CRM at 10: Celebrating 10 years of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine

The MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine marked its 10th anniversary with a reception for staff and students (past and present), supporters and community partners as part of the MRC Festival of Medical Research 2018. 

Celebrating 10 years

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Founding director Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, former Head of College Prof Sir John Savill and current director Professor Stuart Forbes reflected on 10 years of success, reflecting that the Centre went from being a centre across different campuses to being housed in a specially designed state of the art building, which opened in 2012. Professor Stuart Forbes said "The Centre for Regenerative Medicine building has grown from an original occupancy of 180 to now house over 300 scientists. A measure of our success is the securing of funding for and construction of a new Centre for Tissue Repair next door, which when complete in 2020 will join with CRM to form the Institute for Regeneration and Repair."

Dr Nicola Festuccia, one of the first PhD students from the Centre, reflected on the diverse scientific community in the Centre, recognising the mentorship he received from his supervisor Prof Ian Chambers and others, and how this has helped him achieve success in his career. Dr Festuccia now runs his own group at the MRC London Institute of Medical Science (LIMS).

Partnerships

Mr Thomas Lindsay, a teacher from the local Castlebrae Community High School talked about the strong partnership between the Centre and the School. He described the pupil mentorship and internship programmes which seek to generate an interest in science and careers in science. 

Recognising individual contributions

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A highlight of the event was the presentation of CRM at 10 Recognition Awards, which recognised the contribution of individuals to the success of the Centre. These included awards for current and former professional services and academic staff as well as Mr Peter Thoms who, with his family, has raised around £6,000 for the Centre by running half marathons in memory of his wife Anne Elaine.  Former student Dr Nicola Festuccia received an award in recognition of his career success since studying at the MRC CRM. See the full list of awardees below.

The event marked the start of a year of celebration of #CRMat10, which will include profiles, stories, videos and even an online virtual tour of the Centre, which was previewed at the event. You can follow this on social media and on Twitter: @CRM_Edinburgh and #CRMat10, Facebook: @CentreforRegenerativeMedicine

There were 14 recognition awards. Clockwise from top left: recipient (award category): Donna Lumsden (Professional Services), Pete Thoms (Fundraising), Vaila O'Connor (Professional Services), Gordon McLean (Culture), Nicola Festuccia (Early Career), Ingrid Heersche (Community), Ian Wilmut (Vision), David Hay (Innovation), Tilo Kunath (Collaboration), Betty Hamilton (Ambassador). Keisuke Kaji (Mid Career), Cathy Southworth (Outreach), Fiona Oswald (Professional Services) and Lesley Forrester (Training)