Personalised Medicine Centre
The Personalised Medicine Centre aims to develop treatments and clinical tools that take into account a person’s individual genetic and molecular signatures.
Research Focus
Within the School of Medicine, the Personalised Medicine Centre aims to develop treatments and clinical tools that consider a person’s individual genetic and molecular signatures. By understanding the interplay of disease with the sequence, expression level, and activation states of genes and other molecules within our bodies, we are creating a new generation of treatments and robust diagnostics to inform clinical decision making across a range of chronic and degenerative diseases.
Since its inception in 2013, the centre has secured more than £24m in competitive grant funding and published more than 380 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious top quartile journals (correct as of May 2022). At the forefront of innovation in personalised and precision medicine, the centre has secured 14 patent applications in novel therapeutic and diagnostic advances.
About the Centre
The Personalised Medicine Centre, based on the Altnagelvin Hospital site in Derry/Londonderry in the C-TRIC building, was established in October 2013 by Professor Tony Bjourson with the award of an £11.5 million grant (European Union Regional Development Fund (ERDF) EU Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for N. Ireland, InvestNI, the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency (HSC R&D), ILEX & Ulster University).
We have the largest single critical mass of researchers solely focused on personalised medicine in Ireland. We have some 23 Core staff, 49 Research associates/assistants and PhD researchers, and some 36 NHS Clinicians affiliated with our Research Centre linking General Practitioners (GPs) and NHS Health Trusts (from the Western Health & Social Care Trust at Altnagelvin Hospital).
Research Success
The centre contributed to Ulster University’s ranking in the top five universities in the UK in research power in the Allied Health Professions, with 95% of our impact in REF2021 judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent. Across a wide range of world-class research, the centre has developed a global network of partners and collaborative relationships with leading academic institutions and biotechnology, pharmaceutical, data analytics and healthcare sectors.
Personalised Medicine Explained
Personalised medicine (also known as precision or stratified medicine) is an approach that subdivides patients into groups based on their risk of developing specific diseases or their response to particular therapies. Personalised medicine is recognised as a key global priority for healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries, and patients. The ultimate aim of a personalised approach to prescribing medicine is to enable healthcare professionals to provide the 'right treatment, for the right person, at the right time.'
Personalised Medicine relies on using biological markers along with imaging and clinical data to separate patients into specific groups for diagnosing and treating disease in more effective ways or at earlier time points than currently possible. To realise the potential benefits of personalised medicine, advances in technologies and systems are required to reliably predict disease, select the best treatment, and reduce side effects for each individual patient.
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