The National Institute For Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a large medical research facility situated in rural Mill Hill, England, on the outskirts of London. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an 'Institute'. The MRC has published plans to move the institute to a new site in central London, in 2012. Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Current MRC logo The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a UK organisation dedicated to promot[ing] the balanced development of medical and related biological research in the UK. // The MRC is one of seven Research Councils and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Office of Science and Innovation...

Research

The National Institute For Medical Research specialises in four main research areas;

• Genetics and Development
• Infections and Immunity
• Neurosciences
• Structural Biology

There are 18 divisions, over 200 scientists and at least 200 other trained personnel, including postgraduate students. The NIMR's annual research budget is £25 million. This article is about the general scientific term. ... Infection is also the title of an episode of the television series Babylon 5; see Infection (Babylon 5). ... Immunity is a medical term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. ... Drawing of the cells in the chicken cerebellum by S. Ramón y Cajal Neuroscience is a field that is devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system. ... Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology concerned with the study of the architecture and shape of biological macromolecules--proteins and nucleic acids in particular—and what causes them to have the structures they have. ...

History

Foundation

The Medical Research Council, founded in 1913, was immediately charged with establishing a central research institute in London. Later that year, premises at Hampstead were acquired and the National Institute for Medical Research was founded. , Hampstead is a suburb of north London in the London Borough of Camden, located four miles (6. ...

However, the outbreak of World War I soon after postponed occupation of the building, although senior staff were appointed and began work. By 1920 the Institute at Mount Vernon Hospital was fully operational and remained so for 30 years until the move to its current location at Mill Hill. The original Institute, under the directorship of Sir Henry Dale, comprised of three divisions: “The Great War ” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sir Henry Hallett Dale (June 9, 1875 - July 23, 1968) was an English scientist. ...

• Bacteriology
• Biochemistry and Pharmacology
• Applied Physiology

Dale oversaw a period of considerable success at NIMR, including the discovery of the human influenza virus in 1933 and the discovery of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, for which Dale himself received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Microbiology (in Greek micron = small and biologia = studying life) is the study of microorganisms, including unicellular (single-celled) eukaryotes and prokaryotes, fungi, and viruses. ... Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. ... Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmakon (φάρμακον) meaning drug, and lego (λέγω) to tell (about)) is the study of how substances interact with living organisms to produce a change in function. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Negatively stained flu virions. ... The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ...

Moving to Mill Hill

In the 1930s the decision was made to move the Institute to new premises. An imposing building at Mill Hill was designed by Maxwell Ayrton, also the architect of the original Wembley Stadium, and construction began in 1937. Once again, occupation was delayed when war broke out in 1939 and the building was given to the Women's Royal Naval Service. The building was returned to the MRC in autumn 1949 but Sir Henry Dale had retired in 1942 and so was never director on the new site, that job falling to his successor Sir Charles Harington. Wembley Stadium is a football stadium in Wembley, London, England. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Womens Royal Naval Service (WRNS, popularly known as Wrens) was a non-combat branch of the United Kingdom Royal Navy that recruited women. ... Sir Charles Robert Harington (1 August 1897 - 4 February 1972) was a Welsh chemist. ...

The official opening ceremony took place on the 5 May 1950, with their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II present. Harington expanded the research programme into ten divisions during his 20 year tenure and guided researchers at the Institute to, amongst other achievements, the development of gas chromatography and the discovery of interferon. Part of the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in Whitehall, London. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 11 December 1936 until his death. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... Gas-liquid chromatography (GLC), or simply gas chromatography (GC) is a type of chromatography in which the mobile phase is a carrier gas, usually an inert gas such as helium or nitrogen, and the stationary phase is a microscopic layer of liquid on an inert solid support. ... Interferons (IFNs) are natural proteins produced by the cells of the immune system of most vertebrates in response to challenges by foreign agents such as viruses, bacteria, parasites and tumor cells. ...

In 1962, Nobel Prize winner Sir Peter Medawar became director and, consistent with his research interests, established NIMR as a major centre for immunological research. Following an illness, Medawar retired as director in 1971 to be replaced by Sir Arnold Burgen. Burgan had an interest in nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and formed the MRC Biomedical NMR Centre at the Institute in 1980. Sir Dai Rees became director in 1982 to be replaced by Sir John Skehel in 1987. Since then NIMR has continued to excel scientifically reporting, perhaps most famously, the discovery of the sex determining gene SRY, in 1991. Sir Peter Brian Medawar (February 28, 1915 – October 2, 1987) was a Brazilian-born English scientist best known for his work on how the immune system rejects or accepts organ transplants. ... Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Sir Arnold Stanley Vincent Burgen (born 20 March 1922 was Master of Darwin College, Cambridge 1982-89 (Hon. ... Pacific Northwest National Laboratorys high magnetic field (800 MHz, 18. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... SRY (Sex-determining Region Y) is a sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome in humans and other primates. ...

Towards the future

In 2003, as part of their Forward Investment Strategy, the MRC announced plans to consider moving NIMR from its current location to a university/medical school site, to enhance its ability "to translate its biomedical research into practical health outcomes." [1] [2] University College London was selected as a preferred partner institution, and a nearby site in central London was acquired. [3] Some staff at the NIMR, including Robin Lovell-Badge and John Skehel, expressed opposition to a move. In response to accusations of "coercion" during the review process, a House of Commons select committee investigation criticised both the MRC for losing the confidence of NIMR workers, and unnamed NIMR staff for "undermining [Colin] Blakemore's position as MRC chief executive." [4][5] Affiliations University of London Russell Group LERU EUA ACU Golden Triangle G5 Website http://www. ... Coercion is the practice of compelling a person to involuntarily behave in a certain way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats, intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. ... Type Lower House Speaker of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Commons Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Harriet Harman, QC, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Theresa May, PC, (Conservative) since December 6, 2005 Members 646 Political groups... A Select Committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster System of parliamentary democracy. ... Colin Blakemore is a neurobiologist specialising in vision. ...

In September 2006, Sir John Skehel retired as NIMR director [6] and Sir Keith Peters became acting director [7] until the future structure of the new institute could be finalised. In July of that year the MRC announced that Scott Fraser of the California Institute of Technology had been invited to take over the directorship. [8] According to Blakemore, negotiations were ongoing as of December 2006 [9] Since 1987, Professor Sir Keith Peters FRS PMedSci has been Regius Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge where he is head of the School of Clinical Medicine. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational research university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ...

Though the financial package from HM Treasury is not yet formalised, the construction of the new NIMR facility is scheduled to begin in 2009 and the relocation from Mill Hill is scheduled for 2012. [10] The new eastern entrance to HM Treasury HM Treasury, in full Her Majestys Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the UK Governments financial and economic policy. ...

Mill Hill Essays

A yearly collection of essays are produced by guest authors and staff at the Institute, under the title Mill Hill Essays. They are written to be accessible and informative to the lay reader.

Animal testing

Some scientists at NIMR perform research on animals. Because of this, and the perception that the Institute is the MRC's flagship facility, there are weekly protests by members of animal rights groups outside the building. These protests usually take place on a Wednesday evening. Enos the space chimp before insertion into the Mercury-Atlas 5 capsule in 1961. ... A flagship is the ship used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships. ... For the album by Moby, see Animal Rights (album). ...

Trivia

NIMR in Batman Begins.

• The rooms and other locations in the building was used in the film Batman Begins, for the Arkham Asylum scenes.[11]

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. ... Arkham Asylum as it appeared on Batman: The Animated Series. ...

External links

• The NIMR Website
• Mill Hill Essays