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Six pathology testing projects worth £16m

£16 million has been awarded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to university-led projects for the development of molecular pathology tests that help deliver stratified medicine. 

Subgrouping patients that share a disease, based on factors such as their symptoms and their response to previous treatments, is known as stratification. Identifying these subgroups helps pinpoint the most effective course of action in their future care and in cancer is leading to the provision of personally-tailored therapies.

Molecular pathology is an especially useful means of subgrouping patients. Tiny samples of blood or tissue are painlessly taken from the patient and analysed for levels of large molecules such as proteins and DNA. The results, combined with other information such as clinical data and imaging, facilitates precise subgrouping.

The MRC and Engineering and EPSRC have provided financial backing for the following six projects to develop molecular diagnostic tools for medicines stratification:

  1. The University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh-St Andrews Consortium for Molecular Pathology, Informatics and Genome Sciences Node will integrate genomic and epigenomic methods for diagnosis of acutely ill children with a range of diseases and will develop liquid biopsies for managing cancer through analysis of circulating tumour DNA.
  2. The University of Glasgow’s Glasgow Molecular Pathology (GMP) Node will integrate pathology, genomics and informatics. It will be located at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus where the University of Glasgow has established a world-leading reputation in precision medicine, including the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre, Imaging Centre of Excellence and Queen Elizabeth Teaching and Learning Centre. 
  3. The University of Leicester’s East Midlands Breathomics Pathology (EMBER) Node — including the University of Leicester, Loughborough University and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust — will help develop breath analysis tests that use the same technology as that used to detect explosives in war zones, which it is hoped will give an instant diagnosis and help doctors pick the best treatments for a range of conditions, including cancers, respiratory infections and diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  4. The University of Manchester’s Manchester Molecular Pathology Innovation Centre Node will develop biomarker-based molecular pathology tests initially to diagnose, pick the right treatment and assess the response to treatment for a range of inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and psoriasis.
  5. Newcastle University’s Newcastle Proximity Laboratory Node will focus on developing new lab tests for rare and chronic diseases and will also be involved in training the next generation of molecular pathologists who will be vital in the delivery of precision medicine.
  6. The University of Nottingham’s Nottingham Molecular Pathology Node (NMPN) for Integrated Multi-platform Biomarker Research and Knowledge Transfer will bring together informatics, computational modelling and molecular pathology to find new biomarkers for a range of diseases — particularly those affecting the digestive and respiratory systems and the liver — helping doctors pick the best treatments for their patients.
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