Centre to seek cures for diabetes and tropical diseases
Generous donors are being asked to give a little to help a lot, as the University of Dundee launches a drive to raise the £3.5 million still required for a new £15m research facility in the city.
The cash is needed to build a state-of-the-art research facility to seek cures for diabetes and tropical diseases.
The men leading the fund-raising effort are Professor Sir Philip Cohen, Director of the Wellcome Trust Biocentre and Professor Mike Ferguson at the University's School of Life Sciences.
Professor Ferguson said: "The building is scheduled to open in 2005, and as with the Wellcome Trust Biocentre established in the city five years ago, we aim to attract the best researchers in their field to advance understanding of the causes of diabetes and to stimulate the development of drugs to treat it."
One-hundred-and-eighty top scientists will work in the new centre, building on the five star reputation of Dundee University's School of Life Sciences. The new facility will be sited next to the existing Wellcome Trust Biocentre on Dundee University's main campus.
As well as seeking major corporate donations, a series of events is already planned to raise money for the new building. Discussions are ongoing with a number of celebrities in the worlds of sport and entertainment who it is hoped will lend their weight to the fundraising efforts.
Diabetes affects more than 120 million people worldwide, including nearly two million in the UK.
That number is growing rapidly. Estimates suggest the number of people with diabetes in the UK will have doubled between 1995 and 2010 - making it one of the fastest-growing threats to health in the UK today.
Diabetes is caused by the failure of insulin to act normally on the body. It can cause problems with the kidneys, legs and feet, eyes, heart, nerves and blood flow. If left untreated, these problems can lead to kidney failure, gangrene and amputation, blindness or stroke. These long-term side effects mean diabetes is becoming a major proportion of UK healthcare costs - ten per cent of the budget of the National Health Service is already spent on diabetes and this will double with the increased incidence of the disease.
Professor Mike Ferguson, Deputy Director of the Wellcome Trust Biocentre, and his colleagues, are spearheading the research into tropical diseases, including malaria and sleeping sickness, already taking place in Dundee. Malaria alone kills over one million children per year in sub-Saharan Africa and sleeping sickness a further 300,000. The cost of these debilitating diseases to the economies of developing countries is £1.5 billion a year.
Funding for the new research centre already in place comes from a variety of sources, including the Government's Science and Research Infrastructure Fund and commercial income generated by Dundee University.
If you would like to make a donation or find out more please contact Angela Nicoll on 01382 348 377 / a.k.nicoll@dundee.ac.uk
Notes for Editors
The research centre, which has not yet officially been named, has been referred to previously under the working
title of Centre for Interdisciplinary Research.
Issued on behalf of the University of Dundee's School of Life Sciences by Weber Shandwick.
For further information please contact:
David Sawyer on 0141 33 0557/07770 886 923 or e-mail: dsawyer@webershandwick.com
Carol Pope, Head of Press and Publications, University of Dundee 01382 348342 email:c.l.e.pope@dundee.ac.uk