The Institute of Genetics and Cancer celebrated the formal opening of its 4D Cellular Medicine extension with an afternoon of talks highlighting the research work being carried out in the building – and its aspirations for the future: October 2024 The 4DCM building, supported by a joint investment from the University of Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council (MRC), was built to connect the existing East and North buildings and allow the IGC to fulfil its mission of improving the lives of people living with genetic disease and cancer through research.David Argyle, Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, welcomed guests from across the University, MRC and Scottish Government, as well as representatives from the project team, including architects Oberlanders, contractors Robertson Construction Central East, contract administrator Turner & Townsend, monitoring and evaluation engineers KJ Tait, structural and civil engineers Goodson Associates and cost consultants Armour Construction Consultants.Architect Gill Mourier spoke about the brief for the new building and some of the challenges of completing the project. This was followed by a series of presentations by IGC technicians and researchers, from PhD to Director level, talking about their work using advanced cellular and animal models of human genetic disease and cancer, including skin, liver and colorectal cancer. They also demonstrated how the specialist facilities allow the function of individual cells, tissues and organisms to be investigated in extraordinary detail, generating complex data which can analysed using advanced computational methods. There is a sense of excitement about the science being done here, the more integrated understanding of human disease we are getting and the real impact we think this will have on people’s lives. The real magic happens when you bring the science together with state-of-the-art, expertly-managed facilities in the right built environment, and that’s what the 4D Cellular Medicine building achieves. Wendy Bickmore Director of MRC Human Genetics Unit Formal Opening of the 4DCM Building Tags 2024 Publication date 08 Oct, 2024
