New Institute of Rheumatology to be built on Old Road Campus

 26 November 2010

The Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology Trust and Oxford University have entered into a collaborative agreement for Oxford University and the Kennedy Trust to build a new Institute of Rheumatology at Oxford University’s Old Road Campus.  The Kennedy Trust is an independent charity supporting research into the mechanisms and treatment of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.

The agreement between the Kennedy Trust and Oxford University provides for the creation of a new Institute of Rheumatology on Oxford University’s Old Road Campus adjacent to the UK’s largest musculoskeletal clinical centre, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.  The Chairman of the Kennedy Trust, James Davis, said “The Trustees are very excited at the prospect of this new Kennedy Trust  and Oxford University funded institute at Oxford becoming a world leader in research into rheumatology and inflammatory and autoimmune disease.

Oxford University has identified research into the inflammatory mechanisms of joint disease as a major strategic priority that aligns well with the substantial clinical presence in this field at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, and the strong immunology and inflammation research programmes elsewhere in the University.  The Old Road Campus in Oxford will place the new Institute in close proximity both with the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and with facilities that support a range of biomedical research activities including structural biology, genomics, proteomics, cell biology, clinical trials and epidemiology. 

Professor Andrew Carr, the Nuffield Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in Oxford, said: “Having a new Institute for Rheumatology in Oxford funded by the Kennedy Trust and the Oxford University will provide us with an opportunity to create the world’s leading programme in inflammatory arthritis.  The existing expertise in clinical and basic science in Oxford, combined with those of the new Institute, will bring together on one site a remarkable array of talent focused on improving the treatment and therapy of these disabling diseases.”

For more information, contact Chris Price at Oxford’s Medical Sciences Division on chris.price@medsci.ox.ac.uk or 01865 228974