Honouring the vision of José Luis Cutrale (1946–2022)
In 2019, industrialist and philanthropist José Luis Cutrale (CEO of Sucocitrico Cutrale) partnered with Imperial College London to establish a founding philanthropic endowment for perioperative healthcare innovation in older patients. Facilitated through collaboration with Professor Anthony Bull (Director of the School of Convergence Science) and Professor Michael Fertleman (Professor of Practice), this vision created the Cutrale Group within the Sir Michael Uren Hub.
Mr Cutrale recognised that while surgical techniques continue to advance, older and frailer individuals face disproportionate physiological risks during perioperative care. His endowment provided the catalytic foundation bridging academic faculties across Imperial College London — including the Department of Bioengineering, the Department of Surgery and Cancer, and the Division of Brain Sciences — with bedside geriatric medicine.
Today, our multidisciplinary team of consultant physicians, bioengineers, and doctoral research fellows continues his legacy by developing non-invasive point-of-care medical devices, discovering molecular biomarkers, and establishing evidence-based clinical pathways that safeguard older surgical patients across the NHS and internationally.
A world-class home for interdisciplinary medical innovation
The Sir Michael Uren Hub was constructed as a flagship biomedical engineering facility, made possible by a landmark philanthropic gift from Imperial alumnus Michael Uren OBE and his Foundation, bringing together over 500 engineers, clinicians, and scientists under one roof at White City. It provides the Cutrale Group with state-of-the-art research laboratories on the 6th floor, mass spectrometry suites, and human motion capture gait facilities.
This integrated infrastructure accelerates the journey from engineering concept to bedside testing, directly linking bioengineers with clinical teams across Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Our core mission
The Cutrale Perioperative and Ageing Group brings together multidisciplinary clinicians and bioengineering researchers dedicated to optimising outcomes for older patients.
By directly combining bedside geriatric expertise with advanced mechanical and electrical bioengineering, we address the physiological vulnerabilities associated with ageing, sarcopenia, and multi-morbidity.
Clinical NHS hospital integration
Our clinical teams lead patient care and active clinical research trials across three flagship acute hospitals within the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust:
- St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington: Major Trauma Centre, acute trauma orthogeriatrics, and emergency surgical pathways.
- Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith: Elective surgical pre-assessment, orthopaedic joint reconstruction, and neuro-telemetry.
- Hammersmith Hospital, White City: Cardiology centre, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI), and biofluid metabolomics.