About the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children
The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children provides much needed dedicated laboratories, cutting-edge technology and equipment, and brings together hundreds of clinicians and researchers under one roof to drive forward new treatments and cures for children with rare and complex diseases.
Designed by award-winning architects, Stanton Williams, the state-of-the-art centre was completed in 2019. Adjacent to Great Ormond Street Hospital and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, it houses the latest technologies in a flexible space that acts as a vibrant and collaborative hub.
Our impressive centre includes:
- Major new good manufacturing practice (GMP) suite including 7 specialist clean rooms for the production of clinical grade gene and cell therapies and a simulation suite for education and training. The facility is the largest single academic manufacturing unit for gene and cell therapies in the UK and one of the largest in the world.
- Main laboratory with 140 dedicated benches for early development work to test the safety and efficacy of potential new treatments and a second lab housing the genomics team.
- 9 Tissue culture rooms for testing potential new treatments on cells grown in the laboratory.
- Flow Cytometry suite for rapidly identifying and sorting different types of cell from one another.
- Cardiac research suite where researchers can produce 3D models of the heart, an invaluable resource for exploring new treatments and devices tailored to each child’s heart.
- An outpatients clinic with child friendly consultation rooms, a sensory room, interactive artworks and educational activities suitable for our patients.
- Research write-up areas, meeting rooms and spaces to allow our scientists and medical teams to collaborate and progress with their work.
The really exciting thing about the building is the possibility of creating a working environment that brings everyone together. As a clinician, I need to explore my options for treating a patient with experts who can help me develop them. A variety of different professionals under one roof will allow us to turn innovative thinking into practical solutions. The centre will also give us a manufacturing capacity to develop these solutions at scale so we can help more and more patients.
Professor Andrew Taylor Divisional Director of the Cardio-Respiratory service at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Professor of Cardiovascular Imaging at the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences.
