Six-figure fund unveiled to accelerate adoption of precision medicine

A pot of up to £300,000 has been created to help support a new pipeline of tangible ideas to harness the potential of precision medicine in Scotland, enabling more accurate diagnosis and treatment based on each patient’s unique biology.

The fund is the first to be offered by the Precision Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (PMS-IC), which is based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. A maximum of £30,000 will be available for no more than ten projects, aiming to back work involving collaborations with the NHS, academia and industry.

It will build on existing research into commonplace chronic diseases in Scotland such as cancer, and those affecting the autoimmune system, including multiple sclerosis, and the liver.

PMS-IC, Scotland’s national centre for accelerating the advancement and adoption of precision medicine, says the fund is aimed at research-led opportunities for Scottish university or college-based researchers, with ideas with a strong case for commercialisation actively being sought. The deadline for submissions is September 23.

The Centre’s chief executive Marian McNeil said: “We have designed this fund to help discover new innovation in precision medicine which can be adopted across the NHS in Scotland and the wider global economy.

“We are passionate about supporting new talent, and we want to provide the impetus to accelerate the adoption of precision medicine in healthcare. Our aim is to support researchers who are already engaged in work that can change and save people’s lives.

“We look forward to reviewing the high-quality project proposals, and to helping foster existing ideas that can make use of this fund to transform innovative research into tangible commercial outcomes that benefit patients.”

The PMS-IC says it looks forward to helping foster innovative research that could ultimately help patients. Picture: Lewis J Houghton.