The Cheney Biomedical Accelerator facility is now open

The Cheney Biomedical Accelerator facility, designed to spark bold, cross-disciplinary discoveries in biomedical and health science, has officially opened at the University of Leeds.

The Cheney Biomedical Accelerator brings together the University’s advanced Bioimaging and flow cytometry laboratories, which include a range of different types of high-resolution microscopes and imaging equipment.

It will also include the highly specialised microscopy equipment funded by the £1.1. million investment from the Wolfson Foundation, collectively making it one of the few university facilities in the UK to bring together this scale of advanced imaging technologies in one setting.

It was officially opened by donors Peter and Susan Cheney on 26 September, as part of their wider vision to support translational science at the University. The Cheneys’ donation is also funding a bespoke PhD scholarship programme, and a series of workshops and funding calls designed to support interdisciplinary research.

The aim is to enable researchers across specialities to collaborate on research addressing global health challenges such as cancer, heart disease, neurogenerative diseases, antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases.

Professor Neil Ranson, Co-Director of the Cheney Biomedical Accelerator and Director of the University’s Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, said:

“The Cheney Biomedical Accelerator builds on Leeds' strong foundation of excellence in biological discovery research. Now, with this state-of-the-art equipment - and the opportunity to work collaboratively with clinicians - we can study disease at the molecular level inside cells and tissues, in ways that were previously impossible. Our aim is to better understand disease, and discover new ways to treat it.”

Read the full press release on the Faculty of Biological Sciences website.