A DUNDEE centre for research which could change lives around the world is to receive £2 million from a leading charitable foundation.

The Wolfson Foundation has awarded the grant towards the cost of building the £17.5 million Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Research (CIR) at Dundee University.

Campaigners bidding to raise the final £4 million towards completion of the facility described the announcement as an “incredible boost.”

With other contributions, the latest grant has put the project within £1.5 million of its target.

Professor Sir Philip Cohen, director of research at the Wellcome Trust Biocentre, said, “I am truly indebted to the Wolfson Foundation for their generosity and belief in the importance of the research carried out here in Dundee.

“This award recognises the world-class strength of bio-science research in Dundee and the importance of the expansion of our teams in two areas of research that have the potential to impact on millions of lives worldwide.”

The £4 million fund- raising effort, launched in April last year, has been spearheaded by professors Cohen and Michael Ferguson, along with Dundee-born actor Brian Cox.

The latest cash boost comes two weeks after the announcement of a £1 million award from the European Regional Development Fund towards the costs of fitting out two floors designated for applied research in the CIR.

The centre will be built adjacent to the Wellcome Trust Biocentre and will house 280 staff, including 180 additional scientists.

The facility will enable the expansion of teams dedicated to the discovery of more effective treatments for diabetes and tropical diseases—the two fastest growing epidemics of the developed and developing world.

When completed, the entire research complex at Dundee University, housing over 750 scientists from more than 50 countries, will be larger than the National Institute for Medical Research in London.

University director of external relations Joan Concannon said, “The Wolfson Foundation has been a wonderful supporter of the University of Dundee over the years and we are particularly grateful for their generosity towards this important project.

“All-told, our campaign has now raised more than £2.5 million from trust and foundations, incredible local support and philanthropic donations.

“We will be concentrating our efforts to raise the final £1.5 million required to complete the new facility, scheduled to open in the summer of 2005.”

The Wolfson Foundation award specifically funds the costs of facilities for research in tropical diseases in the new building.

The research will be led by Professor Michael Ferguson, a leading expert in tropical and parasitic disease research.

Malaria is the single biggest killer of children— claiming a child every 30 seconds—and affects the world’s poorest people in developing countries.

The disease is becoming resistant to the traditional drugs used for treatment, and very few new drugs are available to take their place.

Professor Ferguson said, “Because of the low health-care budgets in sub-Saharan Africa the pharmaceutical industry is largely uninterested in developing drug treatment for this and many other tropical diseases.

“University-based research is therefore critical to the search for new medicines to combat these appalling diseases.”