The Unit was established by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in 1947. The Unit transferred to the University of Cambridge in March 2018 and occupies the recently refurbished Gleeson Building, in modern laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation, and access to further large-scale facilities required for our research. In this location the Unit is ideally placed to further develop productive collaborations with colleagues from the Gurdon Institute and Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology and Pathology.
The Unit Director, Professor Anne Willis was appointed in May 2010. The Unit pursues mechanistic toxicology research with a strong focus on studying the links between exposure to toxicants, molecular initiating events and adverse outcome pathways. The Unit trains and mentors the next generation of toxicologists and it strives to share its research with the wider research community and the public, which is a central part of the mission of the MRC.
At full strength, the Toxicology Unit will host 11 research programmes organised into four research themes. These research programmes form a key part of the strategic remit of the Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences (CATs) and Cambridge Alliance on Medicines Safety (CAMS) .
