The British government has finalized a contentious plan to build a new medical research center in the heart of London, according to a statement posted by the Medical Research Council (MRC) today (December 5).

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will sell a plot of land next to the British Library and the new Eurostar train station for the construction of the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) -- scheduled to be completed by 2013. The total cost of the land and construction of the new facility will be approximately 500 British pounds (about $1 billion), paid for by the MRC.

New MRC head, Leszek Borysiewicz, said in the press release that the new center "will be of crucial importance to the UK's plans to ensure that medical research findings are turned into benefits for patients and the economy as efficiently as possible." As we reported in September, one of Borysiewicz's challenges in his new post has been to resolve the large internal dispute over the relocation of the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR); the center has been based near the University College London since 2005, after being moved from a location north of London. The new facility will replace the NIMR.

Some NIMR employees have expressed concern that the new site next to the British Library will not be large enough to hold all research facilities, Nature reported. The new center is intended to employ 1,500 researchers and staff. Rockefeller University President and Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse will head scientific planning. "I'm delighted to be leading the committee to define the scientific vision for this new center," he said in the MRC press release.