IAH awarded £38 million for research
IAH at Pirbright
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has awarded £38 million to the Institute of Animal Health as part of a strategic research programme. The investment will enable the IAH to carry on as a world-leading centre for research into viral disease of livestock and viral zoonoses.
The funding is in addition to the £250 million that the BBSRC and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have invested in the redevelopment of the IAH's laboratories at Pirbright, Surrey.
The funds have been awarded through grants to distinct strategic programmes to support research over five years. At the IAH, three strategic programmes are underway - in the fields of avian viral diseases, livestock viral diseases and vector born viral disease.
John Fazakerley, director of the IAH, said: "We are delighted with this endorsement from BBSRC. We are proud of the work that we do and are committed to delivering the science strategy of the UK through excellent research. We share with BBSRC a commitment to using bioscience research to underpin future global food security as well as improvements in the wellbeing of humans and animals."
David Willetts, the minister for universities and science, commented: "This £250 million investment from BBSRC for the first phase of major five-year research programmes will sustain excellent science at some of the UK's leading institutes and universities. This will drive growth, support highly skilled jobs and keep the UK at the very forefront of bioscience, with benefits ranging from healthcare to energy and global food security."
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