Paul Nurse calls for NIMR truce

Nobel-prize winning scientist Paul Nurse has called for a truce in the bitter war of words over plans to relocate Britain's National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR). On Monday (December 20), Nurse told an inquiry into the relocation row that he believed the task force that looked at the options for the NIMR should be reconvened. He also told the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which is conducting the inquiry, that the current impasse is largely due to the fact that the task force—of which he was a member—failed to fully consider what should happen if relocation plans fell through. "I would strongly advise that the task force is got together again," Nurse told parliamentarians on the committee via a live video link from Rockefeller University, where he is now based. "I recommend we try to build a consensus and have a mediator to get them [task force members] back together. Without it, we are walking into a tragedy here."Nurse was invited to give evidence to the committee as part of its investigation into the long-running dispute over plans for the NIMR, part of the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC wants to close the current site in Mill Hill, north London, and team up NIMR with either King's College London or University College London. It believes this would greatly benefit the quality of research.But senior NIMR scientists accuse the MRC of reneging on a pledge to include staying at Mill Hill as an option, if relocating proved more expensive.Relations hit a low earlier his month when senior NIMR scientist Robin Lovell-Badge, who was on the task force, publicly accused MRC Chief Colin Blakemore of threatening him with the sack in a series of late-night telephone calls unless he backed him on the move. Blakemore has denied the charge.Nurse said he now believes the task force, which met five times in all, should have held one more meeting to work out a back-up plan if bids from the London universities failed. "This is where we went wrong," he said. "We never considered what would happen if they did not come up with adequate facilities or resources. We were remiss in that respect." "It became clear that the whole institute was under threat if moving to central London did not work out," Nurse said. Nurse claimed the task force was close to a workable agreement in the summer. It was its failure to agree on a fallback option that proved its downfall. "We were close to a reasonable solution. Now it has all become unstitched, and it will be difficult to stitch back together. But it's absolutely essential that we do. We have a responsibility to make this work."The committee also heard from Richard Flavell, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a fellow member of the task force. He agreed they had failed to consider all the options for investing in the Mill Hill site. "The Mill Hill option had a variety of cost scenarios. But I don't think we really lined them up and said 'If moving falters on cost, then we can go in this direction.' I think that was a mistake."The two researchers' comments came just days after the MRC revealed that proposals put forward by King's College and University College, while interesting, did not "fully [meet] the vision for NIMR that council sought." Colin Blakemore had been authorized to arrange a team of council members to visit the universities to investigate the risks and benefits of each option.Blakemore told The Scientist it was highly unlikely the task force would be reconvened. "We have gone so far beyond the task force process that I don't think it would be conceivable."Blakemore said although the task force meetings did not discuss in detail what the fallback position should be, the issue had cropped up later during E-mail correspondence and conference calls."It's true that, at that fifth meeting, we did not spend time discussing what to do if KCL or UCL did not work out, largely because at the time we were all so optimistic at the prospects for a move."At the committee hearing, both men praised Blakemore for his handling of the task force, especially as he inherited the problem of what to do with the NIMR from his predecessor George Radda. They said although he had used "strong persuasion" on them to support his plans, it did not amount to intimidation.But Nurse did criticize the chief executive for holding one-to-one briefings outside of task force meetings, which he said led to confusion. "I felt Blakemore came into a very difficult situation with an open mind and prepared to consider all the alternatives. But it was 'outside discussions' that made me concerned. In difficult situations like this, it's better to have more group meetings than one-to-one briefings."The Science and Technology Committee will hold another hearing on January 10, before producing a report in February or March.

Paul Nurse calls for NIMR truce

Leading researcher says task force should be reconvened to settle relocation row

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