this pre-eminence in medical research is set fair for the future. Facilities on the ground, however, are struggling to keep pace with demand and, despite operating 24/7, the Addenbrooke’s Clinical Research Centre (ACRC) is always at near full capacity, restricting the vital research that can be accommodated.

Following discussion and consultation on options, the partnership behind the Cambridge Biomedical Campus committed in 2014 to the construction of a newly five-storey expansion of the ACRC that would provide both state-of-the-art facilities for research with patients and healthy volunteers and therefore expand clinical research capacity. 

This £18.5M development has been jointly funded by the University of Cambridge, the Wellcome Trust and the Evelyn Trust, which will donate £1 million to fund the Evelyn Trust Research Endoscopy Suite located in the ACRC expansion. Endoscopy is a widely-used technique for internal examinations: it works by inserting a tiny camera on a tube to look at a patient’s stomach, bowel, oesophagus, airway or joint cavities. It can also be used to take tissue samples and to treat precancerous tissues.

“It’s very exciting that this new ACRC expansion, which has been in planning for several years, is now becoming a reality - the building is set to open in Spring 2017,” says Krishna Chatterjee, the Centre’s Director. Capacity for Interventional Investigation has been a critical issue for researchers and the Unit will also be a location delivering new treatments. Professor Andrew McCaskie’s team, for example, are now examining the potential of arthroscopy to insert cells that can produce new cartilage into joints damaged by osteoarthritis. A talented international team, led by Professor Arthur Kaser, will investigate the causes and treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease here. The Endoscopy Suite will also host research, led by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald and her team, into screening, diagnosis and treatment for oesophageal cancer. Alongside the Endoscopy Suite, there will also be a multifunctional Procedure Room in which patients will be able to undergo biopsies to donate tissue for research, or for the generation of stem cells. 

“Some of the most talented researchers in the world today, working on the understanding of diseases that cause enormous suffering, will conduct vital research within the Evelyn Trust Research Endoscopy Suite. We will have the capacity to speed up the pace of essential research into particular cancers, and other serious, life-limiting, diseases. The work of the new ACRC will potentially make a difference to the lives of millions of patients for years to come.”

To keep in touch with the progress of the new ACRC, visit http://cambridge.crf.nihr.ac.uk