Background
In 2002, GlaxoSmithKline committed to build a dedicated Clinical Imaging Centre (CIC) at the Hammersmith Hospital, in conjunction with Imperial College, London (ICL).
Imperial College’s Hammersmith Hospital campus was chosen because it is home to a large concentration of imaging knowledge and many of the world’s leading experts in medical imaging.
Existing expertise on the Hammersmith Hospital site includes staff from the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC), ICL and Hammersmith Hospital’s NHS trust.
Hammersmith Hospital has always been at the forefront of clinical trials.
Aims
The aims of the Clinical Imaging Centre are to:
- Accelerate effective drug discovery and development in GSK
- Establish a centre of excellence with a critical mass of imaging expertise
- Develop and utilise imaging methods for novel molecular targets from the GSK portfolio
- Lead the application of imaging science to drug discovery and development in GSK
- Characterise key human disease represented by the GSK portfolio
- Stimulate and engage in active collaborations
Key Facts
The GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Clinical Imaging Centre (CIC) represents a capital investment of £46m for GSK and a £11m per annum operating budget.
The CIC is equipped with the latest technologies including magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) in which GSK invested £16 million.
The CIC has the ability to conduct 1500 MRI scans and 1000 PET scans per year.
75 new full-time employees have been appointed, including imaging experts, radiochemists, biologists, cyclotron engineers, physicians, physicists, clinical scientists, nurses, radiographers, data managers and operations staff.
In addition to constructing the CIC, GSK and Imperial College have entered into a ten-year research agreement for medical imaging.
Downloads
MRI is a non-invasive method used to render images of the inside of an object. It is primarily used in medical imaging to demonstrate pathological or other physiological alterations of living tissues.
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body.
