A newsletter for people who live or work in the Somers Town area JUNE 2012 | ISSUE7

Crick site gets gold for outstanding community engagement

The Considerate Constructors Scheme has given Laing O’Rourke and the Francis Crick Institute site a gold in its national awards. The award recognises the quality of the construction project and on-going work with local people.

Inspectors were impressed with the "first class visitor centre, site hoardings, website, and regular newsletters that informed all nearby neighbours of progress and other news."

Katie Matthews, community engagement manager at the Crick said: "Developing a strong reputation among local people as a good neighbour is very important to the Crick. We have a superb working relationship with our building contractor Laing O'Rourke and this award is recognition that we take our responsibilities to local people very seriously."

In the Crick’s latest community project, Laing O'Rourke has been working with the London Wildlife Trust (who managed community allotments on the site before construction), to plant a ‘green screen’ to help reduce the impact of noise and traffic from St Pancras International and

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE AT WWW.CRICK.AC.UK

ABOUT THE CRICK

The Francis Crick Institute (formerly UKCMRI), is a new medical research institute being built at Brill Place, Somers Town.

It’s named after one of the UK’s greatest scientists, who co-discovered the structure of DNA.

The Institute is a partnership between the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London.

Discoveries made in the laboratories will speed up the development of treatments for major diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The Francis Crick Institute will bring new jobs, community facilities and other benefits to Somers Town.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE •Crickscientistsjoin

Somers Town schools •“Fusionscience”–

an interview with Alex Gould

•Educationupdate•JoinusattheSTART

and Pop Up Festivals •Ready,Set,Gofor

hands-on science fun!

COMMUNITY

Continued on page 2

Above: The ground floor of the building takes shape. Below: Planting a ‘green screen’ on Cooper’s Lane.

© W

ellc

ome

Imag

es

Continued from front page

Crick scientists take on roles in Somers Town schools Scientists from the Crick and one of its founding institutes, the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), have taken on roles in Somers Town schools.

Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, has become a patron of Edith Neville Primary School, while James Briscoe from the NIMR has joined South Camden Community School (SCCS) as a sponsor governor.

Paul said: “The Crick is keen to build close relationships with local schools. We want to provide opportunities for children in Somers Town to learn with our scientists and share in the exciting work that will go on in the Institute, so I am delighted I am a patron of Edith Neville School.”

James Briscoe leads a team of researchers studying the development of the central nervous system before birth. He said: “My interest in being a governor comes from my own educational experience. I attended my local comprehensive and it was the encouragement and support of teachers there that led me to university and consequently into scientific research.”

James was previously a school governor at an inner city boys’ school in west London, where he helped the school achieve Science Specialist status.

“I'm looking forward to getting involved with South Camden Community School. Developing the link will help strengthen and enrich both the school and the Institute. I hope to see the next generation of researchers who will work in The Crick taking their first science lessons in the school,” he said.

“We are delighted to welcome James – not only a ‘real’ scientist and an experienced governor but also a link between our school and The Francis Crick Institute, a partnership we look forward to developing in the coming years,” Jill Hoffbrand, SCCS chair of governors said.

Midland Road on the homes in Cooper's Lane.

Laing O’Rourke has now been on site for over a year, and building work is progressing well.

The basement wall and foundations of the Institute are now complete, and the ground floor on the north side of the building is also finished.

Six construction apprentices have been recruited from the local area, with another 30 or more set to join over the next three years.

BUILDING FACTS AND FIGURES•TheInstitutewillincludelaboratories,

office space, conference facilities and meeting areas. The public will have access to the 450-seat auditorium, teaching laboratory and exhibition area on the Midland Road side of the building. Local people will also be able to use the Living Centre on Ossulston Street.

•Thelaboratorieshavebeendesignedas highly flexible spaces which can be adapted to meet the needs of scientists in the future. More than 1,200 scientists will work in the finished building, and it will take around 1,500 construction workers to build it.

•ThefinalInstitutewillhave91,000m2 of floor space – roughly the size of eight full-size football pitches.

Above left:James Briscoe. Above right: Paul Nurse.

CONSTRUCTION APPRENTICESHIPS AND JOBS ON THE CRICK SITE If you live in Camden, are aged 18-24, and want to work in the construction industry, you might be interested in Laing O’Rourke’s two-year apprenticeship scheme. To find out more call the King’s Cross Construction Skills Centre (KCCSC) on 020 7974 5161. KCCSC also handle recruitment for other jobs on The Crick construction site. Give KCCSC a call for information on any jobs available now.

“Fusion science” – an interview with Alex GouldDr Alex Gould is Head of the Division of Physiology and Metabolism at the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), one of the Crick’s founding institutes.

Alex manages a ten-strong team of scientists who are researching the genetics of growth and metabolism. The team’s current research focuses on how poor nutrition before birth can lead to health problems such as diabetes in later life.

Tell us about your workYou could sum our research up in one word: food. We’re interested in the way diet affects a number of important biological processes such as growth and metabolism, and in turn how this influences our health and wellbeing.

We’ve been focusing recently on how the internal organs of the body grow and how they respond to nutrients in the diet in very different ways.

For example, if nutrients are limited during pregnancy, then the growth of some of the baby’s critical organs – like the brain – is protected. This important survival strategy is called organ sparing. But other organs, like the liver, aren’t ‘spared’ and even though their growth during childhood eventually catches up, the risk of metabolic disease later on in adult life is increased.

We discovered that organ sparing happens in insects as well as in humans, and using genetic experiments in fruit flies, it’s been possible to find some of the genes responsible.

It was surprising to find that one of the genes that’s really important for sparing growth of the brain is Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK), a gene previously linked with several types of cancer. This suggests that some of the genes helping to protect brain growth in undernourished babies might also be driving the growth of tumours. In other words, certain cancers might be viewed as the dark side of the healthy process of organ sparing.

Now we know ALK plays an important role, we need to find out how it works – what molecules ALK regulates in the developing brain. We also need to look at the other organs that aren’t spared during growth – the genes that are responsible for this, and the effects they have on someone’s health as an adult.

How will your research benefit people’s health?Well, most of our research is aimed at discovering new genes involved in growth and metabolism. So it is really the first of several essential steps along the road to a safe and useful disease treatment for metabolic disease or cancer. But a new drug that blocks ALK, called

Crizotinib, has recently been licensed to treat a type of lung cancer.

And by discovering other genes involved in the organ sparing process we hope to find additional potential anti-cancer targets. Many more genetic targets and the drugs that block them will be needed to treat all of the numerous different types of human cancers that exist.

Our research may also help understand the best way of treating mothers who give birth to undersized babies. This can be the result of poor nutrition during pregnancy or the placenta not doing its job properly. By knowing how dietary nutrient interacts with our genes, we hope to be able to work out the best ways of treating small babies so that their chances of developing health problems later in adult life are minimised.

Why will the Crick be important for your research?Science works best when people come together from different scientific disciplines and they bounce ideas off each other. So I’m absolutely delighted that, at the Crick, NIMR will be joining forces with Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute, plus researchers from UCL, King’s and Imperial. This kind of “fusion science”, like fusion cooking, is certainly going to create something interesting.

And finally, how did you get here?A lot of people go into science because they’re passionate about finding out how stuff works. I first got interested in the natural world as a young child; I adored animals especially exotic ones and for a long time wanted to be a zookeeper like Johnny Morris.

Later on, I was lucky to have an excellent chemistry teacher at school, Mr. Russell, who really inspired me to go on and read science at university. I started out studying chemistry but switched subjects after a year as the pull of my first love, biology, was just too strong.

Asking an interesting question and then being lucky enough to have the opportunity of trying to answer it is a constant joy and helps keep me going through life’s ups and downs. Just like when I was a child, it is still a thrill to discover how living things work.

RESEARCH FOCUS

Life skills project increases confidence and independenceFunding from the Crick has given young people from Hampden Youth Club the chance to take part in a Life Skills project, designed to improve their confidence and help them become more independent.

The ten young people learned cooking skills from a qualified chef; about their “stop and search” rights from the Metropolitan Police; how to manage money; and about sexual health, drugs and alcohol abuse.

The group also went on a weekend residential course at Hindleap Warren Outdoor Education Centre in Sussex, where they took part in team building activities including climbing.

The project was the idea of youth workers Jamie King and Shofi Mohammed:

“We wanted to give young people skills and knowledge they can take into their future, to help them develop a sense of responsibility and increase their independence.

“Now the young people will run their own sessions, so they can pass on what they’ve learned to their friends, families and others in the local community,” they said.

EDUCATION UPDATEMarch saw National Science and Engineering Week go off with a bang in Somers Town.

Supported by the Crick, children, staff and parents at Edith Neville Primary School took part in a whole week of practical science activities. Children learned how to make cornflour slime, how to make a balloon blow up by itself, and why lemons sink but limes will float in a tank of water.

The week ended with a science fair where parents were shown how to do some of these exciting activities at home.

A special film has been made of Edith Neville’s science week, which is available to watch on our website – www.crick.ac.uk.

March also saw three work experience students from South Camden Community School take up week-long placements with the Crick and its architect, HOK.

Bushra Abdisalam said of her week in the Crick’s Communications andTransitionteams:“It’sbeenperfect,andhasmotivatedmeto domorescienceinschool.”

The Crick will offer more work experience opportunities for local students in the future, as well as longer term work placement schemes in the Institute when it opens.

Looking forward to the rest of the summer term, the Crick will help teachers in Somers Town deliver the Wellcome Trust’s ‘In the Zone’ project in their classrooms. Inspired by the 2012 Olympics, every school in the UK has been sent a fantastic box of equipment and resources that will help students to explore the world of sport science.

Researchers from two of the Crick’s founding partners, Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute and the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research, will work with local schoolsduringJuneandJulytosupporttheir‘IntheZone’sessions.

Finally, ahead of the summer holidays, thirty Year 5 pupils from Richard Cobden Primary School will take part in an action-packed schools day at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, north London. The children will experience what life is like in a real laboratory, meet scientists, and get to have a go at some of their own experiments.

Come and meet us!The Crick will take part in two local community events this summer – the Pop Up Festival of Stories in Granary Square (behind King’s Cross Station) on Saturday 30th June, and the Somers Town Festival of Cultures (START) in Chalton Street on Saturday 14th July.

Pop Up is a brand new festival celebrating books, stories and the people who create them. Over the past couple of months the Pop Up team of authors and artists has been working on a story-making programme with schools and family groups in Somers Town. The festival will celebrate the stories the groups have created, with free events for all ages (visit www.pop-up.org.uk for more information).

Staff from the Crick will be on hand at the festival with information about the Institute and plans for working with the local community, and will be joined by a team of ‘science buskers’ (see page 5).

As in previous years the Crick will also be at the START Festival, where visitors will get the chance to meet some of the Crick’s scientists, take part in some hands-on science experiments, and find out more about the Institute. We hope to see you there!

Above: Hands-on science at the START Festival.

WHERE DOES THE SOIL FROM THE SITE GO? Each day, hundreds of tonnes of soil are taken from the site and sent to Essex. All of this excavated soil is used in construction or environmental projects.

Although most of the excavated soil doesn’t need cleaning, soil that is mixed with rubble gets washed and sorted into silt and sand, and shingle and rubble.

The unsorted soil is taken to a huge landfill site near the Thames where it is used to cover household waste and to help create a bird and wildlife sanctuary on the Essex marshes.

Nearly 400,000 tonnes of soil has been removed from the Crick site since excavation began last summer – that’s enough to fill the Albert Hall twice!

Ready, Set, Go for hands-on science fun! This summer, the Crick will roll out an exciting programme of ‘science busking’ outside St Pancras Station to amaze and entertain the Olympic crowds. With the help of local volunteers, including Somers Town residents, students, and scientists from our partner organisations, we’ll be taking fun, hands-on science activities to people visiting London during the 2012 Games period.

The volunteers will be put through their paces on a two-day training course at the New Horizon Youth Centre, Chalton Street, where they’ll pick up all the presentation and science communication skills needed to become science buskers. Come and see them in action at the Pop Up Festival in Granary Square, Kings Cross on 30th June, and at the START Festival in Chalton Street, Somers Town on 14th July.

If you’re off to the Games yourself, look out for the Crick’s science buskers between 26th July and 12th August on Midland Road outside St Pancras station.

Our Visitor Centre will also be open during the Olympics: from 8am to midday from Thursday 26th July – Saturday 11th August, excluding Sundays. We will not be open on Thursday afternoons on 26th July, or the 2nd and 9th August.

Impressive season for Origin FC Local youth football team Origin FC, which the Crick sponsored for the 2011/12 season, has made an impressive transition to the Premier division of the Islington Midweek league.

The team, whose average is 19, had a tough start in the new division, finding it difficult to win against more experienced adult teams. But weekly training sessions – attended by up to 20 young people – have paid off, and the team now hopes to win this year’s West End Challenge Cup and 4 Kix five-a-side tournament.

The Crick covered the cost of the team’s football strip and helped with coaching costs.

©N

atal

ie Ir

elan

d

© U

KC

MR

I Lim

ited

2012

. TAP16

39/06-06

-12/V4

GET IN TOUCHIf you have any questions, please contact us.

Email: info@crick.ac.uk

Web: www.crick.ac.uk

Phone: 0800 028 6731

Facebook: facebook.com/ thefranciscrickinstitute

Twitter: @thecrick

Post: The Francis Crick Institute Gibbs Building 215 Euston Road London, NW1 2BE

Visit: The Crick Visitor Centre, Ossulston Street (opposite Hadstock House), NW1 1HG

Staff will be on hand to answer your questions and you will be able to see the latest designs and plans for the building.

OPENING TIMES Thursdays: 14.00-18.30We can also open the Visitor Centre for groups on request.

Construction of the Institute is now over a third complete. Since Laing O’Rourke started on site in June 2011, the team has worked around half a million hours (38,000 in May alone).

Over 60% of the ground floor is now finished. The second floor of the basement is complete on the Ossulston Street side, and Laing O’Rourke has started on the first floor of the basement. There are a number of temporary ‘mole holes’ in these floors, which allow excavators to remove soil and hoists to carry materials up and down.

More than 4,000 tonnes of reinforced concrete have been used to create floors and columns. To reduce both the number of concrete lorries coming to Brill Place and workers needed, many of the Institute’s floor and wall panels are being pre-cast in a factory in Nottinghamshire and then assembled on site.

The new building will shortly be visible above the site hoardings and will then rapidly take shape, with the outside due to be completed in Spring 2013.

OUTLINE TIMETABLEEarly Summer 2011 Building work started.

Spring 2013 External work completed, internal fit-out starts.

Spring 2015 Internal works completed. The building is ready for use and staff move in.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Construction questions? Call the construction hotline free on 0808 165 0180, or email projectinfo@laingorourke.com

This newsletter tells you about The Francis Crick Institute and its plans to build a medical research centre on Brill Place, Somers Town. If you would like a copy in Bengali, please send your name and address to The Francis Crick Institute, Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE or email info@crick.ac.uk.

© W

ellc

ome

Imag

es