Forum: Brill Place UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation to honour Francis Crick

THE proposed UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation will take a fresh approach to medical research. 

It will encourage connections between scientists, doctors and nurses as well as members of the public.

In the coming weeks, construction will start and, with this, will come a new name: The Francis Crick Institute in honour of a British scientist who led a revolution in biology and medicine. 

In 1953 Crick, working with James Watson, identified the structure of DNA, based on the studies of the molecule by Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and others at King’s College.
 

In the spirit of Crick the institute will tackle some of the most difficult questions. Its remit will be to tackle diseases that affect us all from our hearts to brains, to understand how we grow up, how we age and what works and what goes wrong in the human body. But this won’t just be a boost to the UK’s science community. At a time when injections of money to local economies are few and far between, we believe our project will have a massive, long-lasting, impact on Camden. 

We are working to ensure that the money we invest in the area brings health and other benefits. To be built at St Pancras and Somers Town, near Euston and St Pancras stations, it will be part of the extraordinary medical research and scientific cluster in the borough. 

Camden is an unusual place where scientists, doctors, nurses and policy-makers work within minutes’ walks of each other. 
 

This is very important to the local economy: the businesses that serve the local research organisations and hospitals, the employees that spend their money locally, the schools that engage with outreach programmes and the world-class health facilities that they provide to residents. These institutions benefit Camden immeasurably. 

The science will have a global reach, but the institute will be rooted in the local community.  Over the past three years, we have discussed our plans with more than 800 local residents and community groups in more than 90 meetings. We listened to what people had to say and, as a result, made significant changes to the design of the building.  
 

Our institute is founded by four of the country’s leading medical research organisations: the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and University College London. We want people to engage with science and research, starting at school. On the north east corner of the building we are building a teaching laboratory for young people, with priority access for Camden schools. And to help school students get the most out of UKCMRI, we will employ an education liaison officer. 

Scientists must not work in isolation. They have a duty to explain their work, especially if it is controversial or there are ethical issues involved. To encourage and foster this debate, the institute will have an ambitious programme for public engagement with science featuring exhibitions, projects and events as well as lectures and visits. 
 

We’re also seeking to engage people in other ways. Last year, more than 100 local people grew fruit and vegetables on the site and this Easter we invited people to see and experience the archaeological investigations of the railway goods yard which used to occupy the land.  

Over time, we developed plans with Camden Council, in consultation with local people, to bring a package of benefits that would have a meaningful impact.  These include a purpose built Living Centre. The two-floor, 450m² community space is being designed by local people and will be run in partnership with the community. Its goal will be to improve local health and wellbeing.

Council homes close to the institute will benefit from £1.7million, we are contributing to Camden’s Better Homes initiative, money the council will spend on insulation and other improvements to housing neighbouring the site. We are contributing £3.8million to a new district energy centre that will provide residents with cheaper heat and power. To meet the needs for a direct pedestrian route between St Pancras International and Somers Town we are creating a well-lit, new, pathway that will run between the institute and the British Library.
 

We’re funding improvements to the local park and creating a courtyard garden outside the planned Living Centre.

In partnership with Laing O’Rourke, the council and King’s Cross Working (Camden’s construction skills centre) we will train and employ at least 40 apprentices while the institute is being built.

We are working with the council and local training providers to give people the skills and experience for jobs at the institute; or one of the other laboratories in the borough. 

Our local business support strategy is helping local companies to bid for contracts to supply goods and services to UKCMRI. 

Local people are advising on all our plans through working groups which meet regularly to discuss our progress.   

This will be a national institute for national benefit, but we are determined to bring benefits which serve the community where we’ll be based for decades to come.

• Katie Matthews is community engagement manager for UKCMRI.