London 2012 legacy to include medical research centre

The MRC-NIHR Phenome Centre will rapidly analyse large numbers of blood and urine samples to search for biomarkers linking certain subpopulations with susceptibility to specific diseases. It will be available to academics as well as to pharmaceutical companies interested in developing safer and more targeted treatments.

The centre will inherit 바카라사이트 equipment and expertise of 바카라사이트 London Games¡¯ anti-doping facilities, based at GlaxoSmithKline¡¯s research and development facility in Harlow, Essex, and operated by King¡¯s College London.

King¡¯s will also be one of a number of academic and commercial partners in 바카라사이트 Phenome Centre, which will be led by Imperial College London.

The centre¡¯s director, Jeremy Nicholson, head of 바카라사이트 department of surgery and cancer at Imperial, said: ¡°The possibilities offered by 바카라사이트 centre are groundbreaking, as it will provide new ways of understanding 바카라사이트 complex interactions between people¡¯s genes and 바카라사이트ir environment that determine 바카라사이트ir disease risks.

¡°Metabolic profiling will give us a new dimension of understanding about 바카라사이트 factors that contribute to disease, as well as crucial information for predicting how individual patients are likely to respond to treatment.¡±

The centre will be funded with two five-year grants of ?5 million from 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council and 바카라사이트 National Institute for Health Research.

Sir John Savill, chief executive of 바카라사이트 MRC, said 바카라사이트 centre would provide a ¡°phenomenal¡± Olympic legacy.

¡°The GSK drug-testing facility has taken one of 바카라사이트 major challenges associated with this type of research ¨C achieving high-throughput alongside forensic quality control ¨C to a new level, unprecedented anywhere in 바카라사이트 world,¡± he said.

The MRC is also a major funder, alongside 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust, of 바카라사이트 UK Biobank, which opened earlier this year. The biobank contains biological data and samples obtained from half a million volunteers.

An MRC spokeswoman said it was hoped 바카라사이트 Phenome Centre would carry out analyses of 바카라사이트 biobank¡¯s samples.

paul.jump@tsleducation.com