National Programs to Facilitate Personalized Medicine - Stratified Medicine Scotland

Dr Mark Beggs, Chief Executive for Stratified Medicine Scotland highlights the objectives and key research programs of the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-IC) which has been established between industry, NHS and academia.

From the SMS website: The future of healthcare is about getting the right treatment to the right patient at the right time through stratified medicine. The Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-IC) aspires to be a world-class centre of research, innovation and commercialisation in stratified medicine. Stratified medicine involves examining the genetic makeup of patients and their differing responses to drugs designed to treat specific diseases. By building up an understanding of the ‘strata’ of responses and the genetics of the diseases, medical researchers hope to create more personalised and effective forms of treatment for groups of patients most likely to benefit. Significant past investment in Scotland in electronic health records (EHRs) and translational medicine research, coupled with a vibrant healthcare technology industry, positions Scotland as the location to drive forward the stratified medicine agenda globally. SMS-IC is a unique partnership comprising the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen; NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Grampian, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside; and the key business partners, global biotechnology company, Thermofisher Scientific, and biomedical informatics company, Aridhia Informatics. The SME partners involved in the SMS-IC are Arrayjet, Biopta, DestiNA Genomics, Fios Genomics and Sistemic. The Scottish Funding Council is providing £8m over five years to back the creation of the £20m SMS-IC at the new South Glasgow Hospitals Campus.