University of Oxford
Brief description and aims of work
The Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) is part of the University of Oxford (UOXF). It houses around four hundred scientists and is at the forefront of translational research in molecular and cell biology with direct application to the study of human disease. The Institute was founded byProf. David Weatherall in 1989. Research is funded by the University of Oxford, The Medical Research Council, and Cancer Research UK. Significant funding also comes from the Wellcome Trust and other medical research charities. The University groups are members of the Nuffield Departments ofClinical Medicine (NDM) and Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NDCLS), Medical Oncology and the Department of Clinical Neurology. There are two MRC Units, the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and the MRC Human Immunology Unit; the Units have links to NDCLS and NDM respectively.
The University Department of Medical Oncology has research groups based in the WIMM and comprises the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Oxford Cancer Centre at the Institute with the CRUK Pathology Research Group in the NDCLS. The Medical Oncology Department has a Phase I/II Research Unit at the Churchill Hospital, with 8 beds dedicated for research, integrated with the NHS and on-site facilities for MRI, PET scanning, antibody scans, tumour biopsies and pharmacodynamics monitoring. Additional infrastructure support for specialized research assays in trials is provided at both sites via the Experimental Cancer Centre Programme, funded jointly by CRUK and NHS.
UOXF is a partner in 7th Framework Programme Network “METOXIA” and played an active role in the 6th Framework Programme integrating project "Advancing Clinico-Genomic Trials on Cancer" (ACGT)
UOXF brings expertise in the areas of breast oncology, molecular biology and bioinformatics. The organization will provide the project with clinical user requirements, clinical knowledge, clinical trialand care data, data-mining and molecular biology expertise.