[1][3] Strangeways developed an interest in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis and in 1905 founded the Cambridge Research Hospital in order to study patients with this condition and related ones.

Funded largely by Strangeways himself, noted doctors of his acquaintance, and donations from patients, the hospital began modestly with only six beds, and with research equipment located in renovated coal sheds.

[3][4] It closed briefly in 1908 due to lack of funding, but quickly reopened and moved to its current site in 1912 thanks to the support of Otto Beit and to its temporary repurposing as a hospital for military officers in World War I.

After University of Edinburgh zoology student Honor Fell spent a summer working with him, he hired her as a research assistant;[5]: 246–7  she would take over leadership of the laboratory following Strangeways' death in 1926.

In the 1920s and 30s, the laboratory was the only British institution focused specifically on tissue culture technique,[3][6]: 63  the utility of which was a controversial topic among scientists of the time.