13 September 2019 IRR marked the beginning of construction of the Centre of Tissue Repair building in October 2017. Together with the Centre of Regenerative Medicine (CRM) building, CTR will form the Institute for Regeneration and Repair. Scientists based at the CRM and the CTR buildings will work to discover and deliver new therapies to repair tissue damage caused by disease and injury. Image Stuart Forbes, Kelsey Wallace and other members of the ground breaking party Ground was broken for the CTR building by IRR Director Professor Stuart Forbes and Castlebrae High School pupil Kelsey Wallace. Kelsey was a summer intern as part of our close collaboration with Castlebrae Community High School which includes a scheme where IRR staff and students mentor Castlebrae pupils. The CTR will bring together experts from a range of fields to build on existing research expertise in stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, and matrix and inflammation biology to better understand and promote tissue regeneration and repair. IRR Director, Professor Stuart Forbes said: “The CTR will build on Edinburgh’s long history of excellence in regenerative medicine research, which dates back to before Dolly the sheep. Bringing together world-leading experts onto one site, we hope to speed up the delivery of much-needed treatments.” Professor Stuart Forbes, IRR Director The Institute for Regeneration and Repair will support a vibrant community of over 600 scientists across the two buildings and clinician scientists at all career stages, with state of the art facilities, training, and support. It will incorporate several research Centres, including the Centre for Inflammation Research (CIR) and MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine. The IRR as a whole will use the latest technology to investigate new therapies and treatments for tissue damage in debilitating diseases of the brain, liver, lung, and blood, such as the destruction of nerve cells in multiple sclerosis, or damage to the liver caused by infections. Professor Stuart Forbes The project is partly funded by a £10.7million award from the UK Research Partnership Infrastructure Fund. The CTR will also house the new £10m Chemistry and Computational Biology of the Niche (CCBN) facility which provides space and resources to link cutting-edge chemistry, bioengineering and computational biology with stem cell research and has been funded by the Medical Research Council integrated with the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform Hub ‘Engineering and Exploiting the Stem Cell Niche’. At the same time a new pedestrian link will be built to improve the current walking route between the north and south of Edinburgh BioQuarter, fostering better collaboration and links across the entire health and science campus. Development of the new walkway has been funded by NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh This article was published on 2024-07-08
