Two Cambridge initiatives are set to make a major difference to the understanding, treatment and prevention of diseases.

Minister for Health John Hutton MP recently visited the construction site of the £85 million Elective Care, Genetics and Diabetes Centre on the Addenbrooke’s campus.

The Minister met diabetes patient Ann Bentley on the site of the new Centre which will bring together clinical work and research into diabetes, metabolism and hormones. It is hoped that the research carried out will translate directly into new therapies for patients.

The Centre is a Private Finance Initiative development, part-funded by the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council, which will also provide much-needed extra capacity in theatres and wards for patients having elective surgery, and a new home for the Genetics service.

Mr Hutton’s visit coincided with the launch of an appeal for volunteers for a research project into links between genes, the environment and common diseases.

Cambridge BioResource is a new Addenbrooke’s-based study, jointly funded by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit and the University of Cambridge, which aims to establish a bank of genetic information on a large cross-section of individuals from the Cambridge area.

The aim of Cambridge BioResource is to collect blood samples from 2,000 individuals aged 21 to 45 living within 25 miles of Cambridge. This will provide a resource to allow researchers to contact individuals with a particular genotype to take part in studies to help improve prevention and treatment of a number of diseases. Future research may include studies investigating the impact of childhood development or behaviours such as physical activity and diet, or blood levels of certain molecules on disease risk.

Dr Lisa Purslow, Cambridge BioResource Co-ordinator, said: “This is a really important project that will help us to determine how an individual’s genes and lifestyle choices impact on risk of later disease. We need to collect blood from a wide cross-section of the population and we really hope that people from all walks of life will come forward to take part.”

For more information on the study there is a free phone number 0800 085 6183 or e-mail bioresource@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk

Construction of the new Addenbrooke’s building is schedule to be completed in Spring 2007.

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