Scientists link with hospital partners in China on Data Science health project

Scientists at the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham have joined their counterparts at Brazil's National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) to develop the next generation of drugs to tackle two of the planet's biggest killers, cardiovascular disease and cancer. As part of the Brazil-UK Year of Science and Innovation, the Brazilian Embassy, in London, hosted the signing of an agreement between CNPEM, in Campinas, and the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) . The agreement provides a research laboratory and support in CNPEM to host visitors from COMPARE. The agreement will enable COMPARE to access very specialist equipment dedicated to the study of membrane proteins, as well as providing access to a library of natural products that is only available in Brazil. The specialist equipment includes one of the first fourth-generation synchrotron light sources in the world (Sirius) and two cyro-electron microscopes (the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the development of cyro-electron microscopy). The advanced equipment will be used to understand how drugs bind to their targets in the body called receptors and to identify ways to development better drugs that target these proteins. Speaking after the signing ceremony, Brazilian Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Mr Eduardo dos Santos said: "I am certain that the Brazil-UK Joint Year for Science and Innovation will strengthen the ties among Brazilian and British research institutions.