This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding for genetic research
23/12/2004
A new genetic health project bringing together
Scotland's five Medical Schools to assess genetic
predisposition to heart disease, diabetes, stroke,
osteoporosis and mental health is being funded by the
Scottish Executive to the tune of £4.4 million.
The Genetic Health Initiative (GHI) will focus on
individuals and their close relatives in order to assess
the genetic predisposition to these common diseases that
affect thousands of people in Scotland. It will draw on
comprehensive health care records but add a genetic
dimension to determine how much ill health is an inherited
trait and the extent to which other factors, such as
lifestyle, influence health.
Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister and Minister for
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, said:
"I am delighted that we have been able to support this
vital project. In addition to the huge potential health
benefits, the project provides real potential to assist our
broader economic development objectives, and we will be
looking to capitalise on these commercial opportunities as
the project develops."
Deputy Health Minister Rhona Brankin said;
"This investment will place Scotland at the forefront of
research in this area and could potentially bring long term
benefits to the Scottish people and the world at large. The
work being done by GHI has the potential not only to
develop novel therapies but to improve our understanding of
current therapies and to improve treatment for individual
patients.
"I hope that this funding will act as the catalyst to
attract further investment from across the spectrum.
Scottish Enterprise is working closely with the Executive
to support and encourage the delivery of this project. I
would like to congratulate GHI on their achievement in
securing this award and also to wish them every future
success with this ground-breaking project. I hope that this
investment will bring long term benefits for both medicine
and sciences and, most importantly for patients. It will
significantly add to our understanding of complex genetic
disease and how best to treat, prevent or cure it."
The Scottish project embraces all the Scottish Medical
Schools, the National e-Science Centre, the Scottish School
of Primary Care and Information Services, NHS National
Services Scotland.
Professor Andrew Morris, Principal Investigator of the
Initiative from the University of Dundee said:
"This is fantastic news. The Scotland-wide research
team represents a unique collaboration not only between
Universities and the NHS in Scotland, but also between
world class scientists and clinical researchers. It is a
great opportunity for us to define and target key factors
that underpin many of the major diseases that affect the
people of Scotland and ensure they receive the medications
that have the greatest chance of treatment success with the
lowest chance of any unwanted effects".
The programme will link anonymous information on the
lifestyle and healthcare history of participants with their
genetic profile allowing the team to identify those at risk
of developing disease and create preventative healthcare
strategies.
Researchers will recruit a cohort of 50,000 individuals
(aged 35-55 years) over 5 years, with an initial cohort of
15,000 in the 3 year feasibility study. Families with
groups of siblings will be invited to participate allowing
researchers to establish patterns of health and disease
within families. Demographic, lifestyle and clinical
information will be gathered along with carefully collected
information on the heart, blood vessel function and
wellbeing. Blood samples will be taken for biochemical
tests and the assessment of genes that contribute to
disease.
Scotland has a number of key factors that will allow
this research to be successful: a universal NHS number
which lets researchers cross reference patients' health
data; the latest in information technology that can link
health records including details of prescriptions and if
the patients took the drug properly; and software that will
ensure that a patient can never be identified no matter how
often their healthcare record is used by researchers.
£4.4 million will finance a 3 year proof of principle
study. The initial study will focus on those Scottish
diseases which have a major impact on public health:
cardiovascular disease (including ethnic diversity), the
major mental illnesses of depression and schizophrenia as
well osteoporosis - an important cause of bone fracture in
our elderly population.
Professor Anna Dominiczak from the University of Glasgow
said:
"This funding is great news, and will build on
substantial collaborative groundwork which has been done
over several years.
"The initiative focuses on the health of Scottish
families and builds upon Scotland's track record in
epidemiology, record-linkage, quality NHS databases and
genetics. It includes specific research proposals in the
areas of cardiovascular diseases, mental health and
pharmacogenetics, and brings together an impressive list of
lead investigators and collaborators who collectively
represent an unbeatable combination of proven research
expertise in Scotland. This unique cross-institutional,
interdisciplinary endeavour will make Scotland
internationally competitive in human genetics of common
complex diseases."
Professor Dominiczak will be working with senior Glasgow
colleagues from General Practice, Biostatistics, Clinical
Genetics, E-science, NHS Research & Development, and
Public Health.
Dr Blair Smith from the University of Aberdeen will
co-ordinate the day to day running of the project. He
said:
"It's an exciting opportunity for collaboration between
many different scientific and medical disciplines with
great potential to modernise medical care. It's the next
exciting step following the mapping of the Human Genome and
will put Scotland at the forefront of medical
research."
Professor David Porteous of the University of Edinburgh
said
"The Genetic Healthcare Initiative is important news for
the Scottish Medical Schools, the NHS in Scotland and, most
important of all, the people of Scotland. By undertaking a
large study of the main causes of ill health in a family
setting, we expect to take an international lead in
identifying the key risk factors around which new medicines
can be developed and existing medicines used more
effectively.
The University of Edinburgh is delighted to have played
a lead role in getting this onto the research agenda for
Scotland. We look forward to playing our full part in what
will be an ambitious, joint effort, playing to the various
strengths of a large and impressive team across
Scotland."
Professor Roland Wolf, Director of the Biomedical
Research Centre at the University of Dundee said:
"The Scottish Executive support for this project will
allow a unique programme of work to be carried out aimed at
understanding the factors that determine individual
responses to drugs. Its visionary support for this
programme could result in major benefits for the health of
the Scottish population.
Consortium members are:
Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and
St Andrews
National e-Science Centre, Edinburgh/Glasgow
MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow
Scottish Council for Research in Education Centre,
Edinburgh/Glasgow
Scottish School of Primary Care, NHS Education for
Scotland, Edinburgh
Information and Statistics Division, NHS Scotland,
Edinburgh./ENDS