Refurbishment & equipment for the Division of Medical and Molecular Genetics. (360G-Wellcome-064682_Z_01_Z)

This proposal is for refurbishment and equipment for the research facilities of the Division of Medical & Molecular Genetics. Currently, the Academic Division and the NHS Clinical Genetics Centre occupy floors 7, 8 and part of floor 5 of Guy's Tower. The NHS Trust has agreed to relocate the Clinical Genetics Centre in the adjacent hospital building, and to relocate those currently occupying the 'non-genetics' section of floor 5 so as to vacate this area. This proposal is therefore for 1) refurbishment of vacated clinic office space on floor 8 into new laboratory space and offices, computing facilities, and library; 2) total refurbishment of laboratories on Floor 7, including the creation of communal areas for large equipment; and 3) refurbishment of vacated areas on Floor 5 into new laboratories, microscopy suite, tissue culture facilities, washing-up space, and research seminar room. NHS diagnostic laboratories will remain in space on 5 and 8 which is already refurbished and is not included in these plans. The Division of Medical and Molecular Genetics and the Clinical Genetics Centre are fully integrated with regard to research activities and deem it essential that they remain physically contiguous with one another within the hospital. This plan will result in upgrading of facilities and modernisation of the Academic laboratory areas, and at the same time the NHS Trust has agreed to provide space and the Guy's and St Thomas' Special Trustees have provisionally earmarked funding for refurbishment of the Clinic. The resulting configuration will result in vastly improved space for the research laboratories, continued integration with the Diagnostic and NHS R&D laboratories, and very close proximity to the Clinic. The new facilities will all be available for interaction and collaboration between these groups. Most of the current facilities have not been altered since the Department moved to the Tower in 1976. Although the Tower building is sound structurally, the services to these floors are outmoded and unable to cope with the technology of modern laboratory equipment. Power supplies, air conditioning and plumbing are all in urgent need of upgrading. In addition, the Division is greatly overcrowded due to expansion of both the clinic and academic areas and is without certain basic facilities such as a seminar room. The equipment part of this bid is for some items essential to any modern molecular biology laboratories such as adequate capacity for automated sequencing, and phosphorimaging. In addition our computing facilities are vastly overstretched, and part of the equipment bid is to deal with this. We currently have no local access to a confocal microscope and have requested this item to help deal with our increasing needs of this type of imaging.