17 September 2015
The Government has announced an investment of £350 million to create a new, world-class home for its public health labs in Harlow.
Public Health England (PHE) has today announced that its microbiology laboratories will move from their current facilities at Porton Down into newer facilities at Harlow. This which will allow PHE to create a more modern centre for research into infectious diseases, even better equipped to tackle national and international health threats and conduct research into public health issues.
Professor Sir John Tooke, PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said:
"The relocation of PHE's microbiology laboratories from Porton to Harlow will provide opportunities for increased collaborations with internationally recognised academic groups specialised in infectious diseases, microbiology and other related disciplines at academic centres across the UK.
"Such collaborations will further support academic and research excellence and will help maintain the UK's position as a world leader in research on infectious diseases, whilst increasing PHE’s ability to protect the nation from infection threats."