The early departure of the head of Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) has prompted concern for the future of the funding body.

Leszek Borysiewicz announced on 26 November that he will quit as chief executive of the MRC on 1 October 2010 — a year before his four-year term was due to expire — to become vice-chancellor at the University of Cambridge, UK. "It's a thrilling and exciting opportunity for me and one I feel I couldn't resist," says the 58-year-old.

The appointment has generally drawn acclaim for Borysiewicz from Britain's biomedical establishment. Richard Henderson, a researcher at the Cambridge-based MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology who also sits on the MRC Council, believes that Borysiewicz's background and his political acumen will serve him well in his new role.

But for some, there is also anxiety over the future of the MRC. "I think that Borys has done an excellent job," says Colin Blakemore, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, UK, and Borysiewicz's predecessor at the MRC. But Blakemore adds that he is "deeply worried about what this might mean for the MRC, especially for the support of basic biomedical research".

Borysiewicz has overseen a major increase in spending, managing a budget that reached £704.2 million (US$1.2 billion) this year. His scientific background, a mix of basic and applied bioscience, has been credited with helping the MRC to increase its emphasis on translational medicine without losing its strength in basic research.

But the future seems less clear. Some believe that the UK government's Department of Health may seek a larger stake in the MRC, pushing it further towards biomedical research and away from fundamental science. There are even worries that the MRC may be absorbed in the Department of Heath, or broken up.

With a general election looming next summer, Borysiewicz's departure "could make the MRC vulnerable at a very critical time", says Blakemore. "It will need a strong new leader, respected by both basic and clinical researchers."

But Borysiewicz says he sees little cause for concern. "The MRC is stronger now than it has been for a very long time," he says.