Partners
AstraZeneca and MedImmune
We are a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, headquartered on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and our innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.
Our major focus is to develop medicines for Oncology, Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity, and Cardiovascular and Metabolic diseases, with an opportunity-driven approach to Infection, Neuroscience and Gastrointestinal diseases.
Our two R&D biotech units, MedImmune and IMED, use novel science and innovation in biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, protein engineering and devices, to provide candidate medicines for our late-stage development unit.
By co-locating our R&D next to world leading bioscience clusters in Cambridge, UK; Gaithersburg, Maryland, US; and Gothenburg, Sweden, we can collaborate with leading scientists and research organisations.
We have extensive research collaborations with our neighbours on the Campus including with the hospital and University departments and partner institutions.
Cambridge Enterprise
Part of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Enterprise supports its members in achieving knowledge transfer and research impact.
We help transform your ideas into commercial opportunities attractive to organisations that can bring them to market and support formation of new companies and social enterprises.
We also manage the commercial relationship and negotiation of relevant agreements. Our remit extends to supporting the development of intellectual property arising from NIHR Cambridge BRC activities and collaborations between the University of Cambridge and the NHS; if you are either a CUH NHS Trust employee, or a University employee supported by the NIHR Cambridge BRC, and want to discuss how to commercialise your technology, we have the experience and expertise to support you.
If you are ready to disclose your idea confidentially, then please complete our Idea Disclosure form.
If you would like to ask us a question, please email CBRCIPSupport@enterprise.cam.ac.uk, and someone from the team will get in touch with you.
Cambridge University Health Partners
Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP) is one of six Academic Health Science Centres in England whose mission is to improve patient healthcare by bringing together the NHS, industry and academia.
By inspiring and organising collaboration, CUHP aims to ensure patients reap the benefits of the world class research, clinicians and industry which are based in Cambridge and the surrounding area.
We are at the forefront of the changing face of medicine and healthcare as researchers and doctors look to treat patients by understanding the mechanisms of disease rather than simply treat the symptoms.
This means various fields of science are collaborating as physicists, mathematicians and engineers are now working with clinicians to develop new and more effective treatments. Cambridge, with its rich history of research and innovation, is ideally placed to be the global leader in healthcare.
Cambridge University Hospitals
Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is one of the largest and best known hospitals in the country, delivering high-quality patient care through Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals.
CUH is a leading national centre for specialist treatment for rare or complex conditions and a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation.
CUH is a key partner in Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP), one of only six academic health science centres in the UK, and is at the heart of the development of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), which brings together on one site world-class biomedical research, patient care and education. As part of the Campus development, Papworth Hospital is creating a bespoke, purpose-built hospital, and AstraZeneca is building a new global R&D centre and corporate headquarters. The Campus is one of the government’s 11 National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive biomedical research centres.
The Trust already works closely with a number of research partners across the Campus, for example, the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the University of Cambridge and The Wellcome Trust, to develop new drugs and new therapies to improve treatment and patient care.
Cancer Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory
The Cancer Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) is part of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine Deptartment of Oncology, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The laboratory is jointly funded by the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.
CMDL is involved in ongoing CTIMP and observational clinical trials as well as smaller translational and research studies, acting as a site, central laboratory, and contract researcher. CMDL provide a spectrum of services to support the required endpoints and liaise directly with clinical teams to provide advice and support for trial/study setup and running.
CMDL services:
- Processing of patient samples
- Extractions
- Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)
- Specialised molecular assays
- Bioinformatic analysis and data reporting
CMDL services are available to clinical trials and independent research groups.
Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre
The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre unites more than 600 laboratory researchers and healthcare professionals in more than 24 University Departments, nine world-leading research institutions, two NHS Foundation Trusts (Cambridge University Hospitals and Royal Papworth Hospital) and four major pharmaceutical companies sited across the wider Cambridge area.
Our mission is to end death and disease caused by cancer, through research, treatment and education. As one of just two Cancer Research UK Major Centres, we serve as a national and international resource for patients with cancer and their families; researchers and health care providers; and cancer professionals in training.
The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre facilitates new collaborations and drives the translation of new scientific discoveries into clinical applications to improve patient care. By working together across a range of different disciplines, our members are breaking down the barriers between the laboratory and the clinic, enabling patients to benefit from the latest innovations in cancer science.
Centre for Engineering Better Care
The CEBC focuses on interdisciplinary research within Engineering and Clinical Medicine. We provide both organisational and physical infrastructure to transform interdisciplinary work between Engineering and the Biomedical Campus. A product of CEBC is that Cambridge University becomes the expert in fundamental and transitional research focused on improving healthcare, while the local healthcare trusts and the wider profession build capability and capcity in taking a more systematic and creative approach to improvement.
Eastern Academic Health Science Network
Eastern Academic Health Science Network is one of 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) set up to spread innovation at pace and scale across the healthcare system – in order to achieve the ultimate goals of both improving health and generating economic growth.
Innovation is our business. We have deep rooted knowledge of the academic, industry and NHS sectors, and the challenges of diffusing best practice and innovation.
Our regional focus ensures that we are grounded in the specific context of our local populations and clinical communities. We understand their challenges and are able to translate innovations to achieve better health outcomes at pace and scale.
We don’t work alone. The strength of our partnerships uniquely positions us to connect diverse bodies from across the health and care system enabling us to successfully co-create solutions to achieve better patient outcomes.
EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Situated on the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, Cambridge, UK, EMBL-EBI is one of the world’s largest concentrations of scientific and technical expertise in genomics.
At EMBL-EBI, we perform basic research in bioinformatics, make the world’s public biological data freely available to the scientific community via a range of services and tools, and provide professional training in bioinformatics.
We are part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an international, innovative and interdisciplinary research organisation funded by 23 member states and two associate member states.
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)
The Clinical Unit Cambridge is GSK’s own Experimental Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology unit in the dynamic and interactive environment of Cambridge based at the heart of Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Addenbrookes Hospital (Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust).
Innovative early phase 1 and 2 studies are designed, set up and executed using the principles of experimental medicine. Scientists and clinicians are trained and interact to support the scientific knowledge and advance innovative and experimental clinical trial design in GSK. Our position on the campus has enabled us to develop a large number of academic links and collaborations to support and conduct experimental and translational studies and to recruit patients by partnering with the local networks as well as in the wider environment.
MRC Biostatistics Unit
The Medical Research Council (MRC) has had a statistical unit since its inception in 1913. One hundred years on, the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), is one of the largest groups of biostatisticians in Europe. It is a major centre for research, training and knowledge transfer, with a mission ‘to advance biomedical science and human health through the development, application and dissemination of statistical methods’.
BSU’s critical mass of methodological, applied and computational expertise provides a unique and stimulating environment of cutting edge biostatistics, striking a balance between statistical innovation, dissemination of methodology, and engagement with biomedical and public health priorities.
BSU is based at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health at the Forvie Site, and since December 2016 is part of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge.
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a world-class research institute dedicated to understanding important biological processes, providing the knowledge needed to solve key problems in human health.
The LMB has made revolutionary contributions to science, such as pioneering the sequencing of DNA and the development of monoclonal antibodies. Ten Nobel Prizes have been awarded for work carried out by our scientists.
Since 2013 the LMB has occupied a purpose-built, £212 million facility on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, providing an unsurpassed environment for both young and established researchers, with state-of-the-art facilities and a unique scientific culture. The LMB has always been very diverse, with a truly international outlook – we currently employ more than 600 staff from over 50 countries.
NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARC)
We are a collaboration of academics, clinicians and managers who undertake high quality applied health research focused on the needs of patients and service users, supporting the translation of research evidence into practice in the NHS and social care.
NIHR ARC East of England focuses its research efforts on the needs of people with complex problems, often vulnerable when multiple agencies are involved in their care: young people, frail older people, those with dementia, learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries or mental ill health.
The ARC collaboration encompasses some thirty-six organisations, with research hubs in the Universities of Cambridge, Hertfordshire and East Anglia working closely with individuals and organisations involved in the whole care pathway.
NIHR Research Support Service
In October 2023 the NIHR launched the Research Support Service (RSS). This replaces the Research Design Service.
The NIHR RSS provides free and confidential advice to develop funding applications within the remit of the NIHR, including clinical, applied health and social care research, and post-award advice to award holders.
Access to support, advice and expertise is available for all researchers across England applying to NIHR research programmes or research training awards as well as to non-NIHR funders such as charities.
The RSS is delivered collaboratively through eight hubs, each a partnership of research groups and organisations, linked to topics rather than geographies.
All hubs support a broad range of research designs, from pre-application through to post-award delivery, as well as providing specialist topic or methods expertise. There are also specialist centres with expertise in public health and social care research.
In the East of England we will have our own contact for researchers based here, to facilitate access to RSS support.
If you have a general question about the RSS you can contact the National Collaborative team on NIHR-RSS@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Office for Translational Research
The Office for Translational Research (OTR) can help convert research ideas coming from the University of Cambridge and associated hospitals into new products and health applications to treat or prevent human disease and illness.
The OTR provides:
- Partnering and project advice
- Project advice at all stages (“Bench to Bedside”) and big initiatives
- Training and Events
The OTR receives core-funding from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Cambridge’s HEFCE Higher Education Innovation funding (HEIF).
Primary Care Unit
The Primary Care Unit (PCU), based within the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge, works to reduce the burden of ill health through our research and teaching.
We carry out research to identify and target the behaviours that lead to chronic disease, to improve early detection of illness and to improve the delivery of health services in community settings; and we teach medical students, clinicians, researchers and educators.
Our research is organised into five research themes: Behaviour and Health, Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes, Cancer, Health Services Research and End of Life Care.
THIS Institute
Everyone wants safe and high-quality healthcare, and health systems worldwide undertake improvement initiatives to achieve these priorities. Yet improvement projects are too often supported by weak evidence. At THIS Institute (The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute), we believe efforts to improve care should always be based on the highest quality evidence. So, we’re boosting research activity to provide more clarity on what works in improving healthcare, what doesn’t, and why.
University of Cambridge
The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. To date, 96 affiliates of the University have won the Nobel Prize.
Founded in 1209, the University comprises 31 autonomous Colleges, which admit undergraduates and provide small-group tuition, and 150 departments, faculties and institutions.
Cambridge is a global university. Its 19,000 student body includes 3,700 international students from 120 countries. Cambridge researchers collaborate with colleagues worldwide, and the University has established larger-scale partnerships in Asia, Africa and America.
The University sits at the heart of one of the world’s largest technology clusters. The ‘Cambridge Phenomenon’ has created 1,500 hi-tech companies, 14 of them valued at over US$1 billion and two at over US$10 billion. Cambridge promotes the interface between academia and business, and has a global reputation for innovation.
Wellcome Sanger Institute
The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world leader in genomics research. We apply and explore genomic technologies at scale to advance understanding of biology and improve health. Making discoveries not easily made elsewhere, our research delivers insights across health, disease, evolution and pathogen biology. We are open and collaborative; our data, results, tools, technologies and training are freely shared across the globe to advance science.
Funded by Wellcome, we have the freedom to think long-term and push the boundaries of genomics. We take on the challenges of applying our research to the real world, where we aim to bring benefit to people and society.
Discover more about the NIHR Cambridge BRC
Contact us by phone, email or web for more information.
Events Calendar
Listing relevant events and training sessions for researchers and members of the public.