Pioneering disease research gets major investment boost
University of Leeds has received a grant of £1.1million to enable world leading research into disease.
The grant, which has been awarded by the Wolfson Foundation, will be used to fund high-resolution microscopes which use fluorescent dyes to see into cells in exquisite detail.
This new equipment will enable scientists to understand the structure of molecules in cells and tissues, and how they behave in the early and later stages of disease.
Housed in the Cheney Biomedical Accelerator at the University of Leeds, these highly specialised microscopes add to the world-leading research facilities available within the Astbury Biostructure Laboratory, to give a combined capacity that cannot be found at other UK universities.
These powerful new imaging technologies will enable bold and exciting biomedical discoveries to be made at a pace and scale not previously possible.
Together with the expanding imaging facilities at Leeds, which include Electron Microscopy, Bioimaging and a new Focused Ion Beam microscope funded by Peter and Susan Cheney and BBSRC, the funding will enhance the University’s capacity and capability to deliver interdisciplinary structural cell biology projects that bring together fundamental biologists and clinical practitioners to tackle a range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers are already using these kinds of cutting edge facilities to see into an Alzheimer’s disease brain.
Uncovering cell behaviour
Knowledge about the structure and function of molecules within cells and tissues has the potential to help develop new ways of diagnosing and treating various diseases.
However, cells and tissues are hugely complex, and their physical scale under the microscope is vast compared to the types of sample that can be analysed through existing imaging techniques, such as cryo-electron tomography.
The new imaging technologies will allow scientists to find where significant events are happening and focus on the right areas.
Targeting specific areas of cells at molecular level can be incredibly difficult. It’s like trying to find one needle in a bundle of haystacks. This type of cutting-edge technology will enable researchers to zero in on specific areas of the cell to reveal intricate and previously unknown processes that support the development of disease.
Enabling research through collaboration and world leading facilities
This new equipment will be accessible to a range of interdisciplinary networks, such as the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology and the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, as well as industry.
It will be housed at the Cheney Biomedical Accelerator, a new hub designed to bring scientists and clinicians together to accelerate the translation of knowledge for treatments of disease.
It will also help the University to train early career researchers such as PhD students, helping to build their careers and make future discoveries that break new ground in structural cell biology.
“Our goal is to create a powerhouse research environment which will discover new and innovative ways to treat diseases for the benefit of patients, and support the next generation of research leaders,” added Professor Ranson.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive at the Wolfson Foundation, said:
The University of Leeds has a deserved reputation as a global leader in structural biology. We are delighted to be helping them to install the very latest microscopy technology, which will open up important new opportunities to understand how molecules behave in living cells and tissues, and the role they play in the onset of disease.
