A major research collaboration involving the University of Liverpool and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in the United States, is set to accelerate the availability and treatment for infectious diseases wordwide. The agreement was signed on the table which once belonged to Florence Nightingale. The table was donated to the University by the nurses training school at Liverpool Royal Infirmary. The table is now located in the Foresight Centre. Given Florence Nightingale`s interest in the prevention of disease this seems highly appopriate.