The Sainsbury Laboratory partners with the John Innes Centre on a Plant Health Institute Strategic Program (ISP) funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

[1] This agreement made the laboratory a joint venture between several organizations, including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation[2] (established by David Sainsbury, the great-grandson of the founder of the Sainsbury's chain of supermarkets), the John Innes Foundation, the University of East Anglia, and the Agricultural and Food Research Council (now BBSRC).

Additionally, researchers at the laboratory study plant and pathogen genomics to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in plant-microbe interactions.

In 2021, The Sainsbury Laboratory launched a one-year taught MSc in Global Plant Health in partnership with the University of East Anglia.

A number of scientists have worked at TSL including; The Gatsby Charitable Foundation is a core funder of The Sainsbury Laboratory[2] in addition to The University of East Anglia and a BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Grant in Plant Health (in partnership with the John Innes Centre).