Biomed centre receives £40m gift

Imperial College London is to build a new and pioneering biomedical engineering centre after receiving a £40 million gift from Michael Uren and the Michael Uren Foundation.

The donation will support the construction of the Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Hub, situated at ICL’s 25-acre research and innovation campus in White City, London.

“It seems to me that, in effect, what we are creating here is a new Silicon Valley London, which is bound to succeed

Michael Uren OBE

Once built, the centre will feature research into new and affordable medical technology, helping people affected by a diverse range of medical conditions, a statement from the university says.

The Hub will also incorporate clinical areas, providing patients with direct access to the latest advances in healthcare.

“It is an honour for me to be able to help this great university. Medical teaching and research didn’t exist at Imperial in my day, but it has evolved into an institution where the work between engineering and medicine is today one of its outstanding strengths,” Uren said.

“It seems to me that, in effect, what we are creating here is a new Silicon Valley London, which is bound to succeed.”

Professor Justin Cobb, director of the MSK lab at ICL, suggested that the philanthropic vision that Michael Uren has for the Biomedical Engineering Hub will lay the foundations for an exciting series of “innovative partnerships”.

“From our original narrow focus on joint disease and its huge societal burden, we are expanding to address other areas where human tissues fail,” Cobb said.

“Engineering is now essential in this enterprise - it encompasses everything from writing computer code for neurotechnology devices, to the 3D bio-printing of replacement parts. The Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Hub will create the environment where we work together to engineer these solutions.”